A/HRC/34/41 64. In 2016, State actors were alleged to have subjected journalists to beatings, arbitrary detentions and harassment and obstructed their access to information and reporting. In particular, UNAMA/OHCHR received allegations of ill-treatment against journalists attempting to report on security incidents by Afghan security forces, including the National Directorate of Security. UNAMA/OHCHR are not aware of investigations into such incidents. 65. Anti-government armed groups subjected journalists to intimidation, deliberate attacks and killings. In 2016, 12 journalists (9 men and 3 women) were killed. Of that total, seven were killed by the Taliban because of their association with the media (see para. 66 below), three were unintentionally killed in attacks during assignments in conflict areas and two were killed in allegedly criminally motivated incidents. 66. The Taliban continued its campaign of threats and intimidation against media outlets, labelling specific outlets as “military targets”. Following their threat against Tolo TV in 2015, on 20 January 2016 a suicide attack with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device against a shuttle bus operated by the Moby Group (the parent company of Tolo TV) killed 8 civilians, including 7 Tolo TV staff members, and injured 30 others. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it was in retaliation for Tolo TV’s alleged severe hostility to Islam, for serving as an apparatus and propaganda mechanism of the United States of America, for disrespecting Kunduz citizens and for making false accusations of executions, plunders, kidnappings and other abuses. 67. International human rights law and international humanitarian law provide effective normative protection to journalists and other media professionals in their exercise of the right to freedom of expression and from threats and attacks. 9 In particular, attacks deliberately directed at journalists are prohibited under international humanitarian law, as they are not participants in the hostilities they cover and do not lose their status as civilians. As such, the deliberate attack on the Moby Group shuttle bus is likely to have constituted a war crime. UNAMA/OHCHR noted with concern several threatening statements made by the Taliban against independent media outlets, which were often branded as “puppets controlled by the invaders”. UNAMA/OHCHR also documented threats and intimidation perpetrated by anti-government elements, such as Da’esh, against radio stations in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province. 68. Many Afghan human rights defenders have reported that the attacks by antigovernment elements, the threats against journalists and human rights defenders and the increasing insecurity all affected their ability to advocate for human rights and created a climate of fear, and that the Government provided inadequate support to ensure their safety. Expanded Taliban armed activities in Farah, Helmand and Kunduz provinces have led to scores of journalists and civil society actors fleeing those provinces for fear of reprisals. 69. UNAMA/OHCHR therefore welcomes the renewed commitment of the Government to addressing violence against journalists. On 31 January 2016, the President issued a decree affirming the commitment of Afghanistan to freedom of expression in the media. Yet, the decree contains language indicating that the Government might seek to control or limit journalistic freedom of expression on national security grounds. In line with the decree, on 8 March a commission was set up to investigate cases of murder and violence against journalists and media workers since 2001. The commission received information related to 679 cases, of which 252 have been dismissed either because of the amount of time that has passed since the incident or because of the inability to access a specific area owing to insecurity. 9 14 See A/HRC/24/23.