2014-07-24 19:10:54 -0400
To: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Stop deadly attacks against journalists in Pakistan
- As a critical first step, bring suspected perpetrators in high-profile cases to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.
- Fulfill your promise to create a special public prosecutor’s office, with sufficient resources, tasked with investigating attacks against journalists in order to bring perpetrators to justice.
- Ensure that media companies follow requirements in national law and policy including security training, health and safety and adequate insurance for all media workers; and introduce systemic legal and policy reforms where the national law is currently inadequate.
Why is this important?
On 28 March 2014, journalist and human rights defender Raza Rumi narrowly escaped death. He was returning home from work in Lahore when his car was sprayed with bullets. Rumi suffered minor injuries. His security guard, Anwar Hussain, received serious gunshot wounds and was paralyzed. His driver, Mohammad Mustafa, was killed.
The incident was far from unique. Pakistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. 34 journalists have been killed as a likely consequence of their work since 2008. Harassment, abduction, torture and killings occur with alarming frequency and there is nowhere journalists can look for safety; attacks come from state intelligence officers, members of political parties and armed groups like the Taliban.
On 19 April, the TV anchor Hamid Mir narrowly escaped an assassination attempt that his relatives blame on the ISI, Pakistan’s spy agency. Mir was previously targeted by the Taliban in November 2012 for his coverage of the group.
Over the last twenty years only two cases of journalist killings have resulted in anyone being prosecuted. The signal is clear: those who target journalists can literally get away with murder. To stop abuses against journalists, join Amnesty International in demanding justice for journalists under attack in Pakistan.