AIB joins media organisations and NGOs to call on G7 for urgent, immediate support to Afghan journalists

23 August 2021

AIB joins media organisations and NGOs to call on G7 for urgent, immediate support to Afghan journalists

The Association for International Broadcasting [AIB] has joined with 50 NGOs, civil society organisations and media support organisations across the world in calling for the G7 and members of the Media Freedom Coalition to take urgent and immediate action to support Afghan journalists.

“The AIB is committed to supporting those in Afghanistan who have supported freedom of expression,” says AIB chief executive Simon Spanswick. “Many hundreds of journalists and support workers have been involved in telling stories about the country to audiences in and beyond Afghanistan over the past 20 years. Many have worked with international news organisations, including AIB Members, to ensure the free flow of news. Now is their time of need and the international community needs to support everyone who needs and who seeks safe refuge outside the country.”

The recommendations, which are being shared with the Group of Seven countries ahead of their planned G7 meeting on Afghanistan on 24 August, also stress the importance of safe passage to exit routes out of Afghanistan and securing channels for money to flow into Afghanistan.

The AIB is working with a number of its Members to secure safe passage from the country for those who have contributed to the success of media within Afghanistan and to reporting the country to the world.

For more information on the call to the G7 and Media Freedom Coalition, or for assistance for those needing to leave the country, contact Simon Spanswick at the AIB Secretariat in the UK – telephone +44 20 7993 2557.

SABC builds new sports alliance

23 August 2021

SABC builds new sports alliance

The Walt Disney Company Africa and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) have signed a distribution agreement to bring local and international live sporting events, news programming, as well as library and film sporting content from ESPN to SABC Sports viewers across South Africa, through its SABC Sports Channel. SABC launched its new sport channel in June 2021.

Under the agreement, SABC Sports viewers will unlock a selection of premium sports content. ESPN brings an unparalleled portfolio of US sporting content and documentaries to its viewers across the world and in Africa, the broadcaster extends this offering by showcasing the latest in European football and other international franchises.

SABC Sports will bring the world’s top track and field athletes to its viewers through ESPN’s four live World Athletics Events, with the first coming straight from Nairobi with the U20 Championships, currently on air. Additional events include the World Indoor Championships from Serbia (March 2022), World Race Walking Championships from Belarus (April 2022) and the World Championships from the USA (July 2022).

After a successful inaugural season in Kigali earlier this year, teams from across the continent will once again gather to showcase the best in local basketball talent in a hotly-anticipated second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). SABC Sports viewers can look forward to select fixtures of this celebrated local league being broadcast live on their screens in 2022.

For Boxing fans, SABC Sports will be bringing live boxing events and programming to viewers in 2022, including over 150 hours of boxing content from ESPN’s vast library, showcasing the greatest in boxing events, athletes and moments in the sport’s history.

SABC Sport General Manager, Gary Rathbone, stated: “This agreement is going to add significant depth to our current offering on the SABC Sports Channel. Our channel will now offer unrivalled content to our local sport fans seven days a week, thanks to ESPN’s great boxing archive and film and documentary library. With the addition of long-awaited regular live boxing events, as well more live Football, Athletics and African Basketball, it’s clear that this partnership will deliver right across the board for our viewers”.

Rathbone added: “This partnership will not only give our viewers access to great sports content but will see the SABC Sport Channel and our teams benefiting from the resources and experience that this collaboration with ESPN offers.”

Kyle De Klerk, Director: Sports, The Walt Disney Company Africa, said: “With this content agreement we are excited to not only be bringing ESPN’s unprecedented and compelling sporting offering to new audiences, but to also be taking a great step in highlighting and celebrating some of the up and coming leagues and athletes from around this continent.”

Christine Service, Senior Vice President and General Manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa, noted: “We are delighted to be extending our relationship with SABC to include ESPN, bringing another diversified and exciting brand from Disney’s portfolio to local free-to-air audiences.”

Taliban murder relative of DW journalist, injure another

20 August 2021

Taliban murder relative of DW journalist, injure another

Taliban fighters hunting a DW journalist have shot dead one member of his family and seriously injured another. The Taliban were conducting a house-to-house search to try and find the journalist, who now works in Germany.

Other relatives were able to escape at the last moment and are now on the run. DW Director General Peter Limbourg issued a strong condemnation and called on the German government to take action.

“The killing of a close relative of one of our editors by the Taliban yesterday is inconceivably tragic, and testifies to the acute danger in which all our employees and their families in Afghanistan find themselves,” Limbourg said. “It is evident that the Taliban are already carrying out organised searches for journalists, both in Kabul and in the provinces. We are running out of time!”

Taliban hunting journalists

The Taliban have raided the homes of at least three DW journalists. Nematullah Hemat of the private television station Ghargasht TV is believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban, and Toofan Omar, the head of the private radio station Paktia Ghag Radio, was, according to government officials, targeted and shot dead by Taliban fighters.

Two men, also presumably Taliban, shot and killed the translator Amdadullah Hamdard, a frequent contributor to Germany’s Die Zeit newspaper, on August 2 in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, right there on the street. And a month ago, the world-renowned Indian photographer and Pulitzer Prize winner Danish Siddiqui died in Kandahar, presumably killed by Taliban militants.

Media alliance calls on German government for help

Consequently, DW has joined the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers (BDZV), Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, Deutschlandradio, dpa, Reporters Without Borders, stern, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, taz, RTL, n-tv and Arte in publishing an open letter calling on the German government to set up an emergency visa program for Afghan staff.

The German Journalists’ Association (DJV) is also calling on the German government to take swift action, given that stringers who worked for Western media are now being hunted down. “Germany must not stand idly by while our colleagues are persecuted and even murdered,” said Frank Überall, the DJV chairman. He said that saving these journalists right now and offering them refuge in Germany was absolutely essential.

DW is not revealing the name of the journalist or the location of his family as their lives are still at risk.

The Media Freedom Coalition [MFC] is meeting to explore ways this alliance of 49 nations can assist in protecting and supporting journalists and others employed by media companies in Afghanistan. It is not expected that Afghanistan, which under the elected government became a member of the Media Freedom Coalition, will take part in the meeting. The Association for International Broadcasting is a member of the Consultative Network to the MFC and will be taking part in the meeting.

Photo: A view across the city of Herat in Afghanistan from Herat Citadel. Jonathan Wilson/Adobe Stock

Volant Media UK launches Afghanistan International TV

18 August 2021

Volant Media UK launches Afghanistan International TV

On Sunday 15 August, the day the Taliban captured Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, Volant Media UK, the parent company of Iran International TV, launched Afghanistan International TV (AITV). AITV aspires to serve as a 24/7 international news network to provide reliable information for audiences and protect media freedom in the country.

With Afghanistan undergoing a chaotic transition after the US military withdrawal, AITV aspires to be a voice for the voiceless—to tell the story of the people of Afghanistan, said Harun Najafizada, AITV’s director. He revealed concerning reports of the Taliban’s tense relations with the media community and how independent journalistic activities have been severely disrupted.

The situation in Afghanistan is so dire that AITV decided to launch the network prior to the planned start date—which was slated for the United Nations’ International Peace Day on September 21. The hope is that this will fill a media vacuum that has developed with so many people fleeing the country and will provide a critical source of reporting and information amid rapidly shifting events on the ground.

AITV, which has started with daily nine hours of live television news and programmes, plans to expand to a full 24/7 schedule as soon as possible. But AITV also has a radio stream which is already offering 24-hour news and programs.

In terms of programming, Najafizada said AITV plans to rely heavily on reporting from across Afghanistan and to produce informative programs—talk shows, documentaries, and debates—to engage with people inside and outside Afghanistan. AITV will be an independent and impartial channel which will report facts, in keeping with standard journalistic norms.

As to how AITV will fare with the Taliban in control of Afghanistan, Najafizadeh says it is not about AITV, but it is about the Taliban and how they receive the international media. AITV is prepared for any scenario.

Pakistan offering visas to journalists and media workers in Afghanistan

16 August 2021

Pakistan offering visas to journalists and media workers in Afghanistan

On August 15, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan said that visas for Afghan journalists and families were being specially facilitated in “this period of uncertainty”.

The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) – a member of the Consultative Network to the intergovernmental Media Freedom Coalition – has welcomed the Pakistan government’s move to facilitate the visas of journalists and media personnel in Afghanistan.

A WhatsApp number (00923222807683) for the press counsellor has been provided, which media personnel requiring visas can contact, and as Khan has announced, will be facilitated.

In a tweet, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the Pakistan press section in Kabul had received hundreds of visa applications from the international media. Chaudhry said to facilitate their evacuation from Kabul, a special cell had been created.

Amid the escalating situation in Afghanistan, as the Taliban gained ground over previously Afghan government controlled territories, on August 13, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid had announced that in light of the evolving situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan had decided to ease its visa policy for journalists and media workers.

Rashid appealed to those international journalists and media workers who want to leave Afghanistan via Pakistan to apply for the Pakistani visa. The interior minister said that his ministry would issue these individuals visas on a priority basis.

Rashid said the decision to ease the visas was being taken by the Pakistani government keeping in mind the protection of journalists and media workers working in Afghanistan.

PPF hopes that the facility will act as a resource to a safe passageway for members of the media in Afghanistan who are currently in need of a safe exit.

Source: Pakistan Press Foundation

Haftar’s Russian Mercenaries: Inside the Wagner Group – a BBC World Service investigation

11 August 2021

Haftar’s Russian Mercenaries: Inside the Wagner Group – a BBC World Service investigation

BBC News Arabic and BBC News Russian have teamed up to deliver a TV documentary which investigates the presence in Libya of fighters who are working for the Wagner Group – a shadowy Russian organisation supplying fighters to war zones – fighters who are accused of war crimes by the local population. Haftar’s Russian Mercenaries: Inside the Wagner Group reveals the organisation’s apparent access to sophisticated modern weapons that, according to expert testimony, could only come from Russian military supplies. While Wagner employees almost never speak publicly, two former fighters discuss the types of people who are drawn to the organisation, their motivations, and the organisation’s goals.

BBC News Arabic and BBC News Russian journalists Nader Ibrahim and Ilya Barabanov reveal and analyse the contents of a tablet computer left behind by the Russian fighters when they were forced to retreat from the Libyan capital, Tripoli, in spring 2020. The tablet’s secrets include reconnaissance drone footage and manuals for anti-personnel mines and IEDs. Military maps of the frontline give an unprecedented insight into the group’s operations, as well as codenames of Wagner fighters, which helped the BBC to identify some of them. The tablet also provides evidence of the Russian mercenaries’ involvement in the mining and booby-trapping of civilian houses.

The film includes accounts of other suspected war crimes, among them the intentional killing of civilians. A Libyan villager describes how fighters, he believes were from the Wagner Group, kidnapped his father, his two brothers and their brother-in-law and later executed them. This blindfolded eyewitness survived by playing dead but still managed to glimpse the killers. His testimony, together with footage of Wagner fighters, allows the BBC to identify one suspected killer – a mercenary also suspected of involvement in possible war crimes in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

The killing of prisoners is also a war crime. Mohammed, a young veteran from Libya’s government forces, recounts how his soldiers were overwhelmed by Russian fighters who were better equipped and more professionally trained. He describes how one of his men was shot as he tried to surrender. Four of them are still missing.

The BBC has obtained documents linking Wagner’s mercenaries in Libya to Evro Polis, a Russian company reported to be a beneficiary of contracts for oil and gas field developments in Syria. Yevgeny Prigozhin, a rich businessman close to President Vladimir Putin and currently under US sanctions, has been linked to both Evro Polis and Wagner by the Russian media and foreign intelligence sources.

One of the documents is a request for military equipment for Wagner’s continued operations in Libya. It was addressed to an unnamed “General Director”, believed by some to be Prigozhin. A military analyst tells the BBC how the document suggests that, contrary to official Russian denials, such state-of-the-art technology would only be available from the Russian military.

A spokesperson told the BBC that Yevgeny Prigozhin has nothing to do with Evro Polis or Wagner. Mr Prigozhin commented: “I have not heard anything about the violation of human rights in Libya by Russians and I am sure that this is an absolute lie.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation has responded to the allegations contained in the film: “Russia is doing its utmost to promote a ceasefire and a political settlement to the crisis in Libya. Information about the presence of Wagner employees in Libya […] is mostly based on rigged data and is aimed at discrediting Russia’s policy in the Libyan direction.”

Jelena Aparac, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, under the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, comments: “The Working Group on the use of mercenaries is concerned by the increased involvement and proliferation of non-state actors such as ‘Wagner’ operating in contemporary armed conflicts. The lack of transparency on their status, rules of engagement, roles and command structures allowed states to obscure their involvement in conflicts and evade responsibilities. We have repeatedly called for urgent attention and discussions on ways to counter mercenaries and related activities and supported the discussions on legally binding instruments for private military and security companies.”

Commenting on the investigation, the director of the documentary, Nick Sturdee, says: “This film provides an unprecedented window into the workings of the Wagner Group and its relationship with the Russian state, uncovers detailed and hard evidence of Russian mercenaries fighting to topple the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, and broadcasts powerful testimony linking Wagner fighters to war crimes committed in Libya.”

Commissioning editor, Christopher Mitchell, adds: “The film dynamically conveys the two interacting investigations in Tripoli and Moscow. As a joint teamwork between BBC News Arabic and BBC News Russian, this documentary showcases the way the World Service’s language teams benefit from each other’s reporting, insights, and expertise.”

Russian Mercenaries: Inside the Wagner Group is available via the BBC News Arabic website and YouTube channel and other digital and social-media platforms, and in English from 23:00GMT – on BBC News iPlayer (UK only).Content about the investigation will be available via the BBC News website and YouTube channel and via the BBC News Russian website. The international TV channel, BBC World News, will show the film on Saturday 21 August. Later, the film will be available via BBC News Russian.

Reporters: Ilya Barabanov and Nader Ibrahim

Producer/director: Nick Sturdee

Executive producers: Kateryna Khinkulova and Paul Mitchell

BBC News Arabic and BBC News Russian are part of BBC World Service.