The latest on threats to freedom of expression around the world

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Friday, 10 March 2023
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Afghan journalist Salma Niazi, who now runs The Afghan Times (image supplied)

The situation for women in Afghanistan could not be more desperate and the moral imperative to help more obvious.

International Women’s Day 2023 focussed minds on the great strides made for women’s rights around the world. But in Afghanistan, all the achievements made by Afghan women after two decades of relative freedom were wiped out in a single day when the Taliban seized power in August 2021. The new regime told the world women would play an active part in society. It was a lie. Eighteen months later women have been excised from public life: no longer able to attend school, university or even walk the streets unaccompanied.

From the moment Britain and its allies left Afghanistan, Index has been campaigning for safe passage for journalists, writers and artists under threat from the Taliban. This week we joined our colleagues from the National Union of Journalists, English PEN and PEN International to urge the UK government to honour its pledge to Afghan civil society and give refuge to at-risk journalists and writers. In an open letter ([link removed]) to British Home Secretary Suella Braverman we ([link removed]) outlined the moral case for action: “As the situation in-country deteriorates, journalists, especially women and those from marginalised backgrounds such as ethnic Hazaras, find themselves at heightened risk of retaliation. As a result, it is vital that the UK Government honours its pledges to those at-risk through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme
([link removed]) (ACRS).”

The Observer covered the story ([link removed]) and reported the growing frustration at the lack of clarity about the scheme.

This week the government signalled its intention to pass legislation to end asylum for refugees reaching these shores on small boats. Every day, we hear from journalists who are finding it impossible to access the “legal” route provided by the ACRS and many of the schemes.

This week we pay tribute to extraordinary Afghan women journalists, such as Zahra Joya, the founder of Rukhshana Media, who was evacuated to the UK in the first wave of refugees in 2021 and challenged the government to honour its commitment to her colleagues in hiding in Afghanistan or stranded in Pakistan and Iran. Index contributor Zahra Nader, editor of Toronto-based Zan Times, spoke of the brave Afghan women who continue reporting from inside the country at a recent Canadian Journalists for Free Expression gala: “They endure the brutal and traumatising reality of life under Taliban rule, knowing that if the Taliban caught them then they would be tortured, imprisoned, and god knows what would happen to them.” Then there is Freshta Hemmati, a brave young journalist who escaped to Kazakhstan in Autumn 2021 and went on to found the Afghan Journalists’ Support Organisation as a refugee in Canada. She told Index: “This is a genocide, but no one knows, so we have to raise our voice. There is
lots of condemnation, but no action. Just do something.” We have also spoken to Salma Naizi, who set up The Afghan Times last year after fleeing to Pakistan. Writing for Index on IWD 2023 ([link removed]) , Salma said: “I am asking the British government to open the closed doors in front of Afghan journalists… We request again the British government fulfil the promises it has made for Afghan journalists and other people at risk.”

Index has now established an online support network for Afghan journalists, but the situation is growing ever more desperate with every day that passes. Even for those women who have escaped to Pakistan the outlook is bleak. One reporter told us: “During this period, I have gone through hell. There is much discrimination, racism and prejudice in Pakistan society, and hostility towards Afghan women in particular.” Another reporter and human rights activist who publicly denounced the Taliban is living in poverty in Pakistan with a sick baby boy with no money for treatment. A former TV presenter simply sent a sad face emoji followed by the words “I lost hope”.

These are women we should be celebrating not abandoning to their fate.

Martin Bright
Editor-at-large at Index


** Israel: Pilots, protests and power
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In the latest escalation of protests against Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition in Israel, reserve pilots in Israeli Air Force’s 69th fighter jet squadron refused to report for duty. There have been huge demonstrations across the country since January, when the government announced its intentions to limit the power of the judiciary. Concerns over the direction of the government deepened after finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, called for a Palestinian village to be wiped out.

Index has consistently written about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Last year, for example, CEO Ruth Anderson paid tribute ([link removed]) to the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed while reporting in the West Bank city of Jenin. The Israeli Defence Force recently admitted she was likely to have been shot by one of its soldiers.

Veteran Middle East correspondent Donald MacIntyre writes for Index ([link removed]) this week about the implications for Israeli democracy.


** The women who paid the ultimate price
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To mark International Women’s Day, Index CEO Ruth Anderson writes here ([link removed]) of just some of the women who have lost their lives as a result of their free expression over the last year.

Deborah Samuel, a student brutally murdered in Nigeria after being accused of blasphemy; Nokuthula Mabaso, a human rights defender in South Africa who was assassinated outside of her home, in front of her children; Shireen Abu Akleh, a veteran Palestinian-American correspondent for Al Jazeera who was killed while reporting on an Israeli raid in the West Bank. These are just three of the women Anderson remembers.

As she writes "every name represents thousands of others who day in, day out put their lives at risk to speak truth to power. They were mothers, grandmothers, daughters, nieces, granddaughters, sisters, aunts, friends, partners, wives."


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** From the archive
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** Myths, lies and the royals
Christopher Hird
November 1997
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In his 1997 article Myths, lies and the royals ([link removed]) , journalist and documentary maker Christopher Hird reviewed Kitty Kelley’s The Royals. It makes for a fascinating companion piece to our latest special report on royal archives and shows Index has always been at the heart of the campaign to end royal secrecy.


** Georgia: Taking to the streets for media freedom
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Index is often associated with protest movements, even more so when demonstrators take to the streets to protect media freedom and free expression. It therefore goes without saying that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who are protesting in Georgia.

The protests were sparked by Russian-style legislation in Georgia which would oblige media organisations and human rights groups who derive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to declare themselves as “foreign agents”. Georgia is currently hoping to join the European Union but the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has stated that the bill is "incompatible with EU values and standards". The bill was scrapped yesterday, though people stayed on the streets to demand the release and pardoning of those who were arrested as a result of the protests.

A recent article in The Hill ([link removed]) explained Georgia’s conundrum as it falls further under the sway of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his money in Russia.


** Conference, 23 March, Dublin:
SLAPPS: A Threat to Our Freedom of Expression and Our Democracy
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Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are brought by powerful and wealthy entities against public watchdogs in an effort to compel them to withhold or remove critical coverage, even if it is accurate and in the public interest.

How do SLAPPs work and, crucially, what can we do to stop them? At this full-day conference, attendees will hear from lawyers, journalists, academics, politicians, and campaigners, as well as from keynote speakers, UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor, and human rights campaigner Bill Browder.

Reserve your in-person or online livestream ticket here ([link removed]) .
Help support Index on Censorship ([link removed])
Index on Censorship defends people's freedom to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution. We publish censored writers and artists, monitor and campaign against censorship, and encourage debate.

We rely on donations from readers and supporters. By donating ([link removed]) to Index you help us to protect freedom of expression and to support those who are denied that right.
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