Taliban promises to shatter: photos of journalists brutally beaten up released

Images circulating online show two Atilatroz newspaper journalists with scars and bruises after their arrest in the capital, Kabul.

The Committee on the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) called on the Taliban to allow the media to operate freely.

The BBC team was also not allowed to film on Wednesday.

Atilatroz photographer Nematullah Cash and reporter Taqi Dariabi were arrested on Wednesday during a small protest in Kabul. They were later taken to the Kabul police station, where they are said to have been beaten up with sticks, electric wires and bison. in a few hours Taliban He was released without explanation.

“One of the Taliban put his foot on my head, pressing his face to the concrete. They kicked me in the head (…) I thought they would kill me,” Cash told AFP. When asked why he was being beaten up, he said, “You’re still lucky that you Not cut.”

Taliban fighters tried to snatch the camera, he said, as they began taking pictures.

“They lay before us”

Despite the regime’s promise to treat everyone equally, the Taliban has begun to silence opponents who criticize it, AFP reports.

The Taliban announced Wednesday night that demonstrations would be considered illegal without the permission of the Justice Ministry.

Ms Cash and her fellow journalist Taki Daryabi of the Etilat Rose newspaper were instructed to cover a small protest at the Kabul police station, where women demanded their rights to work and education.

N. According to the cash, as soon as he started taking photos, a Taliban fighter reached there.

“I was told that filming is prohibited. The militants arrested all the people who made the film and snatched their phones.”

Cash also said that the Taliban fighter wanted to snatch the camera, but the photographer handed it over to one of those present.

However, three Taliban fighters caught hold of a newspaper employee and took him to the police station where they started beating him up.

“The Taliban have started insulting me, kicking me,” Cash said. He said he was accused of organizing a protest.

Finally, N. The cash was taken to a crowded cell, where he saw his colleague T. Dariabi, who was also arrested and beaten.

“We were in so much pain that we couldn’t even move,” said Dariabi.

Hours later, Etilaat Rose’s employees were released without explanation and were subjected to humiliation.

“They see us as the enemy,” said Dariabi.

The Taliban have said they will not restrict media freedom if it does not oppose unknown Islamic principles, but more and more Afghan journalists are complaining that Taliban fighters are clinging to them during protests.

In recent days, several journalists have reported that they have been beaten, detained, or denied coverage of protests that were unimaginable during the last Taliban regime in the twentieth century. in the 1990s. Most of the dead are Afghans. They are being persecuted more by the Taliban than by the foreign media.

The protests are a preliminary test for the Taliban regime, which is on 15 August. While in power in Afghanistan, he promised a more tolerant regime and efforts to “bring peace and prosperity to the country”.

Zaki Daryabi, head of the Etilat Rose newspaper, said the Taliban’s promises seemed unconvincing. “The official language is fundamentally different from the reality we see every day,” he said.

And other journalists, including the BBC team, were not allowed to film in Kabul on Wednesday. Afghanistan’s Tolo news agency reported that its operator was arrested by the Taliban for about three hours.

The international non-governmental organization CPJ said at least 14 journalists were detained over the past two days and later released. “The Taliban are ready to prove that past promises to allow Afghan free media to operate freely and securely are worthless,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “We call on the Taliban to keep their promises, stop journalists from doing their jobs and allow the media to operate freely without fear of retaliation.”

Earlier this week, the Taliban, which control Afghanistan after a widespread attack, announced the formation of an interim caretaker government to rule the country. Since then, the Taliban have effectively banned the protests, declaring them illegal unless permission is sought from the Justice Ministry.