Radio Liberty in partnership with the Conservative Friends of Afghanistan (CFA) held an online discussion titled the "Media and Afghanistan Peace Process" to look at how journalists and activists are being killed in a wave of targeted attacks.
Peace negotiations between representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban commenced in Doha, Qatar, on 12 September, after more than six months of delay amid political dysfunction in Kabul and continued conflict. The talks have now stalled again in their opening rounds, as all parties wait for the incoming Biden administration to reveal what changes it might make to U.S. Afghanistan policy, particularly vis-à-vis the peace process and the U.S. military presence. With the the failed Trump administration, the incoming Biden administration’s approach to the peace process uncertain, Taliban violence on the rise, and the Afghan government struggling to manage multi-dimensional security and political challenges, it is far from clear where negotiations are headed.
Speakers:
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, UK Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth
Shabnam Nasimi, Executive Director of Conservative Friends of Afghanistan
Lotfullah Najafizada, Head of Tolonews TV
Shaharzad Akbar, Chairperson of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission
Omid Marzban, Senior Multimedia Editor - RFERL
Aliya Iftikhar, Coordinator and Senior Researcher-Asia Program, Committee to Protect Journalists
