This advice was issued to TV channels for violating “Electronic Media Code of Conduct 2015” by revealing particulars and identity of a rape victim girl in Lahore.

In its Urdu advice PEMRA said that one reason of not effective implementation of code of conduct was lack of editorial control, monitoring and non-availability of monitoring committees in the channels.

The notice also said that as per rules all license holders would ensure effective editorial control and would not broadcast any live event without installing delaying mechanism.

All licence holders were bound to set up institutional monitoring committees and inform PEMRA about compliance.

The TV channels were told that violations of such clauses was a criminal act, so all electronic media organizations should avoid violations in future, otherwise action against the violating channels would be taken under the prevalent regulations.

Pakistan Today

ISLAMABAD: A research study conducted by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has urged Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to establish a journalist training institute to train media professionals on issues of safety and security and also to contribute towards Journalists Safety Fund.

The findings of the study were shared by Dr Zafarullah at a HRCP consultation on ‘Enhancing Security of Media Persons.’The study says that the Pemra charges exuberant license fees, annual renewal fee and 5-7.5 per cent of annual gross advertisement revenues as per audited accounts from Satellite televisions and FM Radios. “Pemra has recently given money and loan to the government. What if this fund can be used to betterment of journalist community?” questioned the author of the study.

The consultation was attended by media community representatives and civil society activists who held an in-depth discussion on the security and safety issues faced by the journalists around the country and suggested solutions. They said that the state is responsible for providing security to media persons and demanded the Parliament to adopt and implement Journalists Safety Bill at the earliest.

They said that media persons are facing threats from different sections of the society. “They might have differences in many other issues but both state and non state actors agree to suppress media as they consider media a threat,” said anchorperson Hamid Mir. He endorsed the demand of making security agencies answerable to Parliament.

Some criticised media houses and media persons for their policies and attitudes which they believed lead to further insecurity for journalists. “The whole society has adopted an attitude of militancy, even politicians and media persons sometime talk like war lords,” said Senator Afrasiab Khattak.

They also demanded of the government to make public the reports of the judicial commissions set up for attacks on journalists including Omer Cheema, Hamid Mir and Saleem Shahzad.

Eminent journalist, M Ziauddin said issues like safety and security must be part of the conditions for issuance of license to any media house. He stressed the role journalist community and media owners could play to protect employees. He said that competition among different media houses should not turn into rivalry.

Pakistan Federal Union Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt talked about the working conditions for media persons in Pakistan and said that it is important to first ensure the human rights of journalists which are violated every day. The participants said that the journalists are often sandwiched between the militants and the military in troubled spots like the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and between the separatists and the security in Balochistan.

Earlier, the author of the report Barrister Zafarullah shared the basic findings of the report. He said that the Pakistan must adhere to its international commitments and obligations under the UN system and create conducive environment for freedom of expression and right to life and liberty. The report demands the government to create effective institutional structure to promote and protect fundamental freedoms. It says that the courts must serve timely justice to ensure rule of law and put a full-stop on prevailing culture of impunity.

The report suggests that professional associations must join hands to establish a training institute at the federal and provincial levels to offer trainings on issues related to the safety and security of journalists and develop SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for the safety of media houses.

The research suggested the government to work in collaboration with the organisations that are dedicated to the cause of safety and security of the journalists and the media houses to get an accurate picture of the problem and governmental efforts for the safety and security of journalists must be better coordination with the provinces to garner meaningful results.

The report urged provincial governments to come forward to ensure safety and security of the journalists as it is a State responsibility in the constitutional scheme of Pakistan to protect life and liberties including the freedom of expression and the press. It encourages political parties to train their workers and activists to respect the role and value of free and independent media for democratic culture in the country and refrain from singling out any media house or a particular journalist who is critical of their ideas or strategies.

The report says that Pakistan is confronted with numerous challenges pertaining to the safety and security of its citizens. More than 50,000 citizens and men in uniform have lost their lives. The research points out that the press, media, and journalists have also become the frontline sufferers and it appears that many actors of this chaos have deliberately ‘zoomed in’ on the media, primarily to dictate their narrative on these channels of communication and also to earn some oxygen of publicity for their odd cause. It says that in many instances of violence against the journalists the victims are those who are reluctant to follow ‘stereo-typical’ notions of security or are vocal critics of extremist aberrations in the society.

According to the report, the Freedom Network estimates that more than 18,000 people are formally associated with the media. The average age of journalists has slumped from about 47 in 2002 to 23. It says that killings with impunity, harassment, intimidation etc. have made Pakistan a ‘dangerous place’ for journalists and media professionals.

The Reporters without Borders has ranked Pakistan 158th among total 180 countries in terms of freedom of expression in 2015. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) annually prepares an Impunity Index to highlight whether the journalists who lost their lives got justice or not. In CPJ’s 2015 Impunity Index Pakistan ranked 8th out of the 14 countries.

The CPJ’s research on Impunity Index reveals that the suspected sources of fire on journalists included political groups (45 per cent), officials (24 per cent), criminal groups (12 per cent), mob violence (3 per cent) and unknown (18 per cent). In terms of beats covered by victims overwhelming 64 percent covered politics and conflict situations and 24 percent corruption and crime.

Majority of the victims worked for print media (48 per cent) followed by broadcast reporters and camera operators (41 percent) and photographers (9 per cent). The victims were 100 percent male and in 84 percent cases there was complete impunity and only in the case of 6 per cent what could be labelled as ‘partial justice.’

The News

ISLAMABAD: Politicians, mediapersons and civil society activists on Tuesday said there was a lack of political will to ensure security for mediapersons.

They were speaking at a consultation arranged by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) to finalise a report on ‘Enhancing security for mediapersons’.

The speakers said targeted killing of mediapersons cannot be stopped unless security agencies were made answerable to parliament. As many as 118 journalists have been killed in different incidents in the country since 2000.

Former senator Afrasiab Khattak said militarisation had increased in society due to which media owners and anchorpersons talked like warlords.

“I have seen a report on Omer Cheema, which is with the human rights committee of the Senate. There are circumstantial evidences about the involvement of security agencies (in his torture),” he said.

Senior journalist M. Ziauddin said he did not think the government would do anything to ensure security for journalists.

“Moreover, it is the responsibility of the media house owners to ensure security of journalists. There should be some conditions for issuing licences to the media houses to ensure safety standards.”

He said the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) remained divided and there was also tension among media houses. “Rivalry among media houses is good but it should not become an enmity,” he added.

Journalist Hamid Mir said even big media houses were being dictated and 70 to 80 per cent of their contents were compromised.

“Some journalists have left their jobs because they could not bear the pressure. As many as 11 journalists from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) have shifted to Islamabad but no one is ready to take up their issue,” he claimed.

“The inquiry report on Omer Cheema could not be made public. On the other hand, both the government and the establishment want to suppress the media,” Mr Mir said, adding legislation should be done to make security agencies answerable to the parliament.

Rights activist Fatima Atif said in talk shows, genuine people were not invited and the programmes were conducted under some special agendas.

“Some journalists also try to exaggerate the threats for publicity,” she alleged.

PFUJ president Afzal Butt said civil society showed solidarity with journalists when media houses received threats or were attacked but it never expressed solidarity when journalists demanded their rights from media house owners.

“In a majority of media houses, even basic human rights are not implemented. A media house sacked a woman journalist after she sought maternity leave,” he said.

HRCP joint director Najamuddin said the concerns of journalists and media owners were different.

Zafarullah Khan, who wrote the report, said laws were made but never implemented. He said funds allocated for Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) should be spent on the welfare of journalists.

“There should also be a check on media houses as there is a big mismatch between expenses and taxes they pay. I prepared a report on the differences between the taxes and the expenses of media houses but no one published it. Some parts of the report regarding the BOL group were, however, published,” he said.

Mr Zafarullah told Dawn that the report on the security of mediapersons was about the last five years.

“The recommendations will be incorporated in the report within a week after which it will be distributed among parliamentarians,” he said.

Some recommendations asked the government to work in collaboration with organisations that were dedicated to the cause of security of journalists and media houses.

It added that the National Commission for Human Rights should play a proactive role for the rights of journalists. The judicial commission set up to investigate the attack on Hamid Mir should make its findings public. The Supreme Court was urged to ensure that the findings of various judicial commissions were implemented.

Political parties should train their workers and activists to respect the role and value of a free and independent media.

“Pemra charges exuberant licence, annual renewal fees and 5-7 per cent of annual gross advertisement revenues from satellite televisions and FM radios. It should establish an institute to train media professionals on issues of safety and security besides contributing towards the journalist safety fund,” it was suggested.

Dawn

At a seminar organised by the Pakistan Coalition on Media Safety here on Saturday Adnan Rehmat and Iqbal Khattak, representatives of the advocacy group, said a study had revealed that of the 622 journalists killed across the world between 2002 and 2014, as many as 110 belonged to Pakistan. Even then no effort was made to enact a law to deal with the matter.

They said the government had no mechanism to help it implement the UN Action Plan for Safety of Journalists.

They said media organisations had not adopted adequate security strategies, protocols and procedures to reduce the risks to which journalists were exposed.

They advised journalists to motivate legislators, political parties and parliamentary committees to introduce laws on safety of journalists.

Balochistan Minister for Information Abdul Raheem Ziaratwal said militant groups and criminal mafias which came into existence because of the Afghan war were involved in targeted killing of journalists.

Tahir Hussain of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said FIRs were registered under anti-terrorism laws against some Quetta journalists during the tenure of the previous provincial government and alleged that the present government was reluctant to withdraw the cases.

The senior vice-president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Saleem Shahid, said a majority of journalists killed in the country belonged to Baloch­istan but their employers did not even bother to pay compensation to their families.

DAWN

The protesting journalists demanded restoration of the Geo transmission at the earliest.They were joined by the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) along with members of civil society, which included the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Aurat Foundation among others.

On the occasion, a charter of demands was read out which was later submitted to the Pemra officials. It condemned the illegal meetings held by the Pemra officials which announced that the Geo Television offices should be sealed. “Pemra should set its house in order and give the Jang/Geo group a fair hearing,” it was stated in the charter.

Representatives of the Jang/Geo group said that they had apologised for the content of its programme, Utho, Jago Pakistan, which had hurt the sentiments of Muslims. “The programme has been suspended and an inquiry is under way,” it was stated. “However, other television networks, especially ARY television, has repeated the Qawali 63 times. Pemra should take notice of that as well.”

It was stated that the shutdown of the Geo transmission across the country by cable operators was illegal. “The cable operators have termed Geo television a traitor, but the cable operators show foreign films on their individual channels, which are a violation of the copyright law.”

By banning Geo television, it was stated that the public at large would be deprived of its right to information. “The people of Pakistan have chosen Geo television as the provider of information. They vote for it with the remote.”

It has been stated that the 7,000 employees of Geo television are now scared about their livelihoods as journalism is their bread and butter. “By targeting Geo and pushing for its ban, certain forces are depriving its employees of their livelihood.

“We are neither blasphemers nor traitors, we are only doing journalism,” it was stated.Journalists at the rally held placards of ‘long live Geo’, ‘long live press freedom’, ‘Geo or Jeenay do’ and pictures of Hamid Mir. Wearing black armbands, they raised slogans for press freedom and said that they would protest for press freedom till their dying breath.

Shaheen Qureshi, senior journalist, while addressing the rally, said, “The people who have gathered here today are sepoys of press freedom. This is not just an attack on the Jang/Geo group but on all of the media. The forces which are after us will one by one silence all the voices that differ with them.”

He said that the attack on Hamid Mir ‘the icon of Pakistani journalism’ was pre-planned. “We, as journalists, have read history. We know that red lines are drawn by certain groups. Once a red line is crossed, threats follow. That is why many of our editors have had to seek asylum abroad.”

Time and again every sane voice in the country is branded as a traitor. The list includes Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Zulifkar Ali Bhutto, Mufti Mehmood, Najam Sethi and Beena Sarwar. “Whoever loves is not egoistic. Then why are you being egoistic? We love Pakistan but we do not need a certificate from you. We are not professional patriots. We are not getting paid for declaring patriotism to Pakistan.”

He said that a certain anchor had been indulging in unprofessional practices and spreading false propaganda against the Jang/Geo group. “Are you getting paid by the establishment for toeing a certain line of thought?”

Faisal Aziz, Geo TV Karachi Bureau chief, said, “The journalists of Pakistan are brave. A bullet will not silence them.”Addressing the participants, the President Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) G M Jamali demanded the restoration of Geo transmission immediately. He said they would oppose shutting down any channel or newspaper in Pakistan.

Senior PFUJ leader, Khursheed Abbassi, called upon the authorities to get the Geo transmission restored within two days.

The Karachi Press Club (KPC) Secretary General Amir Latif said they were with Geo from the very beginning of the matter. “A ban on any channel or newspaper is an attack on press freedom.”

The resolution said that democracy should be strengthened as the country could not afford any illegal and unconstitutional act.

The resolution said that freedom of expression is an important right and if this right was curbed, all other rights would also be gagged and therefore the freedom of expression should be ensured. The resolution said that no unconstitutional and undemocratic act in the country would be accepted and such acts would be resisted.

Meanwhile, Reporters without Borders is alarmed by the order issued by three members of the Pemra closing three Geo Television channels – Geo News, Geo Tez and Geo Entertainment – and cancelling their licences.

The order was rapidly disowned by Pemra in a press release that said it was issued following a meeting of only five Pemra members that did not comply with Rule 3(4) of PEMRA Rules 2009, under which at least seven of Pemra’s 12 members must attend a meeting for it to be validly convened.

The release added that the decision that Pemra took at an earlier and valid meeting on May 9 to “refer the (Geo Television) case to the Ministry of Law for legal opinion” was therefore still in effect.

“The hasty decision by three Pemra members that was immediately disowned is indicative of a desire by certain government representatives to use any means, including illegal ones, to ban Geo News from broadcasting,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the Reporters without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

“We urge Pemra not to yield to pressure from the intelligence agencies and the defence ministry, and to ensure that the law protects freedom of information.” The Jang and Geo groups have been a target of repeated threats, intimidation and prosecution as a result of the coverage of activities of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Balochistan.

Agencies add: Meanwhile, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain said it was wrong to snatch and break the cameras and mobile phones of Geo and Jang journalists and to attack the Geo OB vans.

He said it was the fundamental right of a person to stage peaceful protests and demonstrations on minor or major issues and people should hold their peaceful protests within the limits of law, Constitution and moral standards.

In a statement, Altaf Hussain said that the people should not be allowed to break the law under the guise of protests.

The MQM chief said it was a debatable issue whether Geo did things intentionally or unintentionally. However, it was wrong to beat journalists belonging to Geo TV, who are mostly from the poor and middle class.

“We cannot term the protesters’ actions legal and constitutional. Their violent protests not only cause damage to expensive equipment but also injure journalists, drivers, technicians and cameramen associated with the Geo Television,” he said.

He appealed to the people in the name of Pakistan’s security to keep their protest demonstrations peaceful and not to hurt Geo employees and journalists.

Earlier, stating that the freedom of press was essential for strengthening democracy, former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government had given “unprecedented freedom” to the press.

Speaking to media persons here, Gilani said the PPP believed in freedom of the media adding that media should also show a responsible attitude.

“The PPP-led government extended unprecedented freedom to the press which was not given by any government in the past,” Gilani said at the Multan airport. He said the PPP governments had always provided freedom to all in the country without discrimination and had never imposed restrictions on media institutions.

Acknowledging the role of journalists against dictatorial and autocratic regimes in the country, he said their sacrifices for the freedom of expression and social liberties had paved the way for rejuvenated democracy in the country.

“Democracy and media go hand-in-hand and the freedom of the media guarantees sustained and stable democracy,” the former prime minister said.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Human Rights Cell cautioned against the banning of Geo TV and instead called upon the government to strengthen the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to ensure that electronic channels should abide by a code of conduct that should be effectively enforced and regulated.

“Resorting to a ban is censorship and there is no room for censorship in a democracy,” stated Dr Nafisa Shah, Central Coordinator of the PPP Human Rights Cell.

“While the cell endorses that press and media must exercise responsibility and not run vilification campaigns, we will not be a party to curbs on media freedom,” she added.

It is a fact that some electronic channels have run full scale campaigns, sometimes maligning national institutions, and constitutional positions and often jeopardising national interest. This is both the fault of the regulator, Pemra, and the inability of the channel owners to enforce the code of conduct. It is time that the media community agrees to abide by the code of conduct and maintain strict neutrality while covering events, she said.

The last PPP government and its leaders were repeatedly made a victim of media trials but the PPP government demonstrated patience and tolerated criticism. ”We are concerned that the Ministry of Information has failed to address the raging media wars, the lethal infighting between channels, and has become a bystander, which has led to the present impasse,” she said quoting the cell members as saying.

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), district Peshawar, in a meeting passed a resolution that said that no channel in Pakistan should be banned, instead all TV channels must respect the Islamic injunctions.

The News

In a strong statement issued on Monday, the commission said: “HRCP can no longer stay silent on the malicious campaign unleashed against Geo and the manner in which pressure is being brought to bear to close down the channel.”

It says that irrespective of what the HRCP or anyone else might think about Geo’s editorial judgment, instigating people to come out on the streets following charges of blasphemy is an extremely dangerous trend.

“HRCP must point out that the environment of fear that has been created is making the lives of journalists working for Geo extremely vulnerable. They are being intimidated and a large number of them have faced attacks. This trend is likely to escalate if the temperature is allowed to rise and it has the potential to spin out of control,” it further states.

The statement highlights that divisions in the media ranks do not augur well for the hard-won freedom that the media has. “It is regrettable that competitive media houses are adding fuel to the fire, without realising what they are being complicit in or what a dangerous precedent they are setting and that the same fire can engulf them too. It is in no one’s interest to unleash forces that are neither accountable nor answerable to anyone.

“HRCP is curious how cable operators have illegally banned Geo without instructions from Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority (Pemra) and expects that the authorities would investigate this matter, if they have not done so already, and punish those acting out of bounds.”

The HRCP called upon the government, civil society and media organisations to take all necessary steps to de-escalate the situation, and put an end to this malicious campaign and intimidation of journalists so as to protect media freedom from taking any further blows.

The News

Addressing a gathering of woman journalists and anchors here at the Lahore Press Club, the PFUJ board members announced the declaration, written after two days of APWJC sessions at a local hotel and parallel PFUJ sessions at the press club.

The declaration, on behalf of the PFUJ and participating journalists, condemns the attacks on media persons and cameramen in Pakistan. It calls for special security measures to protect journalists reporting in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Balochistan and Karachi. It also condemns infighting between media outlets and notes the killing of 134 journalists in Pakistan since 1992. The declaration demands of media outlets to ensure that economic rights of employees, including decent wages and insurance cover, are respected, compensation to employees including cameramen and reporters in case of injuries is paid, insurance of cameras belonging to Pakistani cameramen is guaranteed. Other demands include complete freedom of speech for all Pakistani journalists, withdrawal of criminal charges levelled against Baloch journalists, implementation of the 8th Wage Board Award for newspaper workers, trade unions in media outlets, endowment fund for all Pakistani journalists and media workers, and investigation into the verbal and written death threats facing Pakistani journalists.

Another session titled ‘Women Journalists’ Role in Trade Unions and Press Clubs’ was held with PFUJ President Afzal Butt in the chair, under the auspices of the APWJC. A large number of journalists participated in the session.

Afzal Butt told the gathering that he would move a constitutional amendment in the National Press Club, Islamabad, to reserve four senior seats in the press council for woman journalists. These include the post of vice-president, assistant secretary general, and two positions in the governing body.

Butt said the country was passing through a critical phase currently. He said the journalist bodies were making all-out efforts for winning rights for the print and electronic media workers and getting their jobs regularised. He said he was really happy to see such a large number of woman journalists at the convention. He promised that today’s demands would be made part of the PFUJ charter.

Afzal Butt suggested forming harassment committees in all media organisations, offices and press clubs. He said separate committees would be set up in offices and CBA. After consultation with press club governing bodies, committees would be formed and more women would be given representation in those committees.

He mentioned the incident of a female anchor whose salary was reduced by a television channel when she availed leave after the death of her husband. He condemned this kind of inconsiderate attitude of the male bosses in the media outlets.

Afzal Butt said that despite a severe shortage of funds, the convention was organised successfully and at least Rs 60-70 lakh were spent on the event. He praised the LPC for hosting such a historic event.

The PFUJ president also praised Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) senior member Hussain Naqi for contributing towards the fight for press freedom in the country. Lahore Press Club President Arshad Ansari said it was heartening to note that the first woman journalists’ convention was being held in Lahore. He said such a large number of journalists had never gathered at one place in the history of Pakistan. He termed Saturday’s rally historic. He said the rally footage in TV bulletins showed participation of such a large number of journalists as if a big political party had been holding a rally. He said the journalists bodies were not fighting for any particular media organisation but for the rights of all journalists and media workers. He said that clean and good journalism was directly linked to the economic prosperity of journalists.

Arshad Ansari said that during 2012, the largest number of woman journalists were given LPC membership, which was a historic event.

The woman journalists congratulated the PFUJ for addressing the concerns of women in the media and hosting the first convention for them. The PFUJ former vice president and board member, Fauzia Rana, expressed her hope for an effective implementation of the recommendations regarding working woman journalists in Pakistan. Shazia Mansoor, a female anchorperson who was barred from attending the convention by her bureau chief, attended Sunday’s session and said all woman journalists must assert themselves both within and outside their offices.

Friedrich Naumann Foundation representative Dr Almut Besold said the world was aware of the problems facing Pakistan currently. She said Pakistani journalists’ sacrifices for freedom of press were commendable.

LPC Joint Secretary Farzana Chaudhry said on the occasion women journalists should gather courage and raise their voice for their rights. She said women’s representation in press clubs and journalist bodies was a welcome sign. However, women should not be restricted to only reserved seats and they should be encouraged to contest on open seats. Farzana said woman journalists should also contest for press club president and secretary seats and they should be provided better opportunities in this regard.

Prominent personalities attending Sunday’s session included PFUJ General Secretary Khurshid Abbasi, LPC General Secretary Shahbaz Mian, Karachi Press Club President Imtiaz Ahmed Faraan, All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation (APNEC) Chairman Shafi Uddin Ashraf, senior journalists Nasira Zubairi, Farida Hafeez and Muhammad Saleem Chaudhry, Balochistan Union of Journalists President Irfan Saeed, and Punjab Union of Journalists President Waseem Farooq. Visiting female journalist delegations departed for their cities after the conference programme concluded.

Later, prominent journalists were given awards for their services. Senior journalist Hussain Naqi distributed shields among media persons.

The News

The promise came as representatives of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Lahore Press Club and South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) along with print and broadcast journalists met at the South Asian Media Centre and passed a resolution.

The participants condemned the heinous attack on Hamid Mir and threats to other journalists, and the campaign launched by various quarters to harass media persons. Alarmed by increasing tension between the media and security establishment, they rejected any move to gag the media houses and journalists.

The resolution said they were encouraged by the response of the media, working journalists, civil society, political parties and international media community in solidarity with Hamid Mir and other journalists under threat.

It also expressed concerns over the rivalries among various media houses that undermined the freedom of expression and solidarity and security of the journalists’ community.Noting the concerns expressed by the ISPR about the allegations levelled by Hamid Mir’s family members and colleagues indicating the alleged suspects behind the attack, the Safma appreciated the appointment of a judicial commission by the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

It showed concerns about the current nominated structure of Pemra, which may be used to victimise one or other media groups. It called for caution and restraint from all sides to let the judicial commission and independent inquiry take its due course to a logical conclusion.

The resolution emphasised that right to life, freedom of expression, fundamental rights, accountability of all, observance of media ethics and security of journalists must be upheld and could not be compromised on any pretext whatsoever. Unity among all sections of media must be kept on issues like freedom of press/ expression and security of journalists, regardless of any kind of differences.

According to the resolution, restrictions and prohibitions on media and harassment of media persons is not to be condoned. A free media, independent judiciary, sovereign parliament and civil and political rights are the imperatives of modern-day nationhood, while civil-military and media-military relations are to be defined within the parameters of democratic values and constitutional framework.

The resolution demanded that an independent inquiry must be ensured and the judicial commission must investigate not only the Hamid Mir case but also all aspects of the conflict between media and security establishment to not only find the real culprits but also propose such measures as could ensure the security of journalists from various quarters. Findings of the judicial commission must be made public and implemented.

It further demanded that all media houses must observe media ethics and demonstrate solidarity on the issues of media freedom and security of media persons, instead of indulging in mudslinging against each other. The media must avoid casting aspersions against any segment of national institutions, while all state institutions must respect right to life and fundamental rights, including press freedom. No measures to curb press freedom will be acceptable to the media community, civil society and democratic forces.

Restraint and caution must be observed by all sides and no interference be allowed in the affairs of the media by various arms of the executive, it said, adding that media should evolve its code of ethics and observe it diligently and Pemra should be reconstituted making it a representative body.Prominent journalists including Imtiaz Alam, Hussain Naqi, Khawar Naeem Hashmi, IA Rahman and Arshad Ansari spoke on the occasion.

The News

The working group will include representatives of Khyber Union of Journalists (KHUJ), Peshawar Press Club, Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ), lawyers, civil society and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). The decision was taken at a consultative meeting of journalists and various citizen groups on building coalition for legal framework to stop journalists’ killings held at a hotel.

A few hours after a group of senior journalists discussed threats to journalists and proposed measures to tackle the situation, senior journalist Hamid Mir was shot and injured in Karachi. This further highlighted the growing threats to the journalists across the country at a time when the government is hardly taking steps to protect them. The working group will establish a provincial steering committee comprising media stakeholders and known civil society members which will formulate terms of reference (ToRs) for the group as well as for the committee.

The meeting was organised by the Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development (IRADA), in collaboration with the UNESCO. IRADA Executive Director Aftab Alam moderated the sessions.

The meeting discussed the issues and challenges of journalists’ safety, freedom of expression and right to information in Pakistan. The participants dilated upon the worrisome situation regarding safety and security of journalists and said members of the media were faced with threats from both state and non-state actors.

Pakistan has been declared one of the most dangerous countries of the world for journalists. In 2014, already one journalist and three members of his crew have been killed in the country.

A UN-supported international conference in Islamabad in 2013 established the Pakistan Coalition on Media Safety (PCOMS) to serve as the platform for collaborative measures to combat violence against journalists in Pakistan and to mobilise ideas, resources, initiatives and actions.

Senior journalist Iqbal Khattak, who serves as national coordinator for PCOMS, said the coalition in its recent meeting approved reports of two working groups to prepare safety protocols for the media houses and get a special public prosecutor to deal with the cases of impunity regarding attacks on journalists.

At the provincial level, the participants stressed the need for such a coalition to raise the issues of safety and security of journalists of the province as well as of adjoining tribal areas.

The speakers said threats could not be eliminated but would be reduced by following journalistic ethics. They also emphasised the need for unity among journalist bodies to work together for safety and welfare of the community.

Managing Director Baacha Khan Trust Educational Foundation Dr Khadim Hussain, President Khyber Union of Journalists Nisar Mehmood, General Secretary Peshawar Press Club Fida Adeel, senior journalists Shamim Shahid, Faridullah Khan, Waseem Ahmad Shah, Aftab Alam and others also spoke on the occasion.

The News