Following the launch of the global campaign to protect Afghan journalists in Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey on 11 August 2025 — initiated by Afghan journalists in cooperation with the “Organization for the Support of Media” — fifty Afghan human rights, civil society, and diaspora organizations issued a joint statement on 15 August 2025, emphasizing the urgent need to protect Afghan journalists in these countries.
This statement, citing binding and customary international legal instruments — including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and UNESCO’s Declaration on Media Freedom — calls on host governments to immediately halt the detention, forced deportation, and denial of fundamental rights to Afghan journalists, to accelerate the processing of their asylum cases, and to ensure their safe resettlement.
The signatories warn that ignoring the plight of these journalists amounts to condoning threats against freedom of expression, human dignity, and the right to life — as press freedom is the backbone of democracy, and protecting journalists is essential to safeguarding truth, justice, and collective awareness.
#NoToDeportationOfJournalistsFromPakistanAndIran
#AccelerateTheTransferOfJournalistsToSafeCountries
#BeingAJournalistIsNotACrime
