New York, April 5, 2007—Nearly 300 journalists have signed an open letter urging the release of abducted Afghan journalist Ajmal Nakshbandi, who has been held captive by the Taliban since March 4. Those signing the letter represent an array of local and international news organizations, including CNN, The Associated Press, Reuters, Time, The New York Times, NBC, ABC, and Al-Jazeera.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, which organized the campaign, first issued the letter on Monday. Additional signatures were submitted this week. Here is the text of the letter followed by all of the signatories:
We are writing to call attention to the case of Ajmal Nakshbandi, an Afghan freelance journalist who was abducted in Helmand province with La Repubblica reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo and driver Sayed Agha on March 4. Nakshbandi, a reporter in his own right, was serving as Mastrogiacomo’s translator. Agha was beheaded a few days after the three men were seized, and Mastrogiacomo was released on March 19, apparently in exchange for five senior Taliban leaders.
Only Nakshbandi remains captive, apparently held by the Taliban. His case has all but disappeared from Western media even as it draws extensive coverage in the Afghan press. As journalists who have worked closely with local reporters while covering war and conflict in many parts of the world, we are greatly concerned about Nakshbandi’s fate. He is admired as a first-rate reporter and knowledgeable colleague; his deep understanding of Afghanistan’s complexities earned him a reputation for even-handedness.
We join our Afghan colleagues in urging Nakshbandi’s captors to release him immediately.
Fisnik Abrashi
AP Correspondent, Kabul
Mustafah Abdulaziz
Photographer
Christiane Amanpour
Chief International Correspondent, CNN
Jon Anderson
Photographer
Terry Anderson
CPJ board member
Petr Antonov
Photographer
Aryn Baker
South Asia Correspondent, Time Magazine
Jeff Ballou
Deputy News Editor
Al-Jazeera English
Teresa Bo
Correspondent
Al-Jazeera English
Silvia Boarini
Photographer
Jaime R. Carrero
Photographer
Thomas Coghlan
Daily Telegraph
Ben Connors
Editor
Al-Jazeera English
Jim Cox
Foreign Editor, USA Today
Bernd Debusmann
Special Correspondent, Reuters
Bob Dietz
CPJ Asia Program Coordinator
Hector Emanuel
Photographer
Jim Erickson,
Time Asia, Hong Kong
Miguel Ribeiro Fernandes
Photographer
Walid el-Gabry
President, Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists’ Association
Carlotta Gall
New York Times, Islamabad/Kabul
Kathy Gannon
Associated Press
Ed Giles
Photographer
Stephen Graham
Pakistan Correspondent, Associated Press
Carol Grisanti
NBC News Islamabad/Kabul
Joe Harrison
Photographer
Camille El Hassani
Broadcast Producer
Al-Jazeera English
Pat Hattori
Photographer
Gayle Hegland
Photographer
Diane Hodges
Booker/Producer
Al-Jazeera English
Lisa Hogben
Photographer
Paul Holmes
Editor, Political & General News
Reuters
Neal Jackson
Photographer
Sebastian Junger
Journalist
Ali Riza Kutlu
Photographer
Srinivas Kuruganti
Photographer
Amy Marash
Video Journalist
Al-Jazeera English
David Marash
Al-Jazeera English
Washington, DC
Wendy Marijnissen
Photographer
Daniele Mattioli
Photographer
Jesse Mesner-Hage
Deputy News Editor
Al-Jazeera English
Omar Mullick
Photographer
Robert Nickelsberg
Photographer
Ian Olds
Documentary Filmmaker
Bernard Onderdonck
Photographer
Mark Orchard
Deputy News Editor
Al-Jazeera English
Warrick Page
Photographer
Kat Palasi
Photographer
Christian Parenti
The Nation
Matthew Pennington
AP Bureau Chief for Pakistan/Afghanistan
Gretchen Peters
ABC News
Betsy Reed
Executive Editor, The Nation
Markel Redondo
Photographer
Alex Reshuan
Photographer
Simon Robinson
Time Magazine
South Asia Bureau Chief
Jed Rothstein
Lumiere Productions
Florencia Saluzzo
Photographer
Mariana Sanchez
Correspondent
Al-Jazeera English
Hanaan Sarhan
News Writer
Al-Jazeera English
Tewfic El Sawy
Photographer
Nathan Shanahan
Photographer
Mark Seddon
Correspondent
Al-Jazeera English
Joel Simon
CPJ Executive Director
Steve Simon
Photographer
Cal Skaggs
Lumiere Productions
Andy Smith
Photographer
Jethro Soudant
Photographer
Sree Sreenivasan
Dean of Students, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Will Stebbins
Bureau Chief
Al-Jazeera English
Bruno Stevens
Photographer
Jason Straziuso
AP Correspondent, Kabul
Antony Stringer
Photographer
Mark Teboe
Videographer
Al-Jazeera English
Sion Touhig
Photographer
Rick Valenzuela
Photographer
Julian Abram Wainwright
Photographer
Declan Walsh
Pakistan/Afghanistan Correspondent, The Guardian
William Widmer
Photographer
Snorre Wik
Videographer
Al-Jazeera English
Daniel Wilkinson
Photographer
Matthew Williams
Photographer
Adam Wiseman
Photographer
Jeremy Young
Package Producer
Al-Jazeera English
Hernan Zenteno
Photographer
The following signatures were gathered by Lightstalkers, an international organization of photographers and other journalists:
Teru Kuwayama
Photographer
James Pomerantz
Photographer
Bob Black
Photographer
Nana Buxani
Photographer, Filmmaker
Dominic Bracco
Photographer
Angela Cumberbirch
Photographer
Mike Wang
Photographer
David Bowen
Photojournalist
Kloie Picot
Photojournalist/Filmmaker
Sohrab Hura
Photographer
Andrew Biraj
Photojournalist
Dana De Luca
Photographer
Henri Ismail
Photojournalist
Ken Ponzio
Photographer
Munem Wasif
Photographer
Wakako Iguchi
Photographer
Julien Lévêque
Photographer
Ariana Lindquist
Photographer
Saba Laudanna
Photographer
Mark Seager
Photographer
Yolanda Crisp
Photographer
Jake Price
Photographer
Nacho Hernandez
Freelance Photographer
Ron Haviv
Photographer
Igor Ponti
Photographer
Katja Heinemann
Photojournalist
Sarah Hoskins
Photographer
Morten Hvaal
Photographer
Michael Christopher Brown
Photographer
Michael Eckels
Photographer
Jukka Onnela
Photographer
Paula Lerner
Photojournalist
John Trotter
Photographer
Andrew Cutraro
Photographer
Andy Kropa
Photojournalist
Patrick Andrade
Freelance Photographer
Radhanatha Jakupko
Photographer
Paul Gibson
Photographer
Sara Terry
Photographer
Katharina Hesse
Freelance Photographer
Kenneth Dickerman
Photographer
Arantxa Cedillo
Documentary Photographer
Gregory Sharko
Photographer/Artist
Bartek Wrzesniowski
Photojournalist
Showwei Chu
Writer And Photographer
Gabriele Torsello
Photojournalist
Bill Crandall
Photographer
Joao Pina
Photojournalist
Pete Jenkins
Photographic Consultant/Photographer
Nick Pironio
Photojournalist
Rene Edde
Student/Photojournalist
Lance Rosenfield
Photographer
David Hoffman
Photographer
Balazs Gardi
Photographer
Joshua Bickel
Photojournalist
Meridith Kohut
Photojournalist
Danny Ghitis
Photojournalist
G. Muj-Lindroos
Photographer /Designer
Bruno Decock
Photographer/Photo Editor
Bob Carey
Visual Journalist
Samantha Reinders
Photojournalist
Marlon Krieger
Photographer
Daniel Etter
Photojournalist / Student
Nayan Sthankiya
Photojournalist
Mark Manger
Photographer
David Honl
Photographer
William B. Plowman
Photojournalist
Eric Rechsteiner
Photographer
Camille Seaman
Photographer
Carlos Villalon
Photojournalist
Danfung Dennis
Freelance Photographer
Tivadar Domaniczky
Photographer
Aga Luczakowska
Photographer
Ida C. Benedetto
Media Activist/Photog
Ethan Rafal
Photojournalist
Martin Adolfsson
Photographer
Joel Fischer
Photographer
Jared Moossy
Photographer
Johann Hochstã
Photography Student
Chad Lundquist
Photojournalist
Erica Mcdonald
Photographer
J-F Vergel
Photographer
Tomas Reyes
Photographer
Tanya Habjouqa
Photographer/ Writer
Alex Masi
Photojournalist
Michael Simon
Photographer
James Robert Fuller
Photographer
Sean Lippy
Photojournalism Student
Melissa Lyttle
Photojournalist
Daniel Hayduk
Student/Freelance
Ramin Rahimian
Freelance Photographer
Brian Frank
Photojournalist
Kevin J. Miyazaki
Photographer
Ben Milpas
Photographer
Ze’sopol C. Caminha
Freelance Photojournalist
Kristina Barker
Photographer
Tommy Huynh
Photographer
Sarah Elliott
Photographer / Intern
Craig Pulsifer
Photographer / Writer
Georgios Makkas
Photographer / Writer
Luke Wolagiewicz
Photojournalist
Agnieszka Rayss
Photographer
John Watts-Robertson
Photographer
Tamer Bakar
Photographer
Graham Harrison
Photographer
Rosa Verhoeve
Photographer
Fabien Penso
Photographer
Sana Manzoor
Photographer
Manca
Photojournalist
Art Rothfuss III
Photographer
Matt Eich
Photographer
Sgt Frank Hudec, Canadian Forces Army News
Military Photographer
Scott Lewis
Photographer
Imke Lass
Photographer
Amiran White
Photojournalist
John Zillioux
Charleston, United States
Elizabeth Borda
Photographer
Theresa Scarbrough
Photojournalist
Kenneth Jarecke
Photographer
Jerome Delay
Photographer
Peter Van Agtmael
Photographer
Jennifer Gage
David Lucas
Photojournalist
J Carrier
Photographer
Michele Molinari
Photographer | Writer
Luiz Maximiano
Photographer
Malin Fezehai
Photographer
Aaron Bernstein
Student/Photojournalist
Annie Tritt
Photographer
Marc Kelly
Photographer
David Carr
Photographer
Jacquelyn Martin
Photojournalist
Vanessa Tolino
Documentary Producer
Ed Kashi Studio
Photographer
Eric Grigorian
Photojournalist
B. Conrad Lau
Photojournalist
Bruce Meyer
Photographer/Teacher
Ross Mantle
Photographer
Dalia Khamissy
Photographer
James Kenny
Photojournalist
Sveva Costa Sanseverino
Photographer
Timothy Fadek
Photographer
Firass Al Jundi
Student of Photography
Paul Blandford
Photojournalist
Dan Perez De La Garza
Photographer
Dmitry Chebotayev
Photographer
Stefan Rohner
Photographer
Patricio Valenzuela
Freelance Photojournalist
Nina Alvarez
Photographer/ Documentary Filmmaker
Bevis Fusha
Photographer
Guido Van Damme
Photographer
Raymond Thompson
Photojournalist
Mara Catalan
Photographer/Fineprinter
Barry Milyovsky
Photographer
Julia S. Ferdinand
Photographer
Eduardo Martino
Photographer
Wayne E. Yang
Writer/Photographer
Max Whittaker
Photojournalist
Rita Leistner
Photojournalist
Vivek Singh
Photojournalist
Guy Wathen
Photographer
Heidi Schumann
Photographer
Gosia
Photographer
Glenn Caulfield
Photojournalist
Becky Holladay
Photographer
John Nowak
Photographer
Tina Ahrens
Photo Editor
Seth Butler
Documentary Photographer
Aric Mayer
Photographer
Shafqat Asif
Photographer
Priscilla Mora Flores
FotãGrafa
Eros Hoagland
Photographer
Tashi Tobgyal
Photographer/ Writer
Scott Eells
Photographer
Bryan Denton
Photographer
Chris Johnson
Photographer / Filmmaker
Jason C. Andrew
Photographer/Intern
Akhtar Soomro
Photographer
Simon Roberts
Photographer
Pedro Linger Gasiglia
Photographer
Ross Mcdonnell
Photographer
Sean Dwyer
Press Photographer
Liam Maloney
Photojournalist
Jason Moore
Photographer
Andrew Stanbridge
Photographer
Yoonki Kim
Photographer
Michael Bowring
Photographer
Peter Hoffman
Photographer
Michael Ackerman
Photographer
Myriam Abdelaziz
Documentary Photographer
Miguel Coelho
Photographer
Tiane Doanna Champassak
Photographer
Reme Campos
Photographer
Martin Fuchs
Photojournalist
Thorne Anderson
Photojournalist
Mitchell Prothero
Photographer-Writer
Ziyah Gafic
Photographer
Mark J Davis
Photographer
Alexander Atwater
Photographer
Andrew McConnell
Photographer
Michael Cockerham
Photographer
Aaron Cohen
Photographer
Vittorio Zunino Celotto
Photojournalist
Alejandro Pagni
Photojournalist
Marius Nemes
Freelance Photojournalist
Brent Foster
Staff Photojournalist
National Post
Toronto, Canada
Karim Ben Khelifa
Photographer
Spencer Platt
Journalist
Natasha Mhatre
Photographer
Rachael Jane
Photographer
Allen Sullivan
Photojournalist
Victor J. Blue
Photojournalist
Eva-Maria Kunz
Photographer