The United Nations expressed ‘serious concern’ on Thursday over the detention of at least three Afghan journalists, arrested last week by Taliban security agencies on unknown charges.
The UN’s Afghanistan mission UNAMA also criticised ‘assaults against journalists and confiscation of property during search operations’ by the authorities.
‘UNAMA calls for clarification of the legal basis and any charges against the detained journalists,’ it said in a statement.
TOLOnews said in a post on X on Sunday that two of its journalists, Imran Danish and Mansoor Niazi, had been detained in the Afghan capital.
‘Security officials, in talks with TOLOnews, have said that details on this matter will be shared after the relevant legal procedures,’ it said.
At least one other journalist was also arrested, according to UNAMA, but the Taliban government did not respond to an AFP request for comment on Thursday.
The information and culture ministry said on Tuesday that ‘a few days ago, two TOLOnews journalists were arrested by security agencies’.
‘Their case is under investigation. The court has not ruled yet,’ ministry spokesman Khubaib Ghofran said in a statement, without specifying the reasons for their arrest.
Advocacy group the Committee to Protect Journalists, in a post on X on Tuesday, called on Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities to ‘immediately and unconditionally release the detained journalists and ensure the press can operate without interference’.
The Afghanistan Media Support Organisation, a local watchdog, expressed ‘deep concerns’ over the arrests in a statement issued on Sunday.
It deplored the lack of ‘precise information... regarding the reasons for their arrests or their whereabouts’.
According to the Afghan watchdog, six other journalists are currently detained by the Taliban authorities.
‘A free, independent, and safe press is essential for transparency, accountability, and the well-being of Afghan society,’ UNAMA said.
Afghanistan ranks 175 out of 180 on the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index.
