Shan Dahar, reporter of “Abb Takk” TV channel was shot on the night of December 31 in Badh, in Larkana district of Sindh province of Pakistan.  He was shot in his back and was taken to the hospital where he remained unattended until he succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of January 1.  He is survived by two minor daughters.

In a statement, PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali said despite compelling evidence pointing the cause of his killing being his reporting on use of fake medicines in local hospitals, police report declared his death as accidental.

The PPF statement said the flawed police report could sabotage any hope for proper investigation and  prosecution for the assailants and called on the government to formally order credible reinvestigation of the attack.

Dahar’s family feels frustrated that despite verbal promises, police reinvestigation has not yet started.

The statement also called for public release of the reports of the medical committees to investigate criminal negligence of hospital where Dahar lay unattended despite frantic pleas by his sisters for hospital doctors to go to the hospital to treat his life threatening wounds.

The PPF Press Freedom Award carries a cash award of Rs. 100,000 (US dollars 1,000).

PPF

But something curious has happened when arguably one of Pakistan’s most well-known journalist — Hamid Mir — last week joined a long list of hundreds of journalists who have been injured, assaulted, kidnapped, arrested, tortured and/or intimidated since 2000: a passionate war of words has broken out over the airwaves among various media groups on how to deal with the attack and even the otherwise pretty vocal community of working journalists have split down the middle in their strategy to respond to supporting Mir.

How did it come to this? It started with Mir’s brother Amir, himself a journalist working for the same media group Jang, was invited by Geo News to comment on the attack even as his better known sibling fought for his life in a hospital. On air live, Amir did not pull any punches in squarely laying the blame on ISI chief Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam and his colleagues for the murderous attack and made a coherent if not audacious speech in the framework of the civil-military equation. It all ballooned on from there as the focus of the coverage shifted from the incident to the accused. A fairly swift rebuttal of the allegation from the ISPR in defence of the ISI was all that was required for all the other channels to jump into the fray.

From then on there’s a clear position that Jang Group has taken, and more or less another one — driven by targeting of Geo TV — that some other channels have taken, with ARY and Express groups being pretty liberal in taking potshots at Geo for allegedly denigrating the armed forces and intelligence agencies. Such is the pitch of sound bites that principled positions have been lost to the hyperbole of hyper nationalism.

Even the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), already divided in three factions, has taken an astonishing position on the issue. Afzal Butt, who heads his faction of the PFUJ, told this writer on Monday that they cannot allow themselves “to be used as a platform” to malign the ISI or the army. “We stand by Hamid Mir and support his constitutional right to seek inquiry against those he suspects but as professionals we should be wary of becoming a party to someone’s personal grudge,” he said. “Supporting Hamid Mir should not mean being anti-armed forces.” There are opposing views. Rana Azeem, the president of another PFUJ faction, says they are opposed to all attacks against the media whatever the motive and whoever the attacker. “The attack on Hamid Mir is audacious. Whoever is allegedly involved in attacking him, irrespective of their rank or standing, should be investigated. We should trust the system to do that and should focus our efforts for now, as journalists, to demand and pursue justice,” he said. “Let’s deal with the culprits, whoever they are, when we find them.”

Despite the enormous goodwill he enjoys, Mir finds himself unwittingly the catalyst of a deepening division within the media ranks. “When Express media group office and its workers were attacked and killed, and others like Raza Rumi and Imtiaz Alam were attacked, they rightly raised a ruckus and demanded justice, as well as support from others. But when a Jang group journalist has been attacked likewise, where is the kind of support from Express for Jang that it sought from others?” asks Iqbal Khattak, the Peshawar-based Executive Director of Freedom Network, a media watchdog advocating for media safety. “There was a time in Pakistan when newspaper owners had a code of ethics that disallowed criticism against each other in each other’s publications. But the advent of real-time TV media has changed all that and we now actually find Jang group, Express group and ARY running active campaigns against each other.”

Rana Jawad, who manages Geo TV operations from Islamabad, insists they are not running a campaign against anyone. “We’ve given views of all sides, including that of the family of Hamid Mir as well as that of the armed forces and intelligence agencies. So where’s the bias? It’s not us running a campaign against anyone whereas there is a clear campaign against us by some media houses with thinly disguised leanings,” he told this writer. “I would say that there is a lack of clarity within [media] ranks on how to deal with pressure from certain quarters and how to prevent us from being manipulated into agendas of non-media forces.”

Media activist and senior journalist Mazhar Abbas says the media sector must take urgent steps to stem the crisis of credibility engulfing it by putting an immediate end to criticism of each other by media houses. “Who do you think benefits from divisions within media owners, media practitioners and government institutions about the attacks against journalists and how to deal with them?” he asks. “Our common enemies, of course.” Abbas says there are precedents of dealing with such attacks.

“In the 1980s three journalists were killed within days of each other and the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors and the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) went on a strike, no newspapers were published in the country and the government was forced to speed up investigation and prosecution. In the 1990s, when six newspapers were banned, we again announced a strike and the government immediately restored the papers. That’s what we need to do now. The APNS, the Pakistan Broadcasters Association and the PFUJ need to stop fighting, appoint a Joint Action Committee and unite on the single agenda of security for journalists, otherwise our enemies will win. It will also solve the current needless media bickering on non-issues.”

Winning the media enemies indeed are. Scores of journalists have been killed in Pakistan since 2000. As media fights its own demons, others pick off media targets one by one. And who’s killing them? Many know and don’t speak out as Mir and his family did but Reporters Without Borders said in a recent report that the Taliban and intelligence services are the biggest predators of media freedoms in Pakistan. The Saleem Shahzad Commission agreed somewhat. And now the Hamid Mir Commission announced by the prime minister has the opportunity to find some answers. But don’t hold your breath.

Adnan Rehmat (adnan@civicaction.pk) is a media analyst and development communications specialist.

DAWN

Raza Rumi is alive. It appears Hamid Mir will survive. Shan Dahar is dead.

For CPJ, most of this weekend was taken up learning about and responding to the assassination attempt on Geo TV’s most prominent anchor and commentator, Hamid Mir. CPJ quickly released a statement after the attack and fielded questions from international and Pakistani media almost nonstop. On Sunday, I met with about 30 Pakistani journalists and community leaders in New York to discuss the situation. The government has offered a reward of 10 million Pakistani rupees (about $102,000) for information leading to the apprehension of the people who tried to kill the very high-profile Mir.

This weekend’s response wasn’t unlike that on March 28, when gunmen sprayed the car of TV anchor and widely-respected analyst Raza Rumi, a member of the Express Group of media organizations. And we handled a flood of questions after the January 17 attack on an Express TV van in Karachi, in which three media workers were killed and a cameraman injured. It was the third attack in eight months on the Express Media Group. An attack on an Express bureau chief’s home was the fourth. The attack on Rumi was the fifth.

But in the middle of all the phone calling and emailing in the last few days, I received two email messages that took the focus off Mir and Raza Rumi, but are, in fact, all part of the same problem. I’ve conjoined both messages and edited them to make them a bit clearer:

Dear All,

Still we are waiting for justice regarding Shan Dahar’s case, please raise case of Shan along with Hamid Mir. No more investigation is done in this case, please take up our case to [the] government level. And make this statement possible for other journalists in Pakistan "Protecting Pakistan journalists"

We have submitted an application to our honorable Deputy Inspector General of Police Larkana Division for a re-investigation of Shan Dahar’s case one week before, but no output. We need your support & cooperation all the time. Could you please follow up our case with higher authorities, we don’t have approach nor any source. Your prompt action will be highly appreciated, awaiting suitable response.

Protecting Pakistan journalists
Riaz & Fouzia
Brother-in-law of Shan
Sister of Shan Dahar
Karachi, Pakistan

My CPJ colleague Elisabeth Witchel, our international expert on questions of impunity in the killing of journalists, and I met Riaz and Fouzia in Karachi in March, a week or so prior to a CPJ delegation meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Information and Law Minister Pervaiz Rasheed. The couple is adamant in pursuing justice for Shan Dahar, and we’ve promised them that we would raise their case whenever we could.

There has been little substantive movement in the investigation of the shooting death of Dahar, a local reporter for Abb Takk television. He died on January 1 this year, while filming near a pharmacy in Larkana. He had already produced one story on prescription drugs being illegally resold in the town, and was taking video of a package bearing a “not for resale” label on it shortly before he was shot, according to his family. Nasir Baig Chughtai, the director of news for Abb Takk, confirms that Dahar was on assignment at the time he was killed. He died in the hospital after waiting for hours for medical treatment, which never came, possibly because it was the New Year holiday.

CPJ’s data show that 96 percent of journalists murdered around the world are local journalists covering local stories. Dahar’s case is every bit as typical of that reality as the murder attempts on Rumi or Mir. And worse, in 90 percent of the cases of journalists killed, no one is brought to justice–the killings happen with impunity. Pakistan has the world’s ninth worst record for bringing the killers of journalists to justice, according to CPJ’s annual Impunity Index.

So, starting on January 1: An increasingly bad record for the Nawaz Sharif government in terms of journalists’ safety. Much has been made of the somewhat successful prosecution in March of some of the perpetrators, but none of the masterminds, in the January 2011 murder of Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar. But the credit for that cannot be given to the Sharif government. The trial was underway when the government came to power and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was instrumental in pressuring the federal and Sindh governments to bring the trial to a conclusion. What worked were the tactics of hearing the case in an Anti-Terrorist Court; changing of the trial venue to a less dangerous location; the use of special prosecutors; and a witness protection program for those with the courage to testify. This has emerged as a model for such politically sensitive trials, even though they may come at a cost: In early April Abdul Saboor, the brother of Abdul Maroof, the special public prosecutor in Wali Khan Babar murder case, was killed by unidentified men. No motive has been ascertained, police say.

When CPJ met with Sharif and Pervaiz Rasheed in March, we walked away with the feeling that the government realizes it has a problem when it comes to journalists’ security and is ready to take steps to deal with it. Amid the ongoing killings, attacks and unrelenting threats, their plans are coming closer to be realized.

In an April 14 piece in The Express Tribune, “Protecting Pakistan journalists” Mazhar Abbas, who won a CPJ International Press Freedom Award in 2007, outlines where things stand in terms of the government’s efforts to address the problem legislatively. Abbas, a former secretary-general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, is far from a government apologist. He remains a strong advocate of journalists in the best trade-union tradition. But even he says, “There is a sense of realization within the government that the security of media in Pakistan is the responsibility of the state.”

Abbas explains that in recent days the government submitted 20 draft proposals for consideration by the National Assembly, which arose out of its consultations with most of the stakeholders to the problem. The proposals cover everything from insurance for journalists to safety training, who pays for protective gear for staff on dangerous assignments, and how quickly attacks on journalists must be investigated and brought to trial. A main forum for that discussion has been the Pakistan Coalition on Media Safety, a group that arose just over a year ago out of a U.N. conference in Islamabad, the International Conference on Safety & Security of Pakistani Journalists. Now, in 2014, a year later, Abbas says he hopes the legislation to protect journalists will be enacted by World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2015, a year from now–an optimistic but achievable deadline.

Meanwhile: After this weekend’s attack on Mir, the highly respected Zohra Yusuf of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said, Protecting Pakistan journalists “There should be an independent and judicial inquiry commission but that should not end like the one established to probe into killing of journalist Saleem Shahzad. This time the attempt went unsuccessful so there is a need to inquire about the details and people behind the attack before they plan another one.” Her idea was adopted by the government on Sunday.

CPJ has been highly skeptical of the value of special judicial inquiries and tribunals like those called for by the HRCP’s Yusuf. See, for example, “Justice for Saleem Shahzad? We’ve seen this before…” and “What should happen following the Raza Rumi attack.” We feel that special investigations, even when they include high-ranking judicial figures, circumvent the basic application of the laws of the country for the crime of murder: a police investigation, the appointment of a prosecutor, a trial, a conviction, and a sentencing. We feel that as the government waits for its proposed new legislation, it should use those tools it already has, the tools it used in the Babar case, to continue to prosecute the ongoing attacks on journalists. The threats and violence remain as prevalent as they ever have been, and show no signs of abating. Prosecutions of those who would kill journalists should start now. Protecting Pakistan journalists

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Follow him on Twitter @cpjasia and Facebook @ CPJ Asia Desk.

Committee to Protect Journalists

On January 24, 2014, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expressed its ongoing concern for the safety of journalists in Pakistan with reports that a senior leader of IFJ affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), has received death threats in direct response to his activism and campaigning. The IFJ is calling on the Pakistan government to take heed of the calls by Pakistan’s journalists to take action on journalist killings.

The threat on Rana Azeem follows increased national actions by PFUJ members since the recent shooting assassination of three Express News workers and the murder of investigative journalist Shan Dahar on January 1. The PFUJ has called for “10 days of mourning” and increased its visible protests against Taliban and terrorist threats to the media, especially in the troubled Balochistan province.

“Mr Azeem and the PFUJ have strongly conveyed the message to Pakistan government officials, including the Prime Minister but there has been no response on how the government intends to tackle the issue of journalist killings,” the IFJ said. “The government must respond and the media must be protected.”

The PFUJ maintains that journalists must remain visible and vocal to stop further killings.

“It’s not just me receiving threats, many journalists are being threatened and have complained to government but things go on the same,” Rana Azeem said. “Things here in Pakistan seem to be out of control. There is no other way than to go to the people to let them know.”

On January 21, the IFJ sent a letter to Prime Minister Sharif, calling for “serious and overdue action” to protect Pakistani journalists and bring attackers to justice. The IFJ said rhetoric was no longer enough, and it is now time for real action.

Pakistan ranks as the third most dangerous country for journalists, according to the number of fatalities in 2013 as collated by the IFJ. Already in January, four media workers have lost their lives in the line of duty. In October, the IFJ launched the End Impunity campaign to seek justice for journalist killings in Pakistan, Iran and Russia.

Since January 1, 2000, more than 90 journalists have been killed and, despite the appalling statistic, there has not been a successful prosecution.

“The threats against Pakistan’s journalists are palpable as the record of carnage and atrocities shows,” the IFJ said. “At this challenging time for our colleagues in Pakistan, we honour and respect these brave individuals and call for national solidarity so they can continue to raise their voices as a united front against threats to our profession.”

IFEX