The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)’ index of countries with the highest number of journalist imprisonments has Afghanistan in a tie for 17th place with Iraq and Morocco.
The number of journalists behind bars worldwide has risen to a 30-year high, according to the CPJ’s annual jail census, the Journalists Imprisonment Index, which was released on December 14th.
According to the CPJ’s prison census, Afghanistan is globally ranked 17th in a tie with Iraq and Morocco as countries with the 3 journalists behind the bars.
Since the new administration has returned to power, press freedom in Afghanistan has suffered significant setbacks, and three journalists are currently behind bars.
When compared to Afghanistan’s western neighbor, Iran, which has similarly tight laws and restrictions on the media, Afghanistan’s number of imprisoned journalists is negligibly small.
With 62 journalists imprisoned as of December 1, Iran has leaped from the 10th position in 2021 to claim the title of “worst jailer of journalists in the world in 2022.” This is due to the government’s crackdown on widespread anti-government protests spearheaded by women.
According to the CPJ’s census, Iran is followed by China, Myanmar, Turkey, Belarus, and Egypt with 43, 42, 40, 26, and 21 journalists behind the bars, respectively.
This comes as of 1 December 2022, according to the CPJ, 363 journalists were imprisoned, reflecting the deteriorating situation of the freedom of the press and expression.
