Your Excellency:

We are writing to express our deep concern about the deteriorating climate for press freedom in Pakistan, which undermines recent commitments made by your government during CPJ’s mission to the country.

In our meeting with you on March 19, you told us you recognized the scope of the crisis that journalists face in Pakistan and the damage that the country’s record of impunity in journalist murders has done to its international reputation. We were encouraged by the exchange and follow-up we had with you and other Pakistani officials.

We urge you to follow your pledges to address media freedoms with meaningful action. A joint government-media commission to review anti-press attacks and improve security, such as the one you pledged to create, would be a great step toward improving the climate for press freedom in Pakistan.

Since our meetings, conditions for journalists working in Pakistan have drastically deteriorated. Only days after we met, unidentified gunmen fired on the car of Raza Rumi, a senior Pakistani journalist, as he was leaving the studio following his TV show. Rumi was not injured, but his driver was killed.

In April, gunmen shot Geo News senior anchor Hamid Mir as he and his driver left Karachi’s main airport. Mir survived the attack but sustained wounds to his abdomen and pelvis. His driver survived. The next month, two foreign journalists were expelled from the country after being told their visas would not be renewed. The Hindu correspondent Meena Menon and Snehesh Alex Philip, correspondent for the Press Trust of India, left Pakistan within seven days.

On May 20, some members of Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) announced that licenses for Geo News, Geo Entertainment, and Geo Tez, channels under the Geo TV Network, had been suspended. Later that day, PEMRA issued a press release saying the order had “no legal standing” since the meeting had been attended by only five of its 12 members.

On June 3, Zafar Aheer, an editor of the Urdu-language Daily Jang, was beaten by six armed men as he was returning home from work. The assailants confiscated his phone and fired shots around his car before fleeing. Aheer told BBC Urdu that the assailants accused employees of the Jang group of being traitors, Jews, and Indian agents. He also said he had received death threats in connection with his affiliation with the media group.

Daily Jang, part of the Jang media group, is headed by Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, who is also the top executive at Geo TV. Rahman’s outlets have come under increased pressure since Geo TV broadcast allegations that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence was responsible for the April attack on Mir. Critics said the coverage was irresponsible.

Staffers at the The News–including Umar Cheema, who wrote critically about the attack on Mir–have received threats. Vans carrying Jang’s newspapers have been torched in Lahore, Lodhran, and Rawalpindi.

On June 6, Geo News was fined and given a 15-day suspension by PEMRA. The channel went from providing news to millions of people to a blank screen. PEMRA allowed the channel to begin rebroadcasting after 15 days, but news reports said cable operators were continuing to block the channel.

On June 20, PEMRA suspended Geo Entertainment’s license for 30 days and ARY News’ license for 15 days and imposed on each outlet fines of 10 million rupees. News reports said Geo was banned for “insulting the religious sentiments of viewers” in one of its morning shows, and ARY was banned for “bringing high courts into disrepute” in connection with a critical program.

This sets a very dangerous precedent and opens the door for future attempts to shut down news channels that are critical of the state and its agencies. More than 7,500 people are employed under Geo, and their livelihoods and safety are directly affected by the threats to Geo.

We call on your government to reinstate Geo’s ability to operate and broadcast in the country. Your government should ensure journalists at all news outlets are able to work safely and freely in Pakistan.

The commitments you made provide a clear path forward for media freedom in Pakistan. The recent challenges should not derail your efforts to ensure that journalists are able to do their job without fear.

We left Pakistan with a deep sense of optimism following our mission, and remain hopeful that your government is sincerely committed to ensuring greater press freedoms in the country.

Sincerely,
Joel Simon
Executive Director
Kati Marton
CPJ Board member
Ahmed Rashid
CPJ Board member

CC List:
Dr. Nazir Saeed, Secretary, Ministry of Information Broadcasting & National Heritage
Mohammad Azam, Additional Secretary Ministry of Information Broadcasting & National Heritage
S.M. Imran Gardezi, Director General External Publicity Wing
Humera Azam Khan, Director General Human Rights, Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights
Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Washington

Committee to Protect Journalists

The participants of the camp chanted slogans against the discriminatory decision of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) that suspended the transmission of the most popular TV channel of the country for 15 days.

Arshad Aziz Malik, Mahmood Jan Babar, Sharif Mohmand, Munir Khan Afridi, Imdad Ali Qizalbash, Khalid Kheshgi, Shahzad Anjum, Muhammad Nauman, Shiba Haider, Musawir, Haris Khan, and Peshawar High Court Bar General Secretary Ayaz Khan were among the participants.

Speaking on the occasion, the participants flayed the curbs on the media. They were critical of the government and quarters concerned for their failure to nab those who attacked senior journalists Hamid Mir, Zafar Aheer.

They said the accused, who torched Jang vehicles and thousands of copies of The News and Daily Jang, could not be rounded up yet. They made it clear that their strike would continue for 15 days. They said they would start a countrywide protest campaign on the call of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists if the curbs were not lifted against the group.

The News

A large number of journalists from print and electronic media, members of the civil society, political leaders and trade union representatives visited the camp that was arranged by the Khyber Union of Journalists.

The participants of the camp chanted slogans against the discriminatory decision of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) that suspended the transmission of the most popular TV channel of the country for 15 days.

Senior journalist and President Khyber Union of Journalists Nisar Mehmood, Senior Sub Editor The News Umar Ali, Mahmood Jan Babar, Daily Jang staffer Shah ji and others were among the participants.

The speakers on the occasion rejected the curbs on the media. They ridiculed the government and other quarters concerned for their failure to apprehend those who had attacked senior journalists Hamid Mir, Zafar Aheer and torched Jang vehicles and thousands of copies of The News and Daily Jang, while they were quick in taking action against Jang Media Group for lodging complaints. They vowed to continue the token strike for the 15 days. They said if the curbs were not lifted against the organisation, they would start a countrywide protest campaign on the call of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.

The News

Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) suspended Geo TV, Pakistan’s largest television network, on June 6 for a period of 15 days and fined them 10 million rupees (approx. €75,000) after receiving a complaint from the Ministry of Defence. If the fine is not paid before the end of the suspension period, the suspension of the license will continue.

The complaint related to Geo News’ coverage of an April 19 Opens external link in new window attack on news anchor Hamid Mir. His brother, Amir, told the station on air that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI, was responsible for the attack on his brother and that the agency had threatened the journalist in the past.

Following Amir’s statement, Geo TV repeatedly aired the allegations over the following eight hours without providing a clear basis for the accusation against the intelligence agency, Secretary General of Pakistan Press Foundation Owais Aslam Ali told IPI in an interview.

Geo TV and Jang Media Group, a Geo affiliate, subsequently Opens external link in new windowapologised to Pakistan’s armed forces and the ISI, admitting that its coverage of the attack on Mir had been “excessive, distressful and emotional”. Nevertheless, the broadcast not only led to tensions between Geo and the military, but also caused an outcry by other media outlets that believed Geo’s actions were anti-state and anti-army.

“The biggest threat we face right now is that this is the first time for many decades that there has been a split between the media organisations themselves,” Ali, who is also a member of the IPI Executive Board, said. “The internal division in the media is a bigger threat to press freedom than the external threats.”

That challenge joins a host of others that journalists in Pakistan face, Ali told IPI.

Before this instance, he noted, there had never been success in blocking a media outlet to such a heavy degree.

The current sentiment against Geo TV has also led to a rise in physical attacks and threats against journalists working for the station and its affiliates. Several attacks on newspaper delivery trucks have also been reported in recent weeks.

In one incident, journalist Zafar Aheer was returning home from work on June 1 when six armed men attacked and severely injured him. Aheer was quoted in Opens external link in new windowlocal news reports as saying that the attackers had called him a traitor because he works for Jang Media Group.

“The media has not been able to generate support for press freedom,” Ali said. “Now the public support for press freedom has dwindled to an extent not seen in my lifetime.”

To fix the current situation in Pakistan, Ali said, the country needs to return to normalcy and media organisations need to begin to work on healing the wounds.

In the long term, he continued, media outlets need their own code of conduct, as well as professional editors to decide what airs on TV to avoid a situation akin to the current Geo crisis. Ali also suggested the creation of a self-regulatory complaint system for media content, something Pakistan does not yet have in place.

IPI Press Freedom Manager Barbara Trionfi echoed Ali’s comments, adding: “The suspension of a broadcaster as a consequence of an editorial mistake, for which they have publicly apologised, is an entirely disproportionate remedy. Pakistan is failing to keep true not only to its constitutional and international press freedom obligations, but also to the recent promise expressed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on March 19, when, in a meeting with a Committee to Protect Journalists delegation, he Opens external link in new windowpledged to expand press freedom and to speak out in support of the safety of journalists.”

For more information, contact: Barbara Trionfi, IPI Press Freedom Manager, at +43 (1) 512 90 11 or by e-mail Opens window for sending emailbtrionfi[@]freemedia.at

International Press Institute