The justice committee of cabinet decided to form a committee to track cases of murder and violence against journalists at Saturday this week.
According to this decision, a committee with presentative of the competent Ministries of Information and Culture, Ministry of Interior, National Security Directorate, Attorney General and Afghanistan’s Journalist and Media Federation will be formed to track the cases of murder journalists and violence against journalists in the past fifteen years and investigate them.
In the previous year’s more than 620 cases of violence against journalist and about 60 domestic and foreign journalists has lost their lives and about 40 of them are killed in difference ways. However, the detective and justice institutes have not yet worked on these cases and perpetrators have not yet been identified and brought to justice.
In the Hamid Karzai government, the sponsor and journalist/media advocacy institutes asked many times to address these cases, but the government did not pay any attention to their requests. During the second round of the presidential election, advocacy organization and journalists trade unions had submitted a plan for the two leading candidates and their signature were the the foot of the scheme, both candidates pledge that if they are elected, they will follow up and pursue these cases.
Last month, President Ghani, on the request of Afghanistan Journalists and Media Federation which was consist of 15 other institutes, issued verdict which a section of that verdict was criticized tracking cases of murder and violence against journalists and finally yesterday with the decision of justice committee of the cabinet, they got practical step to follow up the murder and violence cases against journalists. Afghanistan’s National Journalists Union as a member of Afghanistan’s Journalists and Media Federation has welcomed this decision of the government.
We believe that addressing these issues can create an atmosphere of trust between journalist and the media in relation to support the government and their decisions. Afghanistan’s National Journalists Union also said; they are ready to share the documents of violence and murder of journalists and media workers with the committee formed to track the violence and murder cases of media workers. Afghanistan’s National Journalists Union believes that ensuring media and journalist’s safety, immediate and serious addressing of violence cases against them will make further strengthening of freedom of expression in the country.
The executive council of the Afghanistan’s National Journalists Union (ANJU)
