CHARSADDA: A journalist here on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the alleged torture and humiliation he faced at the hands of some local leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Speaking at a press conference, the journalist Saifullah Jan, who is a member of the governing body of the Charsadda Press Club, also accused the local police of siding with the accused.

He alleged that the PTI leaders, including Abdullah, his brother Fahim, Zakat Committee chairman Iftikhar and other armed men, forcibly took him to the PTI’s office in Charsadda bazaar, where he was allegedly stripped naked and tortured.

The journalist claimed that the accused made his video while being naked. Saifullah Jan said the accused let him go after public pressure. He said he went to the Sardari Police Station to register a complaint against the accused.

The journalist said though District Police Officer Mohammad Shoaib had directed the cops to register the case as per the law, the police used delaying tactics and did not include the relevant sections of the law in the first information report (FIR).

Saifullah said that five people had been nominated in the FIR, but the police removed the name of the main accused Iftikhar from it. He said his leg was fractured due to the torture, but the police mentioned in the FIR that he had suffered minor bruises.

The journalist said the police did not press charges against the accused and the local court granted bail to them. He asked the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court to look into the matter and help provide him justice by ordering a judicial probe into the incident.

Newspaper: The News

There has been a clear deterioration in the safety of journalists, the problem of impunity and of freedom of expression online. These were the main findings of the report submitted to the 120^th session of UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), in collaboration with IFEX, the global network defending and promoting the right to freedom of expression and information, and RIDH, the International Network of Human Rights.

The recommendations in the PPF-IFEX-RIDH report include that the government should appoint special prosecutors for attacks on journalists, start monitoring the judicial process, and ensure the implementation of the minimum laws that it has for the harassment of women in the workplace. There is a need to revisit the extent of powers that are enjoyed by the regulatory authorities, especially by PEMRA: before taking action against the media they should get judicial approval, or there should be a fair process. The Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) also needs to be revisited. We need to look again at the defamation laws and bring them in line with the minimum requirements which are there. These are the very minimum things that the government should do if it claims to be promoting freedom of expression.

Pakistan was reviewed for the first time by the UN Human Rights Committee on 11 and 12 July. The Committee, which consists of 18 independent experts, is mandated to oversee the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Pakistan ratified the ICCPR in 2010, and as such is bound to respect it.

The UNHRC met to analyze the situation in Pakistan and will make recommendations aimed at promoting and protecting human rights in the country.

The Committee had highlighted in its List of Issues (shared with Pakistan prior to the meeting) its concerns about increasing control of telecommunications by the state and several Pakistani agencies, such as the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), as well as the censorship of television programs and websites.

During the examination of Pakistan, the UN Human Rights Committee tackled issues regarding freedom of expression, including blasphemy legislation and anti-terror laws, impunity for crimes committed against journalists, and an overly restrictive environment for the electronic media and film industry. Despite these concerns, the government delegation insisted that there is an “unprecedented level of freedom of the media available in Pakistan” and further claimed that all cases of terrorist violence against the media are addressed by the government and the judiciary, despite the evidence of high impunity presented by civil society organizations.

The experts on the Committee noted concerns regarding impunity for crimes committed against journalists and cited PPF’s figures, stating that 73 journalists had been killed since 2002 with only five convictions for these crimes thus far.

The Committee requested detailed information and statistics regarding crimes against journalists and subsequent investigations, prosecutions and convictions, as well as the same information regarding other crimes.

In response, the delegation of Pakistan stated that the allegations of a culture of impunity were inaccurate and alleged that crimes against journalists were a result of terrorists attempting to silence the media. Pakistan government delegation stressed that it investigates all cases of attacks on journalists as well as allegations of crimes committed by state agencies. However, the government failed to provide statistics on the investigations, prosecutions and convictions of these crimes as requested on numerous occasions by Committee members, confirming doubts about their commitment to fight impunity.

The Committee also reminded the government that criminal sanctions for defamation, often used to target dissident voices in the media, are not in line with the CCPR, and questioned whether the government had any plans or had taken any action to decriminalize defamation.

The Committee also raised serious concerns regarding challenges to freedom of expression online and the increasingly antagonistic regulatory environment for the electronic media and film industry.

Members of the Committee also raised concerns regarding the Code of Conduct issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority. The Committee noted that there had been more than 20 suspensions of media channels in the past four years, and wondered what safeguards and oversight mechanisms were in place to ensure the authority did not violate freedom of expression. The delegation did not respond to these concerns.

One expert raised numerous concerns about the broad powers of the PTA expanded through the 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). This law enables the state body to restrict access to information and issue guidelines to information service providers on the internet without judicial oversight. Despite the government’s claim that the powers granted to the PTA are aligned with international standards, one expert requested detailed information on how this is possible without independent judicial oversight.

In response to these concerns, the delegation of Pakistan explained that open consultations in the drafting of PECA had been held, however, it noted that submissions received from civil society were vague; and, the delegation added, the final version of the act was a reasonable compromise between opposing opinions. They also ensured that there is a system of checks and balances within the PECA and that the powers of the PTA must be in line with the Constitution ensuring sufficient limitations on power.

Now that the Human Rights Committee has completed its initial examination of Pakistan, it will take note of the current human rights situation in the country and will publish its Concluding Observations on July 28, 2017. This document, which will include a list of recommendations, will provide the government with concrete steps it should take to amend its human rights record; it will also equip civil society with the tools they need to efficiently pressure the Government to make the necessary changes.

Responding to Pakistan’s UN review, Owais Aslam Ali, Secretary General of PPF, stressed two main sources of limitations on freedom of expression – threats to the physical safety of journalists and the policy framework in Pakistan. He said restrictions implemented by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) as reminiscent of the days of dictatorship.

Ali hoped that the government wouldbe more forthcoming in its written responses and take the safety of journalists seriously. He welcomed the government’s decision to set up an endowment fund for journalists who are injured or killed, but added that it does not address the issue of bringing to justicethose who inflict violence on journalists. Unless you tackle the impunity, simply paying the victims is not going to end attacks on journalists, Ali said.

Matthew Redding, Campaigns and Advocacy Coordinator of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX),noted that these limitations on freedom of expression have resulted in a citizenry that is deprived of important information.  He said government delegation seemed in many cases reluctant to even acknowledge there was a problem. Even when presented with very credible information from the experts, particularly with regards to threats against journalists and the violence that they faced, they seemed to pin this almost entirely on terrorists rather than accepting any sort of government responsibility for these attacks.

Links:

Freedom of Expression report submitted to UNHRC by PPF, IFEX & RIDH

“There is a need for all media within Pakistan to unite”: Pakistan Press Foundation

Responding to Pakistan’s UN review: In conversation with Owais Aslam Ali and Matthew Redding

Pakistan dismisses civil society concerns regarding freedom of expression before UN Committee

UN prepares to examine civil and political rights in Pakistan

At least 71 media professionals were killed on the job last year, but their stories weren’t always reported. High-profile cases usually do get a lot of media attention, but the vast majority of killings involve local journalists. A group of Pakistani editors found a unique way to keep journalists safe by using media attention. Zaffar Abbas, Editor of Dawn newspaper, tells us more.

Afzal Mughal, a Pakistani journalist from a small newspaper in Quetta, the capital of the Balochistan province, was abducted, in the early morning of November, by a group of armed men who broke into his home while he was asleep. Normally, stories like this don’t make the front pages in Pakistan, which ranks as the sixth deadliest country for journalists according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

But the new “Editors for Safety” initiative made all the difference. Instead of letting the case go by unnoticed, a message went out to a new Whatsapp group for Pakistani Editors, informing them of the kidnapping. In less than five minutes, 21 television channels were running the story. Its widespread dissemination even had international broadcasters, such as NBC, pick up the news.

“Within half an hour, he was back home, albeit badly battered,” Abbas, one of the key conveners of the group, told the World Editors Forum. “The government was rattled and the home security department stepped in to inquire.”

Formed in 2015 with the support of the Open Society Foundation, “Editors for Safety” has a single philosophy: An attack on one journalist is an attack on the whole industry.

Quick, easy communication to streamline media coverage
The Whatsapp group facilitates communication between editors, indicating how the details of an attack should be treated; whether to immediately publish or to hold details because negotiation is still ongoing. Almost all major newspapers and television stations in Pakistan are participating. And plans are made to include smaller newspapers, which are often the most vulnerable.

Despite initial reservations expressed by several editors about the initiative, six months in, Abbas began to see hope when rival television channels broadcasted kidnappings of journalists from competing stations. “They hated each other,” said Abbas. “But they were having breaking news about the other’s reporters’ kidnapping.”

“We have nothing to do with rivalry and politics,” said Abbas on the principle behind setting up the group. “Our point is about journalist safety.”

Media coverage is crucial to keeping journalists safe
The new initiative could be a sign of better times ahead, as addressing safety is a crucial step forward. But until the government and security forces tackle the issue of impunity, the threat of injustice will always be true. In Pakistan, 57 journalists have been reported killed since 1992. In 94% of cases, there has been complete impunity for the actors who committed these crimes.

Even though the attention on ending impunity often focuses on the Member States of the United Nations, editors are increasingly criticized for the lack of coverage of attacks on journalists.

“The main reason for the lack of coverage is often competition and the different interests of media owners,” said Abbas. “In the past, if news organizations were to report on attacks or the disappearance of journalists, they would often not include the name of the publication or the name of the journalist, which makes the issue faceless.”

World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers

Iqbal Khattak, a senior journalist while in a conversation on ending impunity against violence against the journalists added, “it is not only the responsibility of the government to ensure the safety of journalists in the line of duty, the media houses are equally responsible to make certain safety measures”. Muhammad Aftab Alam, a legal expert added that “since Pakistan is a signatory of UN Plan of action on the safety of journalists, it has the responsibility of fulfilling its commitments.

Fazil Jamili, President Karachi Press Club while speaking at the concluding session of media conference said, “In order to facilitate the working journalists, personnel press clubs have been established all over Pakistan but unfortunately they are not operating effectively due to various reasons. There is a need to ensure that press clubs are functioning effectively and facilitating their members in all respects.”

Syed Asif Salah Uddin , CEO of Adgroup spoke in detail about the dynamics of media economy and said, “Advertising gets a lots of criticism but if there were no advertisements journalists would not get paid”. Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha, Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Information and Broadcasting while speaking at the concluding session said, “One can simply not ignore the role of media today. The issues raised by senior and experienced representatives of media at this platform identifies a clear gap that is present among the consumers of media also the gaps among media owners and working journalists. It is for the best interest of all that such gaps are reduced

Business Recorder

The Report on Safety of Media Workers released by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) on the International Day on Impunity documents that since 2001, 47 media workers have been murdered, 164 injured, 88 assaulted, 21 abducted and 40 detained. In addition 24 media professionals were died while covering dangerous assignments. There have been convictions in only two cases out of 384 cases of violence against media.

In Pakistan, journalists are killed, unjustly detained, abducted, beaten and threatened by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, militants, tribal and feudal lords, as well as by religious groups and political parties that claim to promote democracy and the rule of law. Adding to the gravity of the situation is the fact that the perpetrators of violence against journalists and media workers enjoy almost absolute impunity from prosecution in Pakistan.

Because of conflicts and insurgencies the number of murders and killings in the highest in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA. Since 2001, 21 journalists and media workers were killed in Balochistan, 19 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 9 in FATA and 15 in Sindh, 4 in Punjab and 3 in Islamabad.

Threats and violence have forced many journalists to move from these danger zones and to leave the profession or to resort to self-censorship, particularly in conflict areas. As a consequence, news reports from conflict areas are based on press releases, not on observations by independent journalists. Thus, new reports that are published or broadcast lack credibility and do not inform the public in an objective manner.

The two convictions by courts were in Sindh for the murder of Daniel Pearl of Wall Street Journal and Wali Babar of Geo Television. In both the cases the federal and provincial governments seriously perused the cases because of pressure from the media organisations of the murdered journalists. The report thus recommends that criminal cases should not only be registered but should also be properly investigated and prosecuted against the perpetrators of violence against media. The report also calls on media itself to take the lead in ensuring safety of media practitioners and to ensure long-term follow up of cases of assault on media organisations and workers.

Apart from murders and killings, the largest number of cases of violence against media occurred in the province of Sindh. Out of a total of 164 journalists and media workers injured and assaulted since 2001, 91 were in Sindh. Surprisingly the second place in these categories with 70 assaults was Islamabad, which was largely due to the assault on large number of media practitioners by supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) during the Dharna in 2014. Forty Eight media practitioners were injured and assaulted in Punjab, 23 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 14 in Balochistan.

This reluctance to hold those who use violence against media professionals exists even in high profile cases such as that of murderous attack on Hamid Mir in 2014, and the murders of journalists Saleem Shahzad in 2011 and Hayatullah Khan in 2006. In all three cases high profile commissions were set up but the result has been nil.

Hamid Mir of Geo Television received six bullet wounds when he was attacked in Karachi in April 2014. The government set up a judicial commission in response to national and international furor over the attack. The commission was supposed to submit a report in 21 days. However, eighteen months have passed and the commission has still not submitted the report. Meanwhile, Mir and other journalists continue to receive threats and face a sense of increasing insecurity. The report calls for the early completions of the commission report which should fix responsibility and be made public.

Cases that are not high profile are covered up at the local level. One such example is that of the fatal shooting of Shan Dahar, reporter of “Abb Takk” TV channel on the night of December 31, 2013 in Badh, in Larkana district. He was shot in his back and was taken to the hospital where he remained unattended until he succumbed to his injuries many hours later on January 1, 2014. The local police, in an investigation that his family believes to be flawed and motivated, termed the death as an accidental death as a result of shooting on New Year’s Eve. However, the family believes he was targeted because of his stories on use of fake medicines in local hospitals. Despite repeated promises, including those by Minister of Information and Broadcasting Pervez Rashid, to have the case re-investigated, no action has been taken by the provincial or federal governments.

The report emphasizes that free media is essential to democracy in Pakistan and for promoting transparency and accountability, a prerequisite of sustained economic uplift and that the impunity enjoyed by those who attack Pakistani media is seriously hampering independent journalism in Pakistan.

Complete report is available in English at: http://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Report-on-Safety-of-Media-Workers.pdf

In Urdu at: http://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Report-on-Safety-for-Media-Workers-Urdu-2.pdf

ISLAMABAD: A gathering of media practitioners and legal experts was told on Thursday that there was no law in Pakistan that guaranteed the safety of journalists, and that the state – rather than protecting journalists – actually creates an enabling environment where media personnel can be targeted for doing their jobs.

An official from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights also raised many eyebrows on Thursday when he said that journalists were “among the most vulnerable groups in society”.

Speaking during a discussion on impunity for those who perpetrated violence against journalists, the law ministry’s Khashishur Rehman said, “If something happens to them, it impacts the society as a whole.”

These claims were made at ‘Supporting Safety of Journalists in Pakistan’, a consultation held to assess the journalist safety indicators developed by Unesco. The event was attended by journalists, media practitioners, academics, legal experts and UN representatives.

The indicators are meant to pinpoint matters that impact the safety of journalists and map the features that help assess the extent to which journalists are able to carry out their work safely.

Wali Babar’s brother makes impassioned appeal to end impunity against the press
Mr Rehman also admitted that the issue of impunity stems from “the erosion of the criminal justice system”.

He also said Pakistan was one of the most over-legislated countries in the world.

Discussing the legal aspects of the impunity with which journalists can be silenced, lawyer and columnist Saroop Ijaz pointed out that actions such as banning YouTube and outlawing online criticism of the government created an environment that encouraged extremist views regarding the media and freedom of expression.

“When the state tells people to ‘shut up’, it sets a precedent that it is OK to force someone into silence,” he said, referring to the murder of Saleem Shahzad. He said that only national security states ‘measured’ how patriotic a journalist was.

He said that all protections and legal cover for journalists would be for naught if they were not allowed to cover what they wanted to. “Journalists aren’t responsible to any notion of national security, but the truth. Everything else is a corollary.”

He concluded by saying that journalist safety could not be divorced from the state of free expression in any country, adding that in Pakistan, both were under threat.

Talking about protection mechanisms for local journalists, Guy Berger – Unesco’s Director for Freedom of Expression and Media Development – said, “You can’t import or export journalist safety; there are no UN peacekeepers in blue helmets who will come and protect you. Local actors must take the lead in this regard.”

Wali Babar

Most of the speakers highlighted that in Pakistan, only two cases of journalists who were murdered had reached any conclusion so far: the murders of Daniel Pearl and Wali Khan Babar.

The most moving talk of the day came from Murtaza Babar, brother of the slain Geo TV reporter, who made an impassioned plea for journalists to look after their own. “For God’s sake, take notice. Enough journalists have died. Hanging the culprits won’t bring my brother back, but it will benefit journalists working in dangerous environments,” he said.

Speaking about the hardships that he and Wali Babar’s family had to endure after his murder, Murtaza Babar said that “three courts, four judges and eight public prosecutors later”, his brother’s murderers still eluded justice.

“At least seven people – including informants, police officers and their relatives – were killed because they were connected to Wali Babar’s case,” Murtaza recounted. “No lawyer was prepared to take up our case, and one who did was also killed.” He claimed that no one from Wali Babar’s organisation or the various journalist bodies had inquired after the family while all these killings were taking place.

“There have been three attempts on my life, but I’ve not gone public with this information, for fear of scaring off the few people who are helping us,” he said.

Murtaza also suggested that journalist bodies help strengthen the investigative capacity of law enforcement agencies, since that was the weakest link in the system.

Dawn

KARACHI: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said that in Pakistan last year’s conviction of six suspects for the assassination of Geo Television reporter Wali Khan Babar would herald a new dawn for journalists have dwindled in the face of fresh violence and the leadership’s failure to implement a series of commitments to CPJ to address impunity.

According to the latest “CPJ’s 2015 Global Impunity Index Report, three journalists have been slain since the last index period, bringing Pakistan’s total to 22 for the most recent decade. They include Shan Dahar who was gunned down while investigating illegal sales of aid medicine at a local hospital.

With the exception of Babar’s case, impunity remains the norm in these murders and in a slew of recent, non-fatal attacks, such as the shooting that gravely injured popular news anchor Hamid Mir. Threats to journalists stream from military and intelligence agencies, political parties, criminal groups and militants, and corrupt local leaders.

Pakistan is a focus country for the UN Plan of Action for the Safety of Journalists and issue of Impunity, an initiative that has improved dialogue and coordination among civil society, media, and the government but not yet led to any significant reduction in impunity. Impunity Index Rating Pakistan 0.119 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants, Last year Ranked 9th with a rating of 0.123.

The News

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

As the proceedings commenced, Advocate Azhar Siddique argued that the ban on helicam by Pemra authorities is against the Article 19 and 19-A of the Constitution. He said the helicams are being used because of the safety of the journalists. The petitioner said right to information has been enshrined by the Constitution which cannot be taken away from them. He prayed the court to set aside the ban on helicam imposed by Pemra. After hearing the arguments of the petitioner, Justice Ijaz-ul-Haq of the LHC issued notice to Pemra to submit reply. The court will resume hearing on September 11.

The News