By: Idrees Ali<\/p>\n
Approaching the third anniversary of the murder of Saleem Shahzad, a Pakistani journalist killed as he investigated the murky relationship between the ISI and Al-Qaeda, little progress has been made with the investigation.<\/p>\n
In many ways, Shahzad\u2019s case signifies the challenge in Pakistan: brave journalists who face threats from non-state and state actors, and a system that is unable to provide them with the protection urgently required.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistani journalists are facing a conglomeration of threats and threats from so many different sides,\u201d said Bob Dietz, coordinator of the Asia Program at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists throughout the world.<\/p>\n
At least 34 Pakistani journalists have been killed as a direct result of their work since 2008, when democracy was restored in the country, according to a recent report by Amnesty International titled \u201cA Bullet Has Been Chosen for You.\u201d<\/p>\n
While journalists around the world usually face threats from a specific source, such increasingly authoritarian governments in Turkey and Egypt, journalists in Pakistan must overcome threats from both state and non-state actors.<\/p>\n
One non-state threat facing Pakistani journalists throughout the country is militant organizations, including the Tehreek-i-Taliban.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Taliban have made their intention very clear, they want to dictate terms to the media at the point of a gun,\u201d said Khurram Husain, a business and economy journalist in Pakistan who writes a column in Dawn, one of Pakistan\u2019s leading English language newspapers.<\/p>\n
Threats by militant organizations became an unfortunate reality for Raza Rumi, a columnist and TV anchor for Express News, when gunmen sprayed his car with bullets as he left work on the night of March 28 in Lahore.<\/p>\n
While Rumi survived and has since fled to the United States for his own safety, he said his coverage of Shia and Ahmadis might have led to the attack, following the arrest of six people who are believed to be associated with the sectarian militant organization, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).<\/p>\n
The threat from militant groups has become so serious that it was brought up with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a recent trip by CPJ to the country, according to Kati Marton, the organization\u2019s board member and former chair.<\/p>\n
She said the committee had reminded the prime minister that if peace talks with the Taliban continued, the issue of protection of journalists must be brought up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue will be taken up with the Taliban,\u201d the prime minister told the CPJ delegation.<\/p>\n
Non-state threats are not exclusively from militant organizations such as the LEJ and TTP, but also come from separatist in Balochistan as well, according to Dietz.<\/p>\n
Since 2002, 79 journalists have been reported killed in Pakistan, a significant number of them at the hands of non-state actors, according to data provided by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), an independent non-governmental organization committed to promoting and defending freedom of expression.<\/p>\n
However, another threat is posed by the state, and in particular the military.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is not a generalized fear, like there is with the Taliban, that you will be targeted if you talk about the army, but journalists in the past who have examined very closely the militant nexus with the armed forces have been targeted,\u201d said Husain.<\/p>\n
Reporting on the military in Pakistan is considered to be a \u201cred line\u201d and in order to remain safe, important issues are sometimes ignored by the media, according to Rumi.<\/p>\n
While no one has been convicted for the abduction and murder of Saleem Shahzad, who had published a report on the relationship between the military and Al-Qaeda, the role of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has once again come up in the Amnesty International report.<\/p>\n
The report said that the ISI had a \u201ctendency to send veiled threats against those who displeased them\u201d such as journalists receiving anonymous calls and threats, or otherwise being intimidated.<\/p>\n
Historically, the military establishment has not targeted high-profile journalists, but rather more vulnerable and small-town reporters, according to Michael Kugelman, senior program associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center.<\/p>\n
Data collected by PPF and mapped show that most of the attacks on journalists have been outside the larger cities.<\/p>\n
A Check on the Military<\/p>\n
The media has acted as a check on the military, still the most powerful institution in the country, and has exposed its weaknesses, \u201cmaking it seem less invincible,\u201d Kugelman said.<\/p>\n
Blaming the military and the ISI so openly would not have been possible in the late 1990s and early part of this century, when most of the news was disseminated through the state funded Pakistan Television (PTV), he added.<\/p>\n
In many ways, press freedom and journalism in the country is paradox between a \u201cquest for freedom of expression\u201d and threats from \u201celements within the state and non-state actors,\u201d according to Rumi.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe media itself is emblematic of the democratization process in Pakistan in the sense that you\u2019ve had a huge proliferation of private television channels over the last two years, they\u2019re private and not controlled by the state, and they tend to be quite critical of the state,\u201d Kugelman said.<\/p>\n
The 2008 elections saw a return of democracy in the country and 2013 marked the first time a democratically elected government passed power to another democratically elected government, a process in which the media played a critical role.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople, like Raza [Rumi], who risk their lives on an almost daily basis to cover events in Pakistan are what stand between a purely authoritarian government and an aspiring democracy,\u201d said Marton.<\/p>\n
Another silver lining from an otherwise ugly incident could be the lessons learned from the coverage of the attack on April 19 on Hamid Mir, a news anchor who hosts the popular political talk show Capital Talk on Geo TV.<\/p>\n
Within hours of the attack on Mir, Geo TV, owned by the Jang group, flashed pictures of the Director General of ISI Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam accusing the ISI of the attack, without verifying the claims.<\/p>\n
Soon after, the defense ministry filed a complaint with the nation\u2019s media regulator, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe telecast in question\/campaign was aimed at undermining the integrity and tarnishing the image of state institutions and its officers and falsely linking it with the terrorist outfits\/activities,\u201d read the complaint.<\/p>\n
While condemned by press freedom groups, the incident has brought the issue of sensationalist reporting to the front, and could create a standard for reporting news in a country where no code of ethics exists, said Saim Saeed, a sub-editor at The Express Tribune, an English language newspaper.<\/p>\n
\u201cWouldn\u2019t it be great if something emerged from this? Let\u2019s go slower on this [making accusation], let\u2019s have rules and regulation,\u201d said Dietz.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake this period, it will be over soon, and use it as a learning lesson,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A recent letter of joint solidarity, signed by more than 70 high-level journalists, called on media owners to create a code of ethics that incorporate best practices on ethical journalism, reducing the risks that journalists face, according to Owais Aslam Ali, chairman of the Pakistan Press Foundation and one of the signatories.<\/p>\n
Despite all these problems and the growing risks facing journalists in the country, Saeed is optimistic about the future of journalism in the country that is still in its infancy.<\/p>\n
Saeed added that the power of news in Pakistan, a country where politics directly affects almost every citizen, gives journalists the ability to shape the public debate. For that reason, young people are still attracted to the profession, despite the risks.<\/p>\n
To ensure that journalism and press freedom in the country develops, there is a need for \u201ca public response, international response, and political pressure from within,\u201d Dietz said.<\/p>\n
The sentiment amongst some journalists and analysts is that pressure from the international community, in particular, may be the most effective tool.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prime minister understands that Pakistan\u2019s global image has suffered because of the impunity [with which journalists are killed],\u201d said Marton from CPJ.<\/p>\n
What this means for everyday journalists, Marton added, is a more responsible media ownership culture, which might include training journalists and providing them with measures such as life insurance policies, a norm for reporters working in dangerous countries<\/p>\n
What may ultimately decide the future of journalism in Pakistan however, is how the attacks and threats are handled, said Joel Simon, executive director for the Committee to Protect Journalists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe questions is, can Nawaz Sharif do anything about this [the threats]?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Idrees Ali is the Washington D.C. Correspondent for Pakistan Press International. Follow him on Twitter at @idreesali114.<\/p>\n