The Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) has announced that it has removed Afghanistan’s membership in this coalition. This decision was taken due to the loss of freedom of the media and the imposition of restrictions on the media by the current Afghan ruling body.
Canada and Netherlands, which jointly chair the global Media Freedom Coalition, announced in a statement on Friday, November 18, that the situation of Afghan media is no longer in accordance with the country’s obligations and they have annulled its membership.
In this announcement, it is emphasized that this decision was made after consultation with the members of the coalition and in accordance with the membership conditions of this association.
In a part of the declaration of the MFC, it is stated that “for the coalition, it is clear that unfortunately the situation of media freedom in Afghanistan is no longer in accordance with the global commitment (of this country) and the current situation (of media freedom) is one of the serious concerns of (the coalition).”
In January 2020, Afghanistan became a member of the MFC and committed to fulfill its global obligations towards freedom of expression.
The Center for Afghan Journalists also recognized this concern and said that in the past year, 245 cases of violence against journalists and media workers have been registered in Afghanistan, which includes arresting, physical violence, threats, intimidation, injury and even murder.
This is despite the fact that during the past year many media outlets and newspapers ended their operations in Afghanistan either due to political pressures or economic reasons.—Tolonews
