ISLAMABAD: The\nCommittee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and its 191 partner organisations, including\nPakistan Press Foundation (PPF)  in a letter\nto the UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres have urged him to take action to\nsecure release of 250 jailed journalists worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn behalf of the\n#FreeThePress campaign, made up of 192 press freedom and human rights\norganisations and the more than 11,337 concerned citizens who signed the\npetition, we urge you to take immediate action to secure the release of\njournalists jailed around the world whose lives are risk due to the spread of\nCOVID-19,\u201d said the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor journalists who\nhave been jailed for their work, freedom is now a matter of life and death.\nImprisoned journalists have no control over their surroundings, cannot choose\nto isolate, and are often denied necessary medical care. Many of these\njournalists are already in poor or failing health,\u201d said the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the\nCommittee to Protect Journalists\u2019 most recent prison census, there were at\nleast 250 journalists behind bars in at least 33 countries. While some of those\nhave been released, others still have been arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCollectively we\nhave written several letters to leaders of countries where journalists are\njailed for their work; to the European External Action Service; and to UN\nSpecial Rapporteurs and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, urging them\nto use their offices to advocate for the release of those imprisoned. We are\nsharing this petition with you, and with every country currently detaining\njournalists, in the hopes that you will use your voice to amplify this call by\nmore than 11,000 people to #FreeThePress, and send this message to the member\nstates that make up the United Nations,\u201d said the letter addressed to the UN\nchief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Health\nOrganisation (WHO) states that \u201cPeople deprived of their liberty, and those\nliving or working in enclosed environments in their close proximity, are likely\nto be more vulnerable to the COVID-19 disease than the general population.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe welcomed the\nsuggestion in your April 23 policy brief, COVID-19 and Human Rights: We are all\nin this together, that member states, Resort to non-custodial sanctions and\nrelease of selected categories of prisoners is needed. Reducing numbers in\npre-trial detention, those detained for minor or political offences, near the\nend of their sentences, or detained unlawfully should be expedited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the letter\nsaid, given the urgency of the situation and the vulnerability of these\npolitical prisoners, additional measures must be taken and the UN chief must\nmake a public statement calling on member states to release jailed journalists\nimmediately. \u201cWe urge you to use your office to protect a free press and ensure\nthe free flow of information at this crucial time,\u201d the letter added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

ISLAMABAD: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and its 191 partner organisations, including Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)  in a letter to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres have urged him to take action to secure release of 250 jailed journalists worldwide. “On behalf of the #FreeThePress campaign, made up of 192 press freedom and human rights […]<\/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],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8983"}],"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=8983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}