IWPR, October 10, 2011

Afghanistan: Nangarhar Journalists Allege Official Obstruction

Access to information deliberately restricted by local government institutions, reporters allege

By Hejratullah Ekhtiyar

Journalists in the southeast Afghan province of Nangarhar accuse local government officials of systematically denying them information.

Media professionals from the area voiced their concerns at a meeting hosted by IWPR’s provincial office in the town of Jalalabad.

“The law isn’t respected, across the country as well as in Nangarhar,” Abdol Moid Hashemi, head of the local Journalists’ Defence Committee, said. “We’ve received complaints from journalists alleging that some officials have abused them and made death threats against them.”

Taher Sapai, a reporter for Shamshad TV, noted that Hashemi himself had been threatened by an official in Laghman province, who told him he had a price on his head of “4,000 US dollars and two metres of earth”.

Lal Pacha Azmun, a Voice of America reporter, said he believed many officials in Nangarhar had been instructed not to speak to the press, while others refused to give out information on the grounds that it was secret.

“Officials must know the difference between confidential documents and information, but they deem normal information to be confidential as well,” he said.

The developing media scene and freedom of speech are often cited as evidence of the progress made in Afghanistan since 2001, when the Taleban government was ousted. But journalists say they are sometimes forced to censor their own work in order to protect themselves and their families from reprisals.

Local government officials were invited to the meeting at the IWPR office, but did not attend. However Ahmad Zia Abdolzai, spokesman for Nangarhar governor Gul Agha Sherzai, told IWPR that that the provincial administration was keen to give the media access to information.

“We have told all our officials, both formally and informally, to share information with the media so that people are informed about what’s happening in Nangarhar,” he said.

Abdolzai denied claims made by reporters that certain officials were not authorised to give an interview without getting permission from the governor.

“Officials in some institutions may be reluctant or unable to answer questions put to them by journalists, so they make up excuses,” he said. “But there may not be many like that.”

Hejratollah Ekhtiar, one of the authors of this report, recalled his own experience of seeking an interview with a senior mines and industries official in Nangarhar.

When the official saw Ekhtiar, he asked him, “Are you here for an interview? Do you have a letter from the governor’s office? If you have a letter, then come in. If not, there is the door – goodbye. We aren’t allowed to give interviews.”

Ekhtiar then called the governor’s spokesman, who instructed the official to do an interview, and the latter agreed to do so “with pleasure”.

Aworang Samim, the head of the provincial information department, criticised officials who refused to talk to journalists, and promised to raise the matter at an internal meeting.

“I have decided to organise a gathering of journalists and writers every month,” he said. “I will propose… running a workshop for officials on confidential information, so that they no longer use this as an excuse to obstruct journalists.”

Sapai accused the commander of the border police in Nangarhar, Aminollah Amarkhel, of excluding him from press events.

“He doesn’t invite me to news conferences and won’t give me information,” Sapai said. “I don’t know who to complain to.”

A spokesman for the force, Idris Mohmand, of the first zone of the border police, confirmed that Sapai was under a boycott.

“The story is that we’d had some achievements and General Aminollah called a press conference to provide information about them,” he said. “But this journalist didn’t come to the press conference; instead he went out and gathered information from other policemen. That’s why the general got angry at him.”

Mohamed said that in the case of the border guards, only the head had authority to speak to the press. “The interior ministry has given permission only for General Aminollah to give interviews, because most of our policemen are illiterate and make emotional statements about neighbouring countries, which could affect relations with them,” he explained.

Journalists at the meeting accepted that part of the blame lay with colleagues who allowed themselves to be manipulated by officials.

“Some of our journalists behave shamefully as well,” Ershad Raghand of Zhwandun TV said. “Some of them haven’t been paid by their media outlets for five months, so they take bribes from officials and produce reports favourable to them.”

Commenting on the meeting itself, he asked, “Why are so many journalists not present here today? If an official organised a reception, they’d come running and bring their relatives along as well.”

Raghand said journalists must formed a united front against officials and warlords who wanted to undermine them, and try to win respect.

Hashemi agreed that unethical journalists were a disgrace to the profession, and said media outlets should be more careful who they recruited.

Hejratullah Ekhtiyar is an IWPR-trained journalist in Nangarhar province.

Characters Count: 6649