The right to free speech will never be traded away in peace talks with the Taliban, Afghanistan’s Second Vice President Sarwar Danish said Sunday.
“Considering the importance and value of freedom of speech and right of access to information, it should be stated that the legal right of the nation will never be traded away in any circumstances,” Danish said at a ceremony to introduce new members of Access to Information Commission in Kabul.
Danish said that peace with the Taliban was one of the top national priorities and that the government was ready to enter into negotiation with the group without any preconditions. However, on the other hand, “the Afghan nation has made achievements over the last two decades and a half, which could not be forsaken even for peace,” the VP maintained.
According to Danish, dictatorship would prevail in the absence of freedom of speech in a society, which would naturally trample peace.
“Sustainable peace will not be established and no other fundamental rights of people will be ensured if there is no freedom of speech,” Danish said.
This year, Afghanistan’s Access to Information Law was ranked first in the world by Centre for Law and Democracy and Access to Information of Europe.
Ainuddin Bahaduri, a member of Access to Information Commission, stressed on implementation of the law.
Other members of Access to Information Commission are Zahra Mosavi, Hamdullah Arbab, Fazal Bari Baryalai and Najiba Muram.
Despite having the best law in the world, media in Afghanistan still faces difficulties in access to information. Some government organizations still do not share necessary or required information with media on time. Sometimes, even journalists and reporters complain about misbehavior of government officials.
Freedom of speech is considered one of the major achievements of the past one and a half decades, but was not easily achieved because Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists and media workers. Besides security problems, media workers face other problems like job insecurity.
