The Human Rights Commission of\u00a0Pakistan\u00a0(HRCP) is worried by the rapidly eroding space for\u00a0freedom\u00a0of\u00a0expression\u00a0in the country.<\/p>\n

HRCP\u00a0arranged a panel discussion titled, “Why is our\u00a0freedom\u00a0of\u00a0expression\u00a0being curbed?\u201d.\u00a0HRCP\u00a0chairperson Dr. Mehdi Hassan said that Article 19 of the constitution of\u00a0Pakistan\u00a0even provides\u00a0freedom\u00a0to express but with six conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the role of political parties to work so everyone especially journalists could have level playing field for to write and report freely on issues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Human rights activist Husain Naqi said space for\u00a0freedom\u00a0of\u00a0expression\u00a0is diminishing in the country. \u201cWhat to say when Government itself tolerated the missing persons and there comes a time when the government itself is disappeared!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The government has made the toothless commission on finding the missing persons which could not hold anyone accountable, he said.<\/p>\n

The right to know, dissent and free\u00a0expression\u00a0of ideas is essential to any democratic setup. Without the free flow of information and ideas, there can be no informed discourse between citizens, which will breed further divisions and intolerance within society.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued on the eve of Human Rights Day, the Commission states: \u201cIn the lead up to the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 2018,\u00a0HRCP\u00a0believes that the shrinking space for\u00a0freedom\u00a0of\u00a0expression\u00a0in\u00a0Pakistan\u00a0is extremely disturbing. Stifling citizens\u2019\u00a0freedom\u00a0of\u00a0expression\u00a0will lead to the negation of all other human rights. \u201c<\/p>\n

In recent months a range of measures has been implemented to restrict Pakistani media\u2019s voice, using methods like clampdowns, stoppages, manipulation, enforcement of the draconian, Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 and increasing threats and intimidation of journalists.<\/p>\n

The recent 28-hour blackout of private news channels across\u00a0Pakistan by the\u00a0Pakistan\u00a0Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, to cover up the failure of the government\u2019s Faizabad operation from the public, was a disproportionate unilateral action taken by a government body to silence the media\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese enforced disappearances have included social media activists, news reporters, bloggers, journalists and human rights defenders. The latest victim is Raza Khan, an Indo-Pak peace activist and convener of Aghaz-e-Dosti, who was picked up earlier this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll such actions are clearly having a chilling effect on civil society\u2019s ability to exercise its\u00a0freedom\u00a0of\u00a0expression\u00a0for fear of the serious repercussions for speaking out freely.\u201d<\/p>\n

HRCP\u00a0emphasizes that: \u201cThe government needs to stop ignoring the prevailing situation and resist from being part of any repressive measures which threaten\u00a0freedom\u00a0of\u00a0expression\u00a0.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, those responsible for expressing and disseminating information to the general public, especially mainstream media persons, need to act responsibly and ethically to ensure that an impartial and objective viewpoint is presented.<\/p>\n

They must not use the platforms they control for personal agendas nor be swayed by attempts at intimidation and coercion.<\/p>\n

The Nation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is worried by the rapidly eroding space for freedom of expression in the country. HRCP arranged a panel discussion titled, “Why is our freedom of expression being curbed?”. HRCP chairperson Dr. Mehdi Hassan said that Article 19 of the constitution of Pakistan even provides freedom to express but with six conditions. “This is the role of political parties to work so everyone especially journalists could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[4,328],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6266"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}