Friday, 27 August 2021

Afghan journalists facing an impossible choice under the Taliban

Photo: Mohammad Jan Aria/Xinhua/Alamy Live News

As Afghanistan falls to the Taliban, female journalists are in fear that they will be targeted. Some have already received threats and have gone on the run rather than face the wrath of the fundamentalist group. Many journalists have fled the country rather than face threats to their liberties and even their lives, writes Ruchi Kumar.

"We made promises to the people of Afghanistan"

Afghan evacuees arrive from Afghanistan in the UK on 26 August 2021. Photo: Jacob King/PA Wire/PA Images

"We have all watched in despair at the news as desperate people have sought assistance to flee the Taliban, a repressive regime that recognises none of the liberal democratic values Index on Censorship was established to promote and defend. A regime that will quash artistic expression, that will destroy artwork, that will treat women and religious minorities as second-class citizens, that will allow no free media, that will seek to not just silence dissent but kill it," writes our CEO Ruth Smeeth.

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Watch again: Our whistleblower event with Daniel Ellsberg and Brittany Winner

Watch on demand: Our recent magazine launch event explored the importance of the role of whistleblowers in exposing corruption and malpractice. Whistleblowers are extraordinary people, who take incredible risks to bring the rich and powerful to account. This often exacts a terrible personal price, with whistleblowers losing their livelihoods, their mental health and even their freedom. Speakers include Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower behind the Pentagon Papers, which exposed the secret history of American involvement in Vietnam and Brittany Winner, the sister of Reality Winner, the former US intelligence specialist who leaked details of Russian interference in the 2016 American election. Watch the event here.

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