"There was a lost opportunity. Many told us they had also spent time in the US-run detention centre at Bagram, north of Kabul, and complained of abuse there. The veteran correspondent and presenter, who played a key role in the BBC's coverage of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, told the Edinburgh International Television Conference: "What's lacking in the coverage of the Afghans is the sense of the humanity of the Afghans. We were able to visit the maximum security area, Block D, which only houses detainees accused of links to the Taliban or al-Qaeda.
On the top floor in The Zone, we met a Taliban commander, Salahuddin, described by other prisoners as one of the leaders. She said that it was "getting more and more dangerous" to cover the country. BBC presenter Lyse Doucet: Media fail to convey 'humanity of the Taliban' Media coverage of the conflict in Afghanistan is failing to convey the "humanity of the Taliban", a BBC presenter has said. With the help of foreign aid the buildings are being renovated and expanded to tackle overcrowding. Did that mean people knew more about why Britain was there?
Lyse Doucet gains rare access to Pul-e-Charkhi - Afghanistan's most notorious prison - home to five thousand men including many Taliban and al-Qaeda inmates. Visitors must pass through at least five checkpoints to enter. One man, who told me he was in for murder, was threading a red and white bead replica of Islam's most sacred site, the Kaaba in Mecca.
Even our constitution says Sharia law must be practised." Some of them don't want to be fighting British troops. Last November, a little publicised violent riot ended in a number of deaths and injuries, but the accounts differ. The new mantra at the prison itself is reform and rehabilitation. It's bloody frightening and difficult and dangerous, exhilarating as well. But she added: "Viewing figures went up, Prince Harry got a hero's welcome and recruitment for the British Army went up so an objective was achieved. Asked what was missing in British coverage, she added: "It may sound odd but the humanity of the Taliban, because the Taliban are a wide, very diverse group of people.
We don't have a problem with each other. She added: "What does it feel like to be a British soldier under fire? If the Prince Harry story can bring more people to think about Afghanistan then that's a good thing. Many prisoners remain in prison beyond the length of their sentences because of what they condemn as an ineffective and corrupt system of justice. Canadian-born Doucet said: "It probably did bring a lot of people to think about Afghanistan who normally wouldn't ordinarily think about Afghanistan. Doucet, who also covered Iraq in 2003, and the war between Israel and Hizbollah in 2006, added: "The right questions were not asked." "Journalists focused on the human story but it should part of a wider picture." The prison provides classes, but on the top floor of The Zone the Taliban organise their own. Prison authorities say the Taliban and other prisoners have too many freedoms. Lyse Doucet, a presenter and correspondent on BBC World News, was speaking at a discussion of TV reporting of the war in the country. Lyse Doucet is the BBC’s award winning Chief International Correspondent, and a presenter for BBC World News and the BBC World Service, who has spent more than thirty years reporting across the BBC’s global and domestic outlets.
Now security is exceptionally tight. As of 2019, she is a single woman and is enjoying her singlehood with profitable career. Prisoners say they were protesting for their rights. The cells, which measure about eight feet by eight feet (2.5m by 2.5m), were occupied by either one, two or three prisoners. We choose how we live and they can't interfere in that," he said while several guards looked on.
At dusk they pray together in the open corridor.
Lyse Doucet on the great mediators of our time. She is regularly deployed to anchor special news coverage from the field and interview world leaders. But the only sounds coming from a long corridor lined with cells was the sound of Islamic prayers and the gentle hissing of a teapot on a burner in the hall.