UN lauds courage of Afghan journalists, calls for end to crimes against them

Kabul [Afghanistan], November 3 : The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has paid tribute to the Afghan reporters for their courage and said that the impunity for crimes against journalists should be ended, reported TOLOnews.
"UN in Afghanistan today marked International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists with Dep-Head Metknu hosting a group of Afghan reporters to pay tribute to their courage, remember slain colleagues and call for journalist safety," UNAMA said in a tweet.
The UN General Security deputy special representative for Afghanistan Mette Knudsen, on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, met with the journalists in Kabul, according to TOLOnews.
Besides, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the investigation of the crimes against the journalists in the country which included 62 journalists who were killed last year during their jobs, reported the news channel citing Guterres.
"Last year, according to UNESCO, 62 journalists were killed just for doing their jobs. Many lost their lives to conflict. But in recent years, the number of media workers killed while investigating corruption, trafficking, and other human rights violations has risen. Almost 9 out of 10 of these killings go unpunished," TOLOnews quoted him as saying.
Guterres also appealed to the other UN states to show solidarity with the journalists.
An organisation for supporting free media in Afghanistan, NAI said that there has been an increase in violence against the journalists in Afghanistan, however, the perpetrators have not been punished, reported TOLOnews.
More than 30 cases of violence against the journalists have been reported since the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban, according to NAI.
"If such incidents are not investigated, media cannot operate freely," TOLOnews quoted advocacy head of NAI, Nasir Ahmad Noori as saying.
"Although the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) repeatedly has said it will maintain journalists' security, we see that journalists are being beaten and insulted," the news channel quoted a journalist Samiullah Pam as saying.
Meanwhile, as violence has increased in Afghanistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over the situation of Afghan journalists and said that hundreds of journalists have recently fled the war-torn country.
Citing a CPJ statement, Tolo News reported that some journalists have recently been detained or beaten in Afghanistan.
"Taliban leaders appear even less likely than Afghanistan's previous government to respond to local and international calls to end the country's culture of impunity for crimes against journalists," Tolo News quoted the New York-based media rights group.
"After the recent evolution in Afghanistan, the cases of violence against journalists have increased. This issue has caused concern to the Afghanistan National Journalists Union," said Masrror Lutfi, head of the ANJU.