New York, May 28, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists, alongside PEN International and 13 partner organizations, has issued a joint statement urging Pakistan’s government to immediately halt the arbitrary mass deportation of Afghan journalists and other nationals at risk of Taliban persecution. The statement expresses grave concern over Pakistan’s “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan,” which was…
New York, May 12, 2025—Taliban authorities in southeastern Ghazni Province must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Sulaiman Rahil, who was detained on May 5 by intelligence agents, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. “Sulaiman Rahil is the latest of many Afghan journalists to be swept up by the notorious General Directorate of Intelligence without…
New York, April 18, 2025—Taliban authorities must immediately release independent journalist Sayed Rashed Kashefi, who was detained April 14 by General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) agents in the capital Kabul, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “Taliban intelligence must release journalist Sayed Rashed Kashefi immediately and unconditionally,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih…
New York, February 14, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Taliban to reverse Thursday’s ban on the broadcast of political and economic programs by domestic Afghan outlets. The Ministry of Information and Culture issued a verbal directive to media executives in the capital Kabul on February 13, stating that organizations may only address…
New York, February 6, 2025—Taliban intelligence agents raided the Kabul station of Radio Begum on Tuesday, February 4, suspended broadcast operations, detained two unidentified media workers, and confiscated documents and essential broadcasting equipment, including computers, hard drives, and mobile devices. The Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture accused the outlet of “non-compliance” with regulations and…
New York, January 31, 2025—A Taliban court in Kabul sentenced Sayed Rahim Saeedi, the editor and producer of the ANAR Media YouTube channel, to three years in prison on charges of disseminating anti-Taliban propaganda. He was sentenced on October 27, 2024, but those with knowledge of the case initially refrained from publicizing it out of…
New York, January 22, 2025—Pakistani authorities must stop deporting and harassing Afghan journalists who have fled Afghanistan because of threats to their lives, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. During the first week of January 2025, Pakistani security forces detained two Afghan journalists and their families before deporting them to Afghanistan, according to a…
New York, January 17, 2025—A Taliban court in the capital Kabul on January 1 sentenced Afghan News Agency reporter Mahdi Ansary to 18 months in prison on charges of disseminating anti-Taliban propaganda. “Mahdi Ansary’s unjust sentence is indicative of the Taliban’s continued brutality and suppression of press freedom in Afghanistan,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s…
Faisal Karimi and Wahab Siddiqi, respectively founder and editor-in-chief of the Afghanistan Women’s News Agency, were among the first journalists to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban retook control of the country in August 2021. After escaping the country undetected with nearly two dozen newsroom colleagues and family members a week after the fall of Kabul,…
New York, December 5, 2024—Dozens of Taliban agents from the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) raided the offices of private broadcaster Arezo TV on December 4 in the capital, Kabul, questioned staff members for four hours, and detained seven journalists and media workers. Woman journalists were expelled from the premises, and the network’s offices were…