By Chathushka Perera
Islamabad, Pakistan (CWBN)_ Despite commitments made by Pakistan to several international monitoring bodies, including the United Nations (UN), to protect the liberties of speech and expression, and human rights, local journalists and media personnel face insurmountable pressures from the Pakistani Government, the intrusive military presence in civil affairs, and extremist groups,
Although PM Imran Khan rose to power 2018 with a mandate to enforce civil liberties, however, according to the UN Universal Periodic Review (2020), local media who stand up to the government and military have faced increasing restrictions, including the blocking of websites and networks without reason or hearing, obstructing newspaper distribution, issuing threats, enforced disappearances, forcing self-censorship and forcefully removing journalists from employment.
The Regulation of International NGOs implemented in 2005 has also been used to prevent the registration of international NGOs pursuing humanitarian efforts and carrying out monitoring functions, within Pakistan.
Furthermore, attempts of critique have also been countered with labels like “pro-India”, “anti-Pakistan”, or “pro-corruption”, and in the first weeks of September this year, at least 3 journalists were openly charged with sedition. Hence, the Reporters without Borders organisation has brought down Pakistan’s World Index ranking from 180 to 145 in 2020.
UN – Universal Periodic Review (2020) Main Highlights
- February 9th, Rizwanur Rehman Razi, a journalist, was arrested by the Cyber Crimes Wing of the Federal Investigations Agency (FIA), on charges of defamation and posting obnoxious content on social media.
- April 2019, GEO News, a private media network, was blocked in parts of the country many.
- May 23rd, Gulalai Ismail, a human rights activist and journalist, was charged with treason for “anti-state and hate speech”, and was hunted down but she managed to escape to the US in September.
- June 16th, Muhammad Bilal Khan, a freelance journalist was stabbed to death in Islamabad.
- July 1st, a GEO TV live interview of Former President Asif Ali Zardari was taken down just after it had begun.
- July 9th, Capital TV, 24 News HD and Abbtakk News networks were also blocked.
On the 22nd of July, the Pakistani Government held a multi-stakeholder consultation regarding the implementation of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Immunity in Pakistan. It was agreed that the government should work on national and provisional level mechanisms, focusing on issues faced by female journalists in particular.
Irrespective of the agreements made the situation has continued to escalate, including the past months. In February, a draft bill, titled “Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Bill 2020” was put forward by the Pakistani Ministry of Human Rights, however, the fate of the bill has gone unspoken to this day.
As the rising political tensions in the country take flight with the political opposition’s anti-government movement and condemning of military’s influence over the puppet government, many journalists find themselves caught in a vice.
