A case in point is the attack on Hamid Mir, senior anchorman and journalist at Geo News.

His attack has left the journalist community shattered, for he was respected for his views and news.

The media are no longer free; they are operating under constant threat of gun and bomb attacks, as is visible with the security arrangements each media house has made outside their offices.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) states that 54 journalists – including Wali Khan Babar, Daniel Pearl and Saleem Shahzad – have been murdered in the country since 1992. Seven journalists were killed in 2012 alone, making Pakistan the world’s third deadliest country.

The CPJ’s 2014 Global Impunity Index ranks Pakistan ninth in the list of countries around the world where an attack on a journalist may go unpunished.

Twenty two cases of attacks on journalists are currently pending in the courts.

The present year has probably been the most dangerous for journalists.

On New Year’s Eve, Shan Dahar, Larkana bureau chief for a television channel, was gunned down.

In January, three employees of a media group were killed in a gun attack on their digital satellite news gathering van parked outside the Board of Secondary Education Karachi.

On March 29, Raza Rumi, editor of a weekly newspaper and anchorman for a media group, was attacked in Lahore while he was being driven; his driver lost his life in the incident.

Following the attack, Rumi wrote in a column: “I am now at a safe location, unable to move out and have been told that my case is exceptional with six men – most armed – had attempted to eliminate me and they failed. And that the security agencies can only protect me if I remain locked up in a ‘safe’ location.”

According to independent journalist unions, six media workers have been killed in targeted attacks since January, while over a dozen have already received death threats, including three anchorpersons.

The situation is far more alarming and threatening than it has been realised. The risk factor for the media has increased as conflict escalates.

“Today the country is caught in the midst of many conflicts – including terrorism, sectarianism, separatist movements, violence among underworld mafias.

“Journalists report these stories from the conflict zones without having any training or even understanding of the danger,” said Mazhar Abbas, general secretary of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.

He said that this was the time for media houses to demonstrate unity and fight for the right of freedom of expression.

Until that happens, truth will continue to be sacrificed as armed men roam the streets and attack with impunity.l

The News

The report highlighted that despite six people being convicted in the case, justice is far from complete as two convicts are still at large and mastermind of the killing is yet to be identified. The report also mentions that during the trial, five more people linked to the case were also murdered including witnesses, informants, and investigators.

The conviction seems to have had scant impact on those who are targeting the media in Pakistan. Three staffers of Express Media group were killed in January, while analyst and anchor of Express News show “Khabar Se Agay” Raza Rumi, came under a gun attack in Lahore on March 28, 2014, in which his driver, Mustafa, was killed and his guard injured.

Separately, Express News bureau chief in Peshawar Jamshed Baghwan was targeted twice within the span of one month. First a bomb was found outside his house on March 21, while on April 7 a hand grenade was hurled at his residence in Peshawar. Perpetrators in all the attacks are yet to be apprehended.

The rate of unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants in Pakistan has improved from 0.130 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants previous year to 0.123 this year.

Impunity high in conflict region

With 100 journalists murdered in the last decade and 100 per cent impunity, Iraq remains the worst offender on the Impunity Index, a spot it has held since 2008. The two year silence in fatal anti-press violence was broke with the nine new murders in late 2013. The rate of unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants has increased from 2.818 to 3.067.

Somalia and Philippines have also retained their spots on the Impunity Index, second and third slots respectively. Somalia’s rating worsened for the sixth year in a row. Although the anti-press violence has moved slightly down from its record high in 2012, with four new murders in 2013, journalists continue to be targeted.

Battle hit Syria has joined the ranks of Iraq and Somalia for the first time this year. Syria has been dubbed as the most dangerous country for the journalists with more than 60 media persons been killed in the cross fire and unprecedented number of abductions. Now deliberate murders of journalists have made it a worst, at least seven journalists have been targeted in Syria since 2012, with all complete impunity. The perpetrators come from all sides—non-Syrian militant groups, rebels targeting pro-government media, and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Syria is placed fifth on the impunity index at the rate of 0.313 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants.

CPJ’s 2014 Global Impunity Index

Express Tribune