Afghanistan : Radio Begum suspended and two employees arrested as tyrannical media repression escalates
The newsrooms of Radio Begum, an emblematic women’s radio station, were raided, leading to the arrest of two of its employees. The Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture accused the station of “multiple violations” — including providing content to a foreign-based television channel and failure to comply with its licence — when announcing its suspension. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate release of the station’s employees and for the ban to be immediately lifted.
Updated on 6 February 2025 : The newsrooms of Radio Begum, an emblematic women’s radio station, were raided, leading to the arrest of two of its employees. The Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture accused the station of “multiple violations” — including providing content to a foreign-based television channel and failure to comply with its licence — when announcing its suspension. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate release of the station’s employees and for the ban to be immediately lifted.
Radio Begum, a vital source of information for the increasingly oppressed women of Afghanistan, announced on 4 February that agents from the Taliban's General Intelligence Directorate (GDI), accompanied by members of the Ministry of Information and Culture, had raided its premises earlier in the day. They interrogated employees; confiscated the computers, hard drives and mobile phones of the station’s women journalists; and arrested two employees, both men. In the post-raid statement published on X (formerly Twitter), the Ministry of Information and Culture declared that Radio Begum‘s broadcasting had been suspended for “due to violations of broadcasting policy and improper use of its license.” It is also accused of “providing content and programs to a television station based abroad”. The medium is owned by Begum Organization for Women (BOW), an NGO founded in 2020 working in Afghanistan and France, that launched Radio Begum on 8 March 2021, Begum TV in March 2024, and an online educational platform in 2023.
“The Taliban's targeting of Radio Begum is yet another outrageous attack on press freedom. By using vaguely-worded regulations to silence a radio station dedicated to Afghan women, the regime is reaffirming its appetite for brutal censorship, which is just one part of a broader policy of media repression. RSF demands the release of the two detained employees and and an end to the ban on Radio Begum — immediately.
The crackdown on Radio Begum is a symptom of intensifying attacks on the media in Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate’s hardening extremist ideology has spurred a proliferation of bans, which has led to the closure of at least 12 media outlets by the Taliban in less than a year. More than 140 journalists have been arrested or detained, and 80% of women journalists have left the profession. The few women journalists still working are subject to all kinds of restrictions, with bans including accessing official sources, travelling without a chaperone, working alongside men in the workplace, and even being present on air.
Afghan women have been progressively excluded from public life and from secondary and university education. Due to these circumstances, Radio Begum refocused its activities on home-based educational programmes. After the UN condemned the country’s “gender apartheid”, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, announced at the end of January that he had requested arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders accused of crimes against humanity for systematic violation of the fundamental rights of girls and women. RSF reiterates its support for this decision and continues to condemn the restrictions on the personal and professional freedom of Afghan journalists.
Stay informed
