THE murder in Kohat of Hafeezur Rehman, chief editor of a local weekly newspaper and the president of the cable TV network owners association, appears to be yet another chapter in the saga of violence against this country’s journalists.

While it may be too soon to authoritatively say that he was targeted as a result of his profession, this much is obvious: across the country, those whose duty it is to report on events regularly come under fire from extremists — and sometimes even by state-sponsored actors.

Further, the modus operandi of the attack on Hafeezur Rehman was the same as the one employed in the killing in Tank earlier this month of journalist Zaman Mehsud, responsibility for which was claimed by the banned TTP.

Also read: ‘More journalists killed in Pakistan than any other democracy’

Then, two weeks ago, Mohammed Afzal Mughal, vice president of the Balochistan Union of Journalists, was picked up by a law-enforcement agency; he was released the next afternoon, perhaps in part because his plight was immediately made public nationwide by the media.

And last week, the Faisalabad bureau office of Dunya TV was targeted with a hand grenade, leaving three people injured.

Not even a month has passed since the UN marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on Nov 2.

The occasion was in Pakistan highlighted by most media houses that reiterated their call for the government and its justice system to forcefully pursue cases where media employees are harassed.

Yet the only two cases where the murders of journalists have seen pursuit and sentencing are those of Daniel Pearl and Wali Khan Babar, the former as a result of international pressure and the latter after much prodding locally.

The killing of Saleem Shahzad remains unresolved, to say nothing of cases where death has not been an outcome.

Until the state takes measures to end this culture of impunity, few media persons will be able to say that they can discharge their obligations the way they are supposed to.

Dawn

ISLAMABAD – Naseer Azam Mehsud, a journalist covering the militancy-hit areas for his Islamabad-based private television channel, has quit reporting from his bureau in Dera Ismail Khan and has taken refuge in the federal capital following threats from Taliban.

Naseer Mehsud left his family members in Dera Ismail Khan and rushed to Islamabad only to inform his employer that he will not be able to report from his bureau after Taliban threatened him with dire consequences.

For Mehsud, threats by Taliban to journalists are not something unusual particularly when reporting on developments taking place in North and South Waziristan but this time he says the threats are genuine and dangerous.

The fresh threats from Taliban come after militants claimed responsibility for killing journalist Zaman Mehsud. Zaman was killed on November 3 by unidentified men in Tank. He was shot five times triggering condemnation from human rights organizations and journalist community.
His killing was claimed by Qari Saifullah group of Taliban. The new group is neither associated with TTP Sheharyar group nor with Sajna faction of Tehrike-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Sources familiar with Qari Saifullah group alias Geelaman (dissidents) operates in a totally novel style. Its members unlike other Taliban are clean shaven and consist of youngsters.
Soon after Taliban claimed responsibility for killing Zaman Mehsud, the first journalist they contacted was Naseer Mehsud who was warned to give coverage to militants or get prepared for meeting fate of his colleague Zaman.

“We cannot give coverage to terrorists after media regulator PEMRA instructed electronic channel not to take version of Taliban. We are in a state of confusion,” Naseer told the Nation.
However, his TV channel ha sallowed him to work in Islamabad instead of reporting from the hard area until threats to his life subside. But Naseer is convinced that his movement as journalist in areas like D I Khan, Tank, South or North Waziristan will endanger his life as he resumes his duty in his bureau.

His another colleague Shah Zaman who is also President Laddah Press Club has been kidnapped for the last one month by militants followed by threats to his family.

Majority of journalists covering from the restive tribal areas have either quit journalism as a profession switching over to other means of livelihood or have asked their employers to induct them in the head offices.

Farooq Mehsud is another journalist who said goodbye to South Waziristan and has taken refuge in an undisclosed place after repeated threats to his life and his family members.

“We are disappointed that neither the provincial nor federal government has ensured security for journalists reporting from the hard areas. Nobody compensated family members of Zaman Mehsud. I don’t want to meet the fate of my colleagues,” Naseer Azam said.
He said the outlawed terrorist faction accused journalists of showing footages of women IDPs which is contrary to the traditions of Pashtuns. “I have two options — either to quit the profession or leave the area from where I report,” he said.

The Nation

New York: Pakistani authorities should conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the killing of journalist and rights monitor Zaman Mehsud, said Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday.

Gunmen fatally shot Mehsud on November 4, while he was riding his motorcycle in the Tank, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “We killed him because he was writing against us. We have some other journalists on our hit list in the region, soon we will target them,” Taliban commander Qari Saifullah Saif has claimed the responsibility for the attack in a statement to Reuters.

“The Taliban’s claim of responsibility for killing of a journalist showed a cruel disregard for human life and free speech,” said HRW Asia Director Brad Adams. “Pakistan’s government needs to move to bring the perpetrators of attacks on journalists to justice if these crimes are to stop,” he stressed.

Mehsud was a monitor for the nongovernmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in South Waziristan. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) may have killed Mesud for his reporting on the armed conflict and human rights situation in South Waziristan, the HRW said. The attack occurred a day after the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

Pakistan remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. More than 35 journalists and media workers have been killed in Pakistan because of their work since 2010. On the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Global Impunity Index, Pakistan was ninth on the list of countries in which the most journalists were murdered without the attackers being prosecuted. Pakistani journalists routinely face harassment, intimidation, assault, kidnapping, and arbitrary arrest and detention.

On September 9, unidentified assailants gunned down Aftab Alam, a senior journalist, near his home in Karachi. In April 2014, unidentified gunmen attacked Hamid Mir in Karachi. In January 2011, Wali Khan Babar, a 28-year-old reporter, was shot dead in Karachi. While the trial court convicted those accused of killing Babar, at least five people associated with the investigation, including a witness, police informers, police officers, and a prosecutor, have been murdered.

In 2011, Saleem Shahzad, a reporter for the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online and for Adnkronos International, the Italian news agency, disappeared from Islamabad. His body, bearing visible signs of torture, was discovered two days later. The circumstances of the abduction raised concerns that the ISI was responsible. The commission of inquiry constituted to investigate the killing failed to identify those responsible.

The Pakistani government has recently adopted measures that further constrict the space for free expression, Human Rights Watch said. On October 1, the government announced a restrictive policy on international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), mandating that they register and obtain prior permission from the Interior Ministry to work in the country in specified fields and geographical areas. The INGO policy has provisions that facilitate arbitrary restrictions on the rights to freedom of association, expression, and assembly, rights protected under the Pakistani constitution and international law, it added.

“The Pakistani government, by clamping down on free expression and fundamental rights, is creating an environment that makes journalists and human rights defenders even more vulnerable,” Adams said. “The first step toward protection of journalists and rights defenders is to enable an environment of free expression. The Pakistan government needs to start by providing protection for at-risk journalists, while revising and repealing its restrictive laws and policies,” added Adams.

Daily Times

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) on Wednesday condemned the killing of another journalist Zaman Mehsaud, who was shot dead in Tank District on Wednesday.

Zaman, who hailed from South Waziristan, was coming to Tank city from his hometown Gomel on his motorcycle when unidentified people opened fire at him.

He was shifted to District Headquarter Hospital Tank, and then District Headquarter Hospital DI Khan, but he succumbed to the bullet injuries. He was working with Daily Umat Karachi and was also running his own twitter news, “Gomel News”.

President PFUJ and Secretary General Amin Yousuf condemned the brutal killing of Zaman and demanded of the government to take prompt action to arrest the culprits. They said that Pakistan was amongst most dangerous countries in the world for journalists where as many as 117 journalists had sacrificed their lives in the last decade. The PFUJ leaders called for a country-wide protest on Thursday if the local police failed to arrest the killer of Zaman Mehsud.

“We are already running impunity campaign for crimes against journalists and this murder has added to the difficulties of working journalists in the country,” they concluded. The PFUJ leaders urged the local police to expedite proceedings to arrest the culprits so that they could be put on trial under the anti-terrorism laws of the land.

Pakistan Today

KHAR: Media persons in Bajaur on Wednesday organised a protest demonstration against the murder of their colleague, Mohammad Zaman Mehsud, in Tank district, and demand arrest of his killers.

The protest was staged outside the press club here where members of civil society and workers of political parties were also present.

The journalists expressed concern over the growing incidents of attacks on media persons and demanded of the government to provide them with protection.

They criticised the government for not arresting the culprits involved in killing of media personnel in the tribal areas. They asked for payment of compensation to the bereaved family of Zaman Mehsud.

Dawn

TANK: Tribal journalist and human rights activist Mohammad Zaman Mehsud was gunned down in an ambush in Tank, southern district of Khyber Pakhtun­khwa, on Tuesday, only a day after the International Day of End Impunity Against Journalists was observed the world over.

Police and witnesses said that Zaman Mehsud was going to Tank from Gomal bazaar on his motorcycle when he came under fire near the Dabara refugee camp. Zaman Mehsud was injured and taken to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) which referred him to the DHQ hospital in Dera Ismail Khan where he succumbed to his wounds. The assailants who were on a motorcycle managed to escape after the attack. According to the post-mortem report, the journalist was hit by 10 bullets.

Zaman Mehsud was working as a correspondent for Urdu language dailies Daily Ummat and Nai Bat. He served as president and secretary general of the South Waziristan chapter of Tribal Union of Journalists’. He hailed from the Mantoi area of Ladha in South Waziristan and was residing in Tank. He was also a monitor of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s South Waziristan chapter.

Soon after the attack, a large number of journalists from Tank and South Waziristan reached the hospital.

Aslam Khan, a brother of the slain journalist, registered a First Information Report (FIR) against unidentified killers. He said the deceased who was the lone bread earner of his family, had no enmities with anyone. Zaman Mehsud leaves behind his wife, three sons and two daughters. The funeral will be held at Narsez IDP camp in Tank on Wednesday.

HRCP SHOCKED: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed grief over the killing of Zaman Mehsud.

The commission, in a statement, said: “We announce with great sorrow and grief, the passing of Zaman Mehsud, a dedicated member of the HRCP family and our monitor from South Waziristan.” The local hospital, the HRCP said, did not have adequate facilities to treat him and he was moved to a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan where he expired on the operating table.”

“HRCP offers sincere condolences to the bereaved family. The commission hopes that this latest addition to our list of martyrs to the cause of human rights will not dampen the spirit of the deceased’s colleagues and will reinforce their resolve to work for the rights and dignity of all human beings with the same commitment as before, ” the statement said.

Dawn

On the morning of 3 November 2015, one day after the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, journalist Zaman Mehsud was killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his motorcycle in Tank, a district in Khyber Pahktunkhwa province, Pakistan.

According to Reuters news agency, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban commander Qari Saif Ullah said “We killed him because he was writing against us. We have some other journalists on our hit list in the region, soon we will target them.”

Mehsud, 38, was travelling from Gomal bazaar when unidentified gunmen opened fire near the Dabara refugee camp. The assailants who were also on a motorcycle managed to escape after shooting him.

Mehsud was critically injured and taken to the District Headquarter Hospital Tank, and later to the District Headquarters Hospital in Dera Ismail Khan where he succumbed to his injuries. Mehsud received four bullets to the chest, doctors said.

Mehsud was a senior journalist associated with the Urdu language Daily Ummat and the SANA news agency. He was running his own twitter news account, “Gomel News”, and had served as president and secretary general of the Tribal Union of Journalists’ South Waziristan chapter. He was also a monitor for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

According to local journalists, he did not get any threats and did not have any enmities with anyone.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has condemned the killing of Mehsued and demanded the government take prompt action to arrest the culprits. The PFUJ leaders have called for a country-wide protest on Thursday [5 November] if the local police failed to arrest the journalist’s killers

The murder was also condemned by the FATA Journalists’ Association, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and many journalists’ unions.

Aslam Khan, the slain journalist’s brother, registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the unidentified killers.

Mehsud hailed from Mantoi area of Ladha in South Waziristan and was residing in Tank. He leaves behind his wife, three sons and two daughters.

Pakistan Press Foundation