Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the government’s failure to respond to a wave of attacks on media outlets throughout Pakistan in recent weeks and the absence of effective measures to protect news organizations and journalists.

In the latest attack, two individuals on a motorcycle threw a homemade bomb at the bureau of the TV news channel Express News in Sargodha, in the eastern province of Punjab, on 7 December, injuring a security guard and damaging one of its vehicles.

Express News is regarded as a liberal news organization and has been the target of previous attacks that were claimed by the Taliban.

The Sargodha attack came just six days after militants threw a grenade at the Din News channel’s bureau in the Punjabi capital of Lahore, injuring an employee and two policemen. They also scattered Islamic State leaflets threatening to continue attacking media outlets until they “revert to neutral journalism” and “side with truth that is Sharia and Islam.”

The attackers fled on a motorcycle and since then no arrests have been made.

An arson attack on Gawahi Television, a Christian Web TV station in the southern city of Karachi, on 24 November destroyed its studios and computer equipment. The station had been the target of threats, which were reported to the Karachi authorities. Surveillance cameras had been installed, but they were also destroyed by the fire.

Three Dunya News employees were injured when militants on a motorcycle threw a grenade at the TV station’s bureau in the northeastern city of Faisalabad on the evening of 20 November. After the attackers fled, pamphlets of Islamic State’s Khorasan branch were found at the scene.

“We deplore the lack of action by the authorities, who are displaying a complete absence of political will to protect the media,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“Extremist groups had threatened all of these media outlets. The local authorities should have taken energetic measures to protect their staff. It is time that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government reacted and responded to the calls from media defence NGOs and Pakistani journalists’ unions.”

RSF urges the Pakistani authorities to:

Allocate more material and human resources to monitoring and protecting news media staff
Organize the reinforcement of the security of media premises (guards, surveillance cameras, entrance barriers and so on)
Establish an effective alert system that allows the police to intervene quickly in the event of an attack.

According to some Pakistani journalists, the extremist groups are stepping up their attacks on media outlets with the aim of getting them to resume covering the activities of these groups. After an attack on a Peshawar school in December 2014 that killed more than 100 children, the authorities banned the Pakistani media from covering the activities of militant and terrorist groups.

Ranked 159th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, Pakistan is one of the pilot countries of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.

Reporters Without Borders

THE murder in Kohat of Hafeezur Rehman, chief editor of a local weekly newspaper and the president of the cable TV network owners association, appears to be yet another chapter in the saga of violence against this country’s journalists.

While it may be too soon to authoritatively say that he was targeted as a result of his profession, this much is obvious: across the country, those whose duty it is to report on events regularly come under fire from extremists — and sometimes even by state-sponsored actors.

Further, the modus operandi of the attack on Hafeezur Rehman was the same as the one employed in the killing in Tank earlier this month of journalist Zaman Mehsud, responsibility for which was claimed by the banned TTP.

Also read: ‘More journalists killed in Pakistan than any other democracy’

Then, two weeks ago, Mohammed Afzal Mughal, vice president of the Balochistan Union of Journalists, was picked up by a law-enforcement agency; he was released the next afternoon, perhaps in part because his plight was immediately made public nationwide by the media.

And last week, the Faisalabad bureau office of Dunya TV was targeted with a hand grenade, leaving three people injured.

Not even a month has passed since the UN marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on Nov 2.

The occasion was in Pakistan highlighted by most media houses that reiterated their call for the government and its justice system to forcefully pursue cases where media employees are harassed.

Yet the only two cases where the murders of journalists have seen pursuit and sentencing are those of Daniel Pearl and Wali Khan Babar, the former as a result of international pressure and the latter after much prodding locally.

The killing of Saleem Shahzad remains unresolved, to say nothing of cases where death has not been an outcome.

Until the state takes measures to end this culture of impunity, few media persons will be able to say that they can discharge their obligations the way they are supposed to.

Dawn

FAISALABAD (Dunya News) – Dunya News came under a grenade attack Friday from unknown assailants of banned organization as its Bureau office in Faisalabad was bombed, injuring three of its employees. The attack shattered windows, while cars and motorcycles parked outside were significantly damaged by the explosion. Threatening pamphlets were also dropped at the crime scene by the unidentified suspects.

Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Shareef has taken notice of the onslaught and ordered the arrest of the culprits. Chief Minister (CM) Punjab also took notice of the grenade attack and has ordered a report to be submitted. CM Punjab has also ordered Regional Police Officer (RPO) Faisalabad to take immediate action against the act of terrorism and advised that the suspects involved be arrested within 24 hours.

Police, in its traditional manner, arrived late at the scene and now has started gathering evidence from the incident site.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists’ (PFUJ) President Rana Azeem has declared a state wide protest against the attack. He stated that Dunya News has always stood for the truth and he assured the cooperation of the journalist community.

In a talk with Dunya News, Karachi Press Club President Fazil Jamali expressed that the attack on Dunya News’ Bureau office was an attempt to silence the truth.

Federal Minister for Information Pervaiz Rasheed while talking to Dunya News stated that the government condemns the violent act and assured that the culprits will be brought to justice on immediate basis.

Spokesperson for the PM Musadiq Malik stated that an attack on journalists was an attack on democracy. He stated that strict action shall be taken against those involved and that PM Nawaz has also given the order for the arrest of the suspects.

A nationwide protest of the journalist community against the grenade attack on Dunya News was seen including Lahore, Multan, Quetta, Sahiwal and Khanewal along with numerous other cities. Protestors have called the terrorist act an attack on the freedom of press. Protesors chanted slogans against terrorism and have demanded an immediate arrest of those involved.

Dunya News

A number of unidentified people threw small explosives described as crackers, targeting the DSNG of Dunya News, Dawn News and Abb Tak News channels after the conclusion of a political rally at Faizabad Interchange. The attack left five media workers injured.

The attack took place after the completion of coverage of the political rally organized by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The crackers were hauled at the parked DSNG vans from a motorcycle. According to reports, the crackers left an eight-inch wide and one inch deep crater at the site and damaged the TV vans.

DSNG engineer Ziaul Haq and cameraman Mohsin Ali of DawnNews, Nadir Hussain and Amir Ishfaq of Duniya News and Suleman Mubarik of Abb Takk News were injured in the incident who received treatment by Rescue 1122 medical staff on the spot.

The police have registered a case against unnamed attackers and are investigating what amounts of explosives were used.

The IFJ and the PFUJ demand immediate arrest of the culprits. The PFUJ is holding protest programs against the attack around the country.

The PFUJ said: “We condemn the incident and consider it an act of terrorism to threaten media to stop them showing truth. Such incidents cannot stop media men to perform their duties to show people the truth.”

Jane Worthington, the acting director of the IFJ Asia-Pacific said: “Attacks on television channels has become routine in political rallies in Pakistan; it is a cowardly act and becoming part of Pakistan’s culture of impunity. The IFJ condemns the attack and urge the government to ensure safety and security of journalists on the field.”

International Federation of Journalists

The incident occurred after a political rally, organized by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) when two men on a motorcycle hurled crackers at the parked DSNG vans of Dawn News, Dunya News and Abb Tak News channels. Five media personnel, DSNG engineer Ziaul Haq and cameraman Mohsin Ali of Dawn News, Nadir Hussain and Amir Ishfaq of Duniya News and Suleman Mubarik of Abb Takk News were injured who received treatment by Rescue 1122 medical staff on the spot. The DSNG vans were partially damaged in the attack.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Police registered a case against unnamed attackers and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Islamabad Asmatullah Junego said the target was the DSNG of Dawn News.

President of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) Rana M Azeem and Secretary General Amin Yousuf strongly condemned attack and demanded that that the culprits be captured and put behind the bars. “We condemn the incident and consider this a terrorism to threat media to stop them showing truth. Such incidents cannot stop media men to perform their duties,” Rana Azeem said.

Pakistan Press Foundation