His Excellency Hamid Karzai
President of Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan

4 April 2014

Your Excellency,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, to express our grave concern at the murder of one journalist and the shooting of another.

According to reports, Anja Niedringhaus and Kathy Gannon, photojournalist and reporter, respectively, for Associated Press news agency, were shot by a police officer in the eastern town of Khost on 4 April. Ms Niedringhaus, a German citizen, died in the attack, while Ms Gannon is reported to be in a stable condition. The attack happened on the eve of presidential elections and follows threats of violence by the Taliban.

The two journalists had been travelling with a convoy of election workers, protected by Afghan security forces, delivering ballots. They were reportedly sitting in the back of their car at a heavily guarded compound when a police officer walked up to their car and opened fire. The attacker immediately surrendered and was arrested.

We deeply regret Ms Niedringhaus' death and respectfully remind you that it is the duty of the state to provide a safe and secure environment for working journalists.

We call on you to ensure that the attacker is prosecuted to the full extent of the law and urge you to do everything in your power to ensure the safety of journalists in your country.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Tomas Brunegård
President
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers

Erik Bjerager
President
World Editors Forum

WAN-IFRA is the global organization for the world's newspapers and news publishers, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries.