{"id":8500,"date":"2020-02-27T16:34:15","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T11:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pakistanpressfoundation.org\/?p=98030"},"modified":"2020-02-27T16:34:15","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T11:34:15","slug":"media-protection-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/media-protection-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Media protection bill"},"content":{"rendered":" $\"Media$

BRIEFLY, it appeared there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Pakistan\u2019s beleaguered journalist community. However, the outcome of the cabinet\u2019s deliberations on the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Bill, drafted by the human rights ministry, has been discouraging. For it seems the government representatives have decided to club this comprehensive effort to create an enabling environment for an independent media with another media-related bill previously drafted by the information ministry. Such a conflation, one may be sure, is likely to culminate in a watered-down piece of legislation.<\/p>\n

The bill drawn up by the human rights ministry is worth adopting on its own for several reasons; a few are particularly worth citing. One, it premises the importance of ensuring journalists\u2019 safety on their fundamental and inalienable rights as citizens, rather than being an \u2018indulgence\u2019 that can be withdrawn at will. Second, the bill unflinchingly lays out the real problems that journalists in Pakistan face, and addresses the critical issue of impunity by setting up a seven-member commission \u2014 led by a former Supreme Court judge \u2014 with wide-ranging powers of investigation and redressal. The statutory body would be duty-bound to investigate and prosecute within 14 days all forms of harassment, coercion and violence against media professionals \u2014 including forced or involuntary disappearances, kidnapping, abduction, etc. Third, the draft stipulates that counterterrorism or national security laws shall not be used arbitrarily to detain journalists or hinder their work. In a repressive environment where the \u2018national security\u2019 argument has been speciously used to slap treason and cyberterrorism charges on media workers, this is an important consideration. Moreover, when journalistic work crosses the line into defamation or incitement to violence, the bill says the penalty must be based on \u201cprinciples of legality, necessity and proportionality\u201d. In sum, it is a well-considered piece of proposed legislation, marked by clarity and conducive to achieving tangible results.<\/p>\n

The media in Pakistan is reeling under unprecedented pressure. Various quarters including political actors, security agencies, etc, seek to censor information they perceive as damaging to them \u2014 and they will go to any length to achieve their objective. There is thus a dire need for substantive legislation to \u2018protect the messenger\u2019. In the last 10 days alone, two journalists have been murdered in Pakistan, quite possibly on account of their work. Their deaths underscore the perils that members of the press in this country must contend with if they cross powerful vested interests. Pakistan ranked eighth on the Committee to Protect Journalists\u2019 Global Impunity Index 2019, with 16 unsolved murders of media practitioners over the past decade. Since 1994, only three out of over 60 such cases have seen any success in terms of prosecution. The government now has a golden opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to press freedom. The question is, will it venture into this uncharted territory?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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