Afghan Voice Agency (AVA)_Monitoring, “To this end, it has facilitated an environment conducive to the activities of the media and its employees, including by providing access to information across all regions of the country,” the foreign ministry said in a series of tweets.
According to the ministry, currently more than 270 domestic media outlets operate in Afghanistan in addition to the permanent presence of 14 international media networks.
“Since March 2022, IEA has provided permits to more than 700 journalists from 196 media networks from Asia, Europe, Americas and Oceania,” the ministry’s spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi tweeted.
Balkhi says that the IEA ensures protection and immunity of all media outlets working within the framework of professional conduct and in line with Islamic values and national interests.
“Following the complete takeover of power by the IEA, not a single journalist has lost their life nor have any media centers or representatives faced any security challenges,” Balkhi tweeted.
This comes after United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on Wednesday called on governments and the global community to take necessary steps to shield reporters from imprisonment, violence and death.
Marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on Wednesday, Guterres noted that a free press remained vital to functioning democracy, exposing wrongdoing, navigating the complex world and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He said more than 70 journalists (worldwide) have been killed this year simply for fulfilling this role in society. “Most of these crimes go unsolved,” he added.
Meanwhile, UNAMA said Wednesday that human rights abuses of more than 200 reporters in Afghanistan have been recorded since August 2021.
“Record high numbers include arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment, threats and intimidation,” UNAMA tweeted adding that “media in Afghanistan is in peril”.
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