KABUL: Two Afghan journalists who disappeared this week have been released, their employer said on Wednesday, after the United Nations called on the Taliban to provide information on their whereabouts.
Two reporters for broadcaster Ariana News were taken by unknown abductors on Monday, according to their news agency. The Taliban denied arresting them but said they were investigating the matter.
Ali Asghari, the news manager at Ariana News, said they had been released but gave no more information.
A spokesman for the Taliban administration, Bilal Karimi, said he was not aware of the men’s release but would seek further information.
The case had been one of a growing number highlighted by the international community as fears grew over a crackdown on dissent since the Taliban took over in August.
The U.N. mission to Afghanistan on Tuesday called on the Taliban to release information on the missing men, as well as a group of women who had disappeared last month in connection with women’s rights protests.
In a separate briefing in Geneva, the UN human rights spokesperson echoed those criticisms and said reports indicated there was a growing pattern of arbitrary arrests in Afghanistan.
A Taliban spokesman denied the women were in their custody and said they were investigating their disappearance and rejected the UN allegations.—Reuters
CPJ press release adds: The Taliban must immediately release journalists Waris Hasrat and Aslam Hijab and stop detaining members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.
On Monday, men who identified themselves as members of the Taliban arrested Hijab, a reporter, and Hasrat, manager of political programs and a political presenter, both with the independent broadcaster Ariana News TV, at the entrance of outlet’s headquarters in District 3 of Kabul, the capital, according to former Ariana News Director Sharif Hasanyar, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview, and a statement by the independent press freedom group Free Speech Hub.
The Taliban has not disclosed where the journalists are being held or any allegations against them, Hasanyar said. Ahmadullah Wasiq, a Taliban deputy spokesperson in Afghanistan, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.
“Th Taliban must immediately and unconditionally release Ariana News journalists Waris Hasrat and Aslam Hijab, and stop the arbitrary arrests of media personnel,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “The continued harassment and arrest of journalists is destroying what had been an immensely valuable asset for the Afghan people: a thriving media culture.”
The Taliban members first contacted Hijab while he was out reporting and said they needed to search his office, Hasanyar said. When Hijab met the men at Ariana News’s headquarters, they covered his head with a sack, handcuffed him, and put him in a vehicle.
Hasrat approached the Taliban members and asked why they were detaining Hijab; the men then questioned him about his position at Ariana News, and handcuffed and arrested him, Hasanyar said.
Following the two arrests, Ariana News leaders kept staff members inside the building for several hours, as they feared that more employees would be detained, Hasanyar told CPJ.
Ariana News airs many political discussion shows featuring guests critical of the Taliban-led government, and is among the most-viewed TV broadcasters in Afghanistan.
On December 28, 2021, Taliban forces briefly detained Ariana News journalist Shapoor Farahmand and interrogated him about his reporting, according to the journalist and news reports.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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