On Tuesday 24th April 2001 Freemuse launched its very first report; "Can you stop the birds singing?" - The censorship of music in Afghanistan, written by Dr. John Baily. The launch took place at London's Kufa Gallery in cooperation with International PEN and attracted quite some interest from the media; several BBC units, Associated Press, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and others were present.
• Welcome speeches by Mr. Moris Farhi, former Chair of International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee and Mrs. Marie Korpe, Executive director of Freemuse, click here
During Music Freedom Day 2008, governor Ata Mohammed Noor announced that he would try to solve the problem with the ban preventing male artists from singing at weddings
In a short documentary video about music and 'community censorship' in Afghanistan, the 19-year-old Afghan singer Mariam says she gets verbal abuse all the time
A letter from the Ministry of Culture and Information stated that "everything which is against the Sharia laws should not be printed, broadcasted, audio/video telecasted"
A commission for cultural and religious affairs in Afghanistan's lower house of parliament suggested to impose new restrictions on music and dance performance
18-year-old Lima Sahar has placed herself in the middle of Afghanistan's continous gender and music struggle. She could become the winner of the tv show 'Afghan Star'
Freemuse Special Report, 'The cage is singing', is an in-depth report with ten video interviews and a book about music censorship in Afghanistan - past and present
Video interview with the head of Afghanistan's Music Union, who is a famous folk singer. He was arrested once, and imprisoned and tortured another time, because of two songs
