Shafaqna Pakistan: Nine press freedom and human rights organisations, including several international groups, have called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take “immediate action” to address what they described as Pakistan’s rapidly worsening press freedom situation.
The signatories include the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), CIVICUS, the International Federation for Human Rights, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the International Press Institute, the Freedom Network, Bolo Bhi and Rural Media Network Pakistan.
In their letter to the prime minister, the organisations voiced “deep concern” over what they termed the country’s deteriorating press freedom climate and urged the government to take urgent steps to address the situation.
“In recent months, journalists in Pakistan have disappeared, faced detention and criminal investigations, been blocked from reporting in certain parts of the country, and lost jobs due to government and law enforcement agencies’ pressure,” the organisations said.
“These developments have further eroded the ability of Pakistani journalists to report freely and safely,” they said.
The organisations also said it was “alarming” to see the growing use of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca), and investigations by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) against journalists for reporting on matters of public interest.
They said that authorities had also introduced restrictions on reporting in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), “imposed internet and telecommunications blackouts, taken regulatory action against broadcasters, and imposed draconian new guidelines requiring journalists working for international media outlets to obtain authorisation before reporting outside the three main cities”.
“Maintaining public order and national security, and preventing the spread of alleged false information, must not become open-ended grounds for suppressing public-interest reporting,” they said.
In their list of demands, the group called for the immediate release and safe return of journalists Razi Tahir and Muhammad Saif, who they said “were seized and taken to an undisclosed location on August 1”.
Source: Dawn News
