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Media Interviews Afghan journalists wear masks to support colleagues banned from showing their faces by the Taliban 22/05/2022 16:03

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London – Male journalists from the publisher TOLONews, one of the few who continue to practice independent journalism in Afghanistan, took the podium this Sunday (22), in a risky protest against an order of the Taliban regime. , in solidarity with their female colleagues, who have been banned from showing their faces on TV since yesterday.

Saad Mosheni, director of ToloNews, posted on Twitter a photo of the presenter Sebghat Sepher presenting the 6pm (local time) newspaper wearing a mask similar to those used as protection against the coronavirus.

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But the ban, announced last Wednesday (18), has nothing to do with the pandemic, but with the wave of press censorship and restrictions on women that have steadily increased since the Taliban came to power in August 2018. 2021.

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A group photo of the station’s male and female journalists with their faces covered was also posted on social media and retweeted by the station manager.

The decision to ban women from showing their faces on television was taken by the Ministry of Virtue Promotion and Prevention of Depravity, which replaced the Ministry of Women with the Taliban’s rise to power.

Journalists’ reaction to the Taliban order

Shortly after the ban was announced last week, some hosts posted masked photos on social media while presenting newspapers and programs.

ToloNews presenter Yalda Ali wrote that she was “deleted” on Taliban orders for posting a video of her wearing the accessory on her face.

On Saturday 21st some presenters still appeared unmasked, but at the threat of being forced to go off-air, they finally accepted the ban – and now have the solidarity of their male colleagues.

TOLONews presenter Sonia Niazi said in an interview with the AFP news agency on Sunday:

“We opposed and resisted the use of masks. But TOLOnews was pressured and said, without covering his face, that any presenter appearing on the screen should be given another job or simply removed.”

‘Taliban wants to remove journalists from TV’ says anchor

As soon as the order was announced, two TOLONews presenters cried in the station’s offices in Kabul, reporting to CNN.

“They want women removed from television. They’re afraid of a woman with a good education level,” Khatera, 27, told the American network, a morning newscaster for five months.

TOLONews director Khpolwak Sapai told CNN he was considering shutting down the station after the new order, but resigned to give employees a chance to present with their faces.

In the past nine months, it has seen more than 90% of its personnel flee the country after the Taliban came back to power.

“Female and male journalists and presenters were separated,” Sapai told CNN. “And the producers…. I was alone at the management level,” he said.

The 23-year-old hostestia wept as she questioned what female journalists should do, with more setbacks against the rights won over the past two decades.

“We were ready to fight to keep our job to the end, but they won’t let us.

It’s a psychological and depressing prison, we have no motivation to go out and openly.”

CNN was able to speak to Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid about the banning of journalists during the late celebration of May 3 World Press Freedom Day.

He said the fix was “a recommendation from the ministry” and that only “women on TV should wear it” as to the necessity. [a máscara]” compared to the pandemic.

“The mask was mandatory as it was during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Journalists censored by the Taliban

The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan after the official government fell in August last year. Since then, the domestic and foreign press and women as a whole have been increasingly oppressed.

The ban on showing one’s face confirms the pessimism of those who do not believe in religion. The Taliban promised that journalism would be respected, It was held in August 2021, shortly after the seizure of power. Since then, journalism has broken down in the country.

last December, According to a poll by Reporters Without Borders, 40 percent of standalone tools have stopped working.

Women were the most affected. In November, country leaders announced A package of rules for the audio-visual sector.

Women were banned from appearing in fictional programs (for example, soap operas) or entertainment programs, and news anchors were required to cover their heads with a headscarf (Islamic veil).

The research, published in March by the International Federation of Journalists, found less than six months after taking power, 87% of female journalists faced gender discrimination during the Taliban regime, and 60% of them lost their jobs and careers.

read more

Discrimination and fear: The plight of Afghan journalists under the Taliban

The new cover layout strikes those who still resist in the profession.

In the 1990s, when the Islamist fundamentalist group first took over the country, it demanded that women wear clothes that cover their eyes and search, in addition to banning access to education.

Initially, after returning to power in 2021, the Taliban signaled that it would not re-implement the dress code for women, which had changed in recent months.

A new order, which went into effect in early May, requires all women to wear clothing that only leaves the eyes visible.

The decree states that women should only leave the house when necessary and that male family members will be punished for violations committed due to inappropriate dress.

The Taliban also once again banned girls from going to school after the sixth grade.

In March, the group’s attack on journalists hit three international companies that distribute their content through their Afghan partners.

Local broadcasters were banned from broadcasting the BBC’s Pashto, Persian and Uzbek news bulletins, while a talk show by German DW was banned.

US Congress-funded broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) also took its programs off the air in Afghanistan.

source: Noticias

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