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- Taliban announce tighter controls on media, scholars, and online platforms | Afghan Witness
Taliban announce tighter controls on media, scholars, and online platforms Taliban ban TikTok and PUBG, restrict controversial discussions in media and target political analysts. 9 Oct 2024 On 20 September 2024, Taliban Spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid published a statement on X (formerly Twitter) from the Taliban’s Prime Minister Hasan Akhund “on preventing controversial discussions and debates.” The full statement , comprising eight directives, addresses religious scholars, and insists that they avoid discussing controversial and divisive issues in the media. The statement also asks scholars not to discuss complex issues and those related to Sufism, arguing such discussions are for “particular audiences.” The directives against discussing topics related to Sufism have reportedly faced backlash and condemnation. The directives also ask the public and those in charge of religious schools not to facilitate or invite “those scholars who incite disputes, promote superstitions, continue to use discussions, debates, and inappropriate language in public media, and create doubt and discord among the people do so to gain popularity or vent their frustrations.” On 23 September 2024, the Afghanistan Journalists Centre (AJC) further reported that the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture had notified media personnel of the new restrictions in a meeting conducted on 21 September 2024. AJC claimed they had obtained a copy of the document, which outlines eight restrictions on media, including a ban on the live broadcast of debates, criticism of Taliban officials, laws and policies. The document also warns of consequences in the case of violations, and includes a list of “experts” approved by the Taliban to give interviews, commanding media outlets to request approval from the Media Oversight Directorate of the Ministry of Information and Culture should they decide to include a name not mentioned on the list. The AJC also claimed that they had accessed the list of Taliban-approved experts with 68 names, but did not enclose the list in the report. On 26 September 2024, a list was circulated on X which claimed to contain the names of 64 “experts” approved by the Taliban, including Taliban officials and government staff , as well as pro-Taliban individuals. Two of the pro-Taliban individuals contained in the list were women, including Farah Mujahid, an individual based in Germany who has appeared in the media supporting the Taliban’s treatment of Afghan women. The list also includes the names of a former MP and pro-Taliban ethnic Hazara Jafar Mahdavi , and Hezb-e Islami affiliated Fazel-Minallah Mumtaz. On 24 September 2024, 8am Media reported that several Taliban officials had travelled to Herat province. 8am Media claimed that the representatives had instructed media in the Western zone (provinces in west Afghanistan) to act as a “propaganda tool” for the group's Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Ministry. Additionally, the officials directed Taliban media staff and spokespeople in the Western zone not to discuss security issues with media or topics that might jeopardise Taliban interests. Moreover, journalists told 8am Media that the Taliban were seeking to confront Afghan media operating from abroad, accusing them of “committing cultural invasion and spreading rumours.” Taliban block access to “immoral” websites, applications and TikTok On 21 September 2024, the Taliban’s Ministry of Communication and Information and Technology (MCIT) announced that they had monitored the filtering of “immoral sites” and applications, such as TikTok and the online multiplayer game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), and blocked their access countrywide through the use of telecommunication companies in Kabul. According to the ministry, the services of five telecommunications companies, Afghan Wireless, Etisalat, Salam, MTN and Roshan in Kabul, were monitored and reviewed to ensure the websites and applications were blocked. The ministry posted a table alongside a week-long assessment of the websites. In the table, the websites and applications were marked as “blocked” by all service providers in Kabul. PUBG is reported to be a popular video game in Afghanistan, with around 100,000 players using the service at peak times. The former Afghan government also deemed the game harmful and had planned to ban its use. Figure: Table shared by the Taliban’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology on X on 21 September 2024. The table title reads: “ Evaluation of one-week filtering of immoral websites in Kabul province.” Similarly, TikTok is used increasingly by younger Afghans, with estimates ranging from 325,000 to 2 million users in Afghanistan. Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akund had reportedly ordered the closure of TikTok and PUBG in 2022, claiming that the social media site was misleading the younger generation. Despite the order, pro-Taliban social media activist Mobeen Khan continued to use an account on TikTok with 195.9K followers, and his latest post was on 28 June 2024. AW investigators also noted several other pro-Taliban accounts on TikTok, some regularly posting videos until 9 February 2024 . Sources in Balkh province confirmed to AW that TikTok had been banned in the country as of 27 September 2024, but they remained able to access the application using a Visual Private Network (VPN). Taliban prosecution and punishment of political analysts and journalists During the same time period, AW recorded several arrests and sentencings of political analysts and journalists. On 27 September 2024, Afghanistan International reported that on 26 September 2024, Jawid Kohistani, a political analyst based in Kabul, had been detained by the Taliban. On 29 September 2024, Amu TV reported the detention of another political analyst, Khyber Hoshmand, in Kabul. According to Amu, Hoshmand was arrested by the Taliban on 22 September 2024 in Police District (PD) 8 of Kabul. Also on 29 September 2024, several Afghan media outlets reported that the Taliban’s military court had sentenced two journalists, Aref Hijran and Ahmad Kamran, to 10 years of imprisonment, following their arrests in July 2024. Hijran was reportedly sentenced for photographing Taliban checkpoints and Ashura commemorations. Share
- ICJ gender discrimination case: online responses | Afghan Witness
ICJ gender discrimination case: online responses International Court of Justice case against Taliban triggers social media campaigns from both supporters and critics. 9 Oct 2024 Feature image: X/@ZiaurahmanZala3 On 25 September 2024, The Guardian was briefed that Canada , Australia , Germany , and the Netherlands plan to file a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the Taliban for gender discrimination, under the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW), which was ratified by the former government of Afghanistan in 2003. It is expected that Afghanistan, under the Taliban, will have six months to respond before the ICJ holds a hearing and potentially proposes provisional measures. Advocates believe that even if the Taliban rejects the court’s authority, a ruling by the ICJ against the group could deter other countries from normalising relations with them. Anti-Taliban groups including the National Resistance Front ( NRF ), the Afghanistan Freedom Front ( AFF ), and the National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( NRCSA ), as well as Afghan women rights activists , welcomed the initiative to hold the Taliban accountable on women’s rights. In response to the report, Taliban Deputy Spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat dismissed allegations of discrimination against women as baseless in a 26 September 2024 post on X (formerly Twitter), which was subsequently reposted by Taliban Spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid. Fitrat’s post reads: “The accusation by certain countries against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan for human rights violations and gender discrimination is absurd. In Afghanistan, human rights are protected, and no one is discriminated against. Unfortunately, efforts are underway to spread propaganda against Afghanistan based on false information from a few women and make the situation look wrong.” Pro-Taliban accounts on X responded to news of the lawsuit by launching a campaign aimed at promoting the Taliban’s narrative, while discrediting or downplaying claims about the deprivation of women’s rights in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. AW reviewed posts from various pro-Taliban accounts between 25 September and 1 October 2024, to analyse their response to the issue. Several pro-Taliban accounts with thousands of followers posted videos of Afghan women working in both the public and private sectors, including police and businesswomen , to prove that women were not entirely absent from the system. They also shared a video of Deputy Prime Minister Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, from August 2024 , claiming that 85,000 women were currently employed within the Taliban’s health, education, and security sectors. Claiming that Islam grants true rights to women, and noting that Afghan women are currently secure , some pro-Taliban accounts shared a random video depicting the arrest of a woman by male policeman in America , as well as a photo showing a woman with a man who coloured himself like a dog, arguing that this is the kind of "freedom and rights" Westerners seek for Afghan women. Omar Baryal, a Taliban propagandist with 65,000 followers on X, dismissed accusations of gender discrimination against the Taliban administration, claiming international organisations lack the moral authority to criticise them. He further argued that they should focus on addressing human rights violations in Palestine instead. Another pro-Taliban account, with nearly 12,000 followers, claimed that women in the West were treated as labourers and objects for satisfying the sexual desires of men. Additionally, some pro-Taliban accounts sha red videos of Afghan women and girls wearing hijabs, asserting that those living abroad and advocating for women’s rights in Afghanistan do not represent them. These accounts claimed that Afghan women were able to speak for themselves, and were content with the rights provided by the Taliban. In one video shared by a pro-Taliban account with over 266,000 followers, a woman wearing hijab stated that Fawzia Koofi and Shukria Barakzai (former female Afghan parliamentarians) , along with Aryana Saeed (a renowned female Afghan singer) , have no authority to represent her or other Afghan Muslim women, despite their claims to do so. AW observed that this video was posted by hundreds of pro-Taliban accounts , including several with over 100,000 followers , and note that it was previously circulated by pro-Taliban accounts in March 2024 . Another video , where a pro-Taliban woman speaks in English and delivers the same message—that Afghan women abroad are not their representatives—was similarly posted by more than a hundred accounts , including prominent ones with tens of thousands to over 100,000 followers . The logo on the English-language video indicates that it was created and released by the pro-Taliban Uruj media channel, for the first time on 28 September 2024 . Female pro-Taliban activist Hafiza Ayesha Emirati , along with several other pro-Taliban accounts using female names, actively contributed to the campaign by posting and reposting various content, including videos and photos . Share
- Taliban destroy Hazara landmark amid roadworks in Kabul | Afghan Witness
Taliban destroy Hazara landmark amid roadworks in Kabul Abdul Ali Mazari monument demolished during roadworks in Hazara-majority area of Dasht-e Barchi. 9 Oct 2024 On 21 September 2024, various Afghan news agencies reported the destruction of the Abdul Ali Mazari landmark in an intersection in West Kabul. Videos and photos shared on social media showed heavy machinery demolishing the roundabout in Dasht-e Barchi, a Hazara majority area of Police District (PD) 6. The centre of the roundabout contained a landmark dedicated to Abdul Ali Mazari, a Hazara jihadi leader, and founder of the Hezbe Wahdat, a Shia political party formed in 1989. Mazari was reportedly captured, tortured, and killed by the Taliban in 1995. On 22 September 2024, Omid Radio, an Afghan radio station, published a video statement by Nematullah Barakzai, spokesperson for the Kabul Municipality, regarding the demolition. Barakzai named four roundabouts that had been removed from the capital and redesigned as intersections, reportedly to improve traffic conditions. On 23 September 2024, the Kabul Municipality shared photos of the aftermath of the demolition, claiming it was part of ongoing works in the area to “improve the beauty of the Puli Surkh intersection.” AW noted that neither Barakzai’s video, nor the Kabul Municipality’s announcement, used the official name of the intersection (Shahid Abdul Ali Mazari intersection), referenced Abdul Ali Mazari, or mentioned the road that connects with the Puli Surkh road, named as “Shahid [Martyr] Mazari Road,” after the late Hazara leader. Figure: Geolocation of a photo of the demolition site shared by the Kabul Municipality [34.504878, 69.116469] AW verified the demolition of the four roundabouts mentioned by Barakzai, and noted that two were redeveloped as intersections by the previous administration, prior to Taliban takeover. AW assesses that Barakzai’s statement implying the demolition of the landmark was part of a wider ongoing project to improve the capital’s road infrastructure is likely an effort to downplay the destruction of an important Hazara cultural landmark. The figure below shows the location of all the demolished roundabouts that were demolished, mentioned by Barakzai, and whether the work had been done before or after the Taliban returned to power. The Kart-e Mamorin roundabout was the only other intersection mentioned by Barakzai that had been demolished and redesigned after August 2021. In November 2022, the Kabul Municipality shared footage showing the clearance of the area. In this footage, it is clear that the demolition took place during the day. The name of the roundabout was also clearly identified in the title of the video uploaded to the Kabul Municipality’s YouTube page. Overall, AW assess the Kabul Municipality’s handling of the Mazari intersection’s destruction likely reflects a deliberate effort to minimise public scrutiny and negative attention of the monument. The landmark at the centre of Mazari’s roundabout had already been defaced by the Taliban in July 2024, as reported by AW. At the time, the damage was alleged to be part of a wider plan to connect Dasht-e Barchi to Puli Surkh neighbourhood, although the vandalism had no real impact on the roadworks. AW verified that the roundabout was located at the end of an 800-metre stretch of residential land that was cleared, with properties demolished, to build a new road connecting the two neighbourhoods. The satellite images below show the area before and after the land clearance for the reported road project. Figure: Satellite image showing the before and after the land clearance leading to the Abdul Ali Mazari intersection [34.505289, 69.118890]. Image © 2023 & 2024 Planet Labs Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission. As part of an upcoming investigation, AW has identified over 1.58 million square metres of land in the capital that has been cleared during the first three years of Taliban rule. According to numerous statements by the Kabul Municipality, the aim of this clearance has been to improve the city’s road infrastructure; however AW notes that a disproportionate number of residential properties have been demolished in areas where minority populations, such as Hazaras and Tajiks, are dominant, relative to other neighbourhoods. The demolition of the Hazara landmark at the centre of the Shahid Mazari intersection was met with criticism by many significant Afghan figures, including Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front. On 21 September 2024, Massoud posted a statement on social media claiming that the martyrs such as Mazari were “not tombstones or field clay that will be destroyed.” He added that they “have a place in the hearts” of the population and “will not be forgotten.” The defacing of Mazari’s face on the roundabout in July 2024, and the complete destruction of the landmark in September 2024, are among the many actions taken by the Taliban to erase the name and presence of this historical Hazara historical figure from Afghanistan’s cultural fabric. In November 2021, the Taliban replaced a statue of Mazari in Bamyan with a statue of the Quran. In May 2022, the Taliban reportedly destroyed a sign in Ghazni, featuring the name “Mazari Road,” and renamed Abdul Ali Mazari Square in Daykundi to “Faiz Mohammad Kateb Square.” Similarly, in December 2023, the Abdul Ali Mazari Airport in Bamyan was renamed “Bamyan Airport.” Share
- Afghan immigrants shot at Iranian border | Afghan Witness
29 Oct 2024
