Attacks on journalists threaten media freedom скачать в хорошем качестве

Attacks on journalists threaten media freedom

(21 Jan 2015) New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch, which released a report on Wednesday titled "Stop Reporting or We'll Kill Your Family," says perpetrators of violence against journalists in Afghanistan are rarely punished, adding that the country's media freedom was under attack. Patricia Grossman, a Human Rights Watch researcher on Afghanistan, said on Wednesday that these attacks "are carried out not by unknown personalities, but quite often by very well known public figures." "Because nothing has ever been done against those who have perpetrated these attacks for more than dozen years, they continue to do so without fear of ever being held to account," she added. Eight journalists were killed in Afghanistan in 2014, making it the deadliest year for the media since 2001, when the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban, rights groups say. That number included a number of foreign reporters, including Associated Press photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus, who was shot dead by a police commander in Khost, near the border with Pakistan, early last year. Her colleague, senior AP correspondent Kathy Gannon, was seriously hurt in the attack. Afghan journalist Hussain Sirat, an editor at Afghanistan's biggest daily newspaper '8AM', who also works for Deutsche Welle, has been attacked in the street and received death threats in text messages that accuse him of being an "infidel", which he assumes is related to his work for the German broadcaster. "I cannot work safely here in Kabul," he said. A free media had been hailed as one of Afghanistan's greatest achievements since the 2001 invasion, with almost 1,000 news organisations operating, compared to just 15 under the Taliban's extremist rule. But more than 40 journalists have been killed since then, according to Nai, a media support organisation in Kabul. Many reporters feel pressured by the government, insurgents and corrupt warlords to self-censor to avoid trouble or leave journalism entirely. President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival-turned-chief executive Abdullah Abdullah pledged during campaigning last year to uphold constitutional protections for a free media. Abdullah vowed in November to end impunity for crimes against journalists. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...