A new report by Reporters Without Borders has shown that journalists in Afghanistan are facing increased harassment from the Taliban.
The report says that the Taliban regime known as 'Istikhbarat', and the Ministry for Promoting Virtue and Suppressing Vice have been violating Afghanistan's press law under which journalists operate.
"Reporters Without Borders condemns the surge in threats, summons for interrogation and arbitrary arrests to which journalists and media outlets have been subjected for the past two months in Afghanistan," the statement by the Paris-based organisation said.
At least 50 journalists and media practitioners are reported to have been arrested or detained since the Taliban swept into power in August last year.
Most of the arrests occurred when journalists were covering or reporting about demonstrations and street protests against the new regime, the report states.
Others are reported to have received threatening calls in the course of their work.
"Journalists must be able to practice their profession without being under a permanent threat of arrest and torture. These unlawful threats, which violate Afghanistan's media legislation, are all the more horrifying for coming at a time of growing harassment and increasingly restrictive rules for the right to news and information," said Reza Moini, the head of RSF's Iran-Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is ranked 122nd out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index which RSF released in April 2021.
