Afghanistan’s long-beleaguered journalists got some rare good news this week: the scrapping of the Media Violations Investigation Commission (MVIC), a complaints body the government has long used as a tool to harass and intimidate Afghanistan’s burgeoning media.
The move, announced May 5 by the new information and culture minister, Baru Jahani, was a relief for media advocacy groups that have long criticized the MVIC as an agency that operated without a legal basis after having been abolished by the 2009 Mass Media Law.
Jahani’s decision came in response to protests by journalists and civil society activists against the ministry’s efforts to censor the media. On May 3, MVIC had summoned four newspaper publishers for an official scolding after they published articles critical of the minister. Media advocacy organizations protested the move, using the occasion of World Press Freedom Day to highlight restrictions on media freedom in Afghanistan.
According to the newspaper Etilaat-e Roz – which has been a victim of MVIC harassment on multiple occasions – Jahani annulled the MVIC in response to “strong reactions from … journalists, academics and civil society activists against the illegal actions” of the commission. Having earlier claimed that the banning decision was made under the previous minister (Jahani was approved as minister on April 18), he also promised to form a governmental Mass Media Commission to replace the MVIC in consultation with journalists and other media professionals.
Human Rights Watch documented numerous incidents in which Jahani’s predecessor, Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, in office until November 30, 2014, used the MVIC to intimidate the press. Raheen insisted on “apologies” from journalists for stories critical of the government or of powerful interests who enjoy government protection. Until now, the government has also routinely turned a blind eye to officials who threaten, intimidate, or even physically attack members of the media.
Abolishing the MVIC is an important step. But if media freedom is going to become a reality in Afghanistan, Afghan authorities will need to bring to justice anyone who uses threats and violence to silence the press.
