A significant number of Afghan journalists were pushed to leave Doha a few days after the initiation of peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan Government negotiating team. AJSC has paved the way for journalists’ return to Doha after a series of discussions with relevant government officials.
Following a considerable delay, on 10 March 2020, the Afghan government and the Taliban resumed the much-awaited historic Intra-Afghan negotiations in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Afghan journalists comprehensively covered the opening three days of the intra-Afghan talks, but the Afghan Government made a surprise announcement asking the journalists to return to Kabul due to COVID-19 quarantine and visa expiration.
Upon the return of the journalists, Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), in Kabul, subsequently held a press conference and issued a press release calling on the government to facilitate the immediate return of journalists in order to cover the proceedings of this critical peace negotiations.
For that reason, the Afghan government announced that journalists who are interested can choose to return to Doha at their own expense – adding that government will not incur the travel costs of journalists. The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has designated AJSC as a point of contact for journalists to submit their visa applications for Qatar.
As part of AJSC’s mission to enhance access to information for journalists particularly during peace talks. AJSC has also drafted a roadmap which aims to ensure Afghanistan’s gains in terms of freedoms of press and expression are protected during peace talks by setting forth specific proposals for the government, negotiating team, international community and as well as the country’s media community.
In the past two decades, media has played a key role towards strengthening democracy, good governance, development of human rights and betterment of public awareness. Media will have a critical role to play even after the reconciliation, therefore, all sides involved in the reconciliation process must unite to protect these achievements.
