June 8, 2007

Afghan Journalist Zakia Zaki Slain in Her Sleep

Dear Friend,

Internews mourns the devastating loss of Afghan journalist Zakia Zaki, the owner and manager of radio Sada-i-Sulh, or Peace Radio, an Internews partner station. Late in the evening of June 5, gunmen entered her house and shot her seven times, including in the chest and head, while she lay asleep in her bedroom with her baby.

"Zakia was one of those people we all knew and loved – she was so courageous and positive at the same time," said Jan McArthur, Country Director for Internews in Afghanistan. "We are truly shocked and saddened at the killing of this respected and inspirational community leader."

Zaki, who was 35, had described Peace Radio as "a community home for the residents, the only place where they dare to express themselves freely." As the only independent radio station in Parwan Province, based an hour north of Kabul, Peace Radio covered women's issues, human rights, education and local politics.

Zaki had received several death threats for her programming and her staff had been harassed. She had received threats of station takeovers from local community and religious leaders opposed to her political views and also to the concept of a woman as manager of a radio station. But she remained optimistic and vigilant in her commitment to managing a station that is truly community-owned and -run, and one of the few in Afghanistan that gives a real voice to women.

Radio Peace was one of the first radio stations that Internews supported when it began work fostering independent media in Afghanistan in 2002. Zaki participated in Internews trainings for journalists and station managers with great enthusiasm and, though she was one of only four female station managers, she was one of the most active and successful managers of all Internews partner stations as well as a strong advocate for independent media.

Zaki's six children, who were in the house at the time of her murder, were unharmed, and her husband was away. Zaki was also a representative from Parwan Province to a national tribal assembly and was headmistress of a high school for girls.

Zakia Zaki’s murder was the second targeted murder of a female journalist in Afghanistan in a week. Television reporter Shekiba Sanga Amaaj was killed in her home a few days earlier.

"We can honor Zakia Zaki and other journalists who have been murdered by building an ever stronger movement that supports the rights of people everywhere to speak freely and to have access to the information they need to participate fully in their societies," said Internews Network President David Hoffman. "It is imperative that we protest these killings; but more importantly, we must continue to build the capacity of local, independent media—newspapers, television and radio stations and Internet sites—that are the foundations of freedom."

The International Federation of Journalists reports that another Internews partner station not far from Peace Radio, Radio Qarabagh, was just seized by the district chief of Qarabagh, who banned the owner and manager from entering, beat up staff members, and seized station equipment. Radio Qarabagh is a popular and successful local independent radio station in the Qarabagh district of Kabul Province, which broadcasts news, educational and entertainment programming.

With grants from the US Agency for International Development, Internews has built 32 independent radio stations across the provinces of Afghanistan, with 12 more slated to be built over the next two years. For many of these communities, this is their only source of news and information. In Afghanistan, Internews has also provided equipment and training to local journalists; produced independent radio content with local journalists; and established a satellite distribution system for radio programming that reaches a majority of the population.