{"id":5494,"date":"2019-12-16T19:41:36","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T19:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=5494"},"modified":"2021-10-02T16:22:58","modified_gmt":"2021-10-02T16:22:58","slug":"5494-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/5494-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent attacks against independent media in Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

13 December 2019\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Honorable Prime Minister Mr Imran Khan
\nHonorable President Mr Arif Alvi
\nHonorable Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari<\/p>\n

Re: Recent attacks against independent media in Pakistan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your Excellencies:<\/p>\n

We, the undersigned organizations, members of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), are concerned about recent attacks against independent media in Pakistan.<\/p>\n

On 3 December 2019, a mob of about 50 unidentified people gathered outside the Islamabad office of the daily newspaper\u00a0Dawn<\/em>, blocking access to the premises for nearly three hours and shouting slogans against the newspaper. The protestors accused the newspaper of damaging the \u2018national interest\u2019 \u2013 ostensibly because\u00a0Dawn<\/em>\u00a0had published a report identifying the man responsible for fatally stabbing two people in London on 29 November, as having Pakistani origins.<\/p>\n

Some of the slogans clearly incited violence against newspaper staff, including calls for the editor and the publisher to be killed. Video footage shows other slogans being shouted in support of the government, the Pakistani army, and its intelligence wing.<\/p>\n

On 4 December, a larger demonstration was held outside the Karachi Press Club in Karachi by a group called the \u2018Tehrik-e-Tahafuz Pakistan\u2019 [Movement to Safeguard Pakistan], which\u00a0repeated demands for the publisher and the editor of\u00a0Dawn<\/em>\u00a0to be hanged and for the newspaper to be shut down.<\/p>\n

On 6 December, a third protest was held in Islamabad outside the newspaper\u2019s bureau office, with about 100 protestors burning copies of\u00a0Dawn<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Dawn<\/em>\u00a0is considered Pakistan\u2019s most credible newspaper. Its editor, Mr Zaffar Abbas, is a veteran journalist known for his professional integrity and is this year\u2019s recipient of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award. He alleged that these protests were \u201corchestrated\u201d by unknown elements or individuals as part of a \u201csinister\u201d campaign against the newspaper. No other newspaper has been consistently targeted in this manner. We are concerned for Mr. Abbas\u2019 security, as well as that of other\u00a0Dawn<\/em>\u00a0employees and the journalist community in general.<\/p>\n

In addition to the protests outside its Islamabad office and the Karachi Press Club,\u00a0Dawn\u00a0<\/em>has come under other forms of pressure and restrictions. On 4 December, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) received information that the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in Lahore, a real estate entity managed by the Pakistani army, had blocked the newspaper\u2019s distribution in Lahore. Similar curbs were put in place in several cities in May 2018, considerably disrupting the newspaper\u2019s print distribution.<\/p>\n

The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, has stated that, while freedom of expression is a constitutional right, the media\u2019s first responsibility is to protect the \u201cinterest of the state,\u201d Implicitly referring to the news story published by\u00a0Dawn<\/em>, she termed the protest in Islamabad a \u201creaction by concerned citizens,\u201d albeit acknowledging that the right to criticism should not take the form of such threats.<\/p>\n

These developments are cause for serious concern. The pressure on the media in Pakistan \u2013 and especially on\u00a0Dawn<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 is rapidly taking a dangerous turn. We are concerned that the government has tacitly enabled the intimidation and harassment of the media in cases where news reports were deemed \u201cagainst the national interest.\u201d Despite laws against hate speech and incitement to violence (including under various anti-terrorism laws) in Pakistan, the authorities have repeatedly failed to take concrete action against threats, intimidation, and harassment against journalists, and to unequivocally condemn attacks against independent media.<\/p>\n

We urge the Pakistani authorities to uphold their constitutional obligations to protect the life and liberty of journalists and enable the latter to discharge their professional duties. We call on the Pakistani authorities to fulfil their commitment to protecting the independence of the media, and to safeguard the right to freedom of opinion and expression by ensuring that persons or groups responsible for inciting violence against journalists for carrying out their duty are held accountable under the law. We also urge the authorities to respect people\u2019s right to information by lifting all curbs on the distribution of newspapers such as\u00a0Dawn<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Al-Haq<\/p>\n

ALTSEAN-Burma<\/p>\n

Armanshahr\/OPEN ASIA<\/p>\n

Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC)<\/p>\n

China Labour Bulletin (CLB)<\/p>\n

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)<\/p>\n

FIDH \u2013 International Federation for Human Rights<\/p>\n

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)<\/p>\n

Human Rights in China (HRIC)<\/p>\n

Justice for Iran (JFI)<\/p>\n

KontraS (The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence \u2013 Indonesia)<\/p>\n

Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR)<\/p>\n

League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI)<\/p>\n

Manushya Foundation<\/p>\n

Odhikar (Bangladesh)<\/p>\n

People\u2019s Watch (India)<\/p>\n

SUARAM (Malaysia)<\/p>\n

Union for Civil Liberties (UCL)<\/p>\n

Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR)<\/p>\n

CC: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan<\/p>\n

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