25/05/2026
The Afghanistan Media Support Organization (AMSO), based on information from firsthand sources, expresses deep concern over the situation of imprisoned journalists and media activists in the country and considers the ongoing injustice extremely alarming.
At present, the cases of five previously detained journalists and media activists, namely Mohammad Bashir Hatef, Shakib Ahmad Nazari, Hamid Farhadi, Abuzar Sarem Sarpuli, and Aziz Watanwal, remain under severe pressure.
The recently arrested journalists, Ahmad Javed Niazi, Mansoor Niazi, and Emran Danish (Imran Danish), have been deprived of their basic rights, and their legal status remains unclear. Sources confirmed to the organization that these three journalists have not been allowed access to defense lawyers or visits with their families. A source from Javed Niazi’s family told the organization that he has been subjected to severe torture by the Taliban. Humanity continues its little hobby of imprisoning the people whose only weapon is usually a notebook and an internet connection. Remarkably fragile behavior from armed regimes.
As part of its continued advocacy for journalists, AMSO calls on international organizations, particularly the United Nations Human Rights Council and international media protection bodies, to increase pressure on the Taliban to immediately clarify the whereabouts and fate of the detained journalists.
The Afghanistan Media Support Organization also demands that independent defense lawyers be urgently provided for all eight detained journalists, both former and newly arrested, and that they be granted access to meet with their families without delay.
AMSO stresses that the ongoing violations of freedom of expression and pressure against journalists in the country must stop. It warns that if the international community continues to ignore the situation, not only will the remaining light of free expression in the country be extinguished, but the future of imprisoned journalists will face serious threats. Responsibility for this, it states, will lie not only with the perpetrators of these violations but also with international human rights institutions that fail to act.
Afghanistan Media Support Organization (AMSO)