Sidebar: For VOA Reporters, a Difficult Balance The Taliban’s claim that they murdered Voice of America reporter Mukarram Khan Aatif because he failed to present their perspective in his stories was deeply troubling—if not terrifying—to the local reporters of the U.S. government-funded news agency.
3. Intimidation, Manipulation, and Retribution A couple of years ago, Hamid Mir, Najam Sethi, Umar Cheema, and other prominent figures in the news media began going public with the threats they were receiving from intelligence agencies. It was a risky calculation, but the silence, they reasoned, encouraged intimidation and allowed impunity to persist.
Sidebar: ‘In case something happens to me’ Seven months before his murder, Asia Times Online reporter Saleem Shahzad was summoned to a meeting with Rear Adm. Adnan Nazir, director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate’s media wing. During the October 17, 2010, meeting, Shahzad said, he was pressured to retract a story the agency considered embarrassing and…
Conclusion The murder of Saleem Shahzad in May 2011 galvanized journalists across Pakistan in a way that few other events have. For a short time their power as a “union” was felt. They secured a commission of inquiry. They named ISI officers who had threatened Shahzad and many other journalists. They detailed those encounters in…
Appendix Journalists Killed 2003-2012: Motive Confirmed CPJ research has determined that 42 journalists were killed in Pakistan in direct relation to their work from January 1, 2003, through December 31, 2012. An additional 12 journalists were killed in unclear circumstances during the time period. Capsule reports on each death follow, beginning with cases in which…
The unsolved murders of three Pakistani journalists reflect a government that is not guaranteeing the rule of law or fundamental human rights. CPJ’s Bob Dietz narrates. Animation by Dave Mayers and production by Dana Chivvis Read our accompanying special report, “Roots of Impunity,” which examines the culture of anti-press violence in Pakistan.
New York, May 23, 2013–With the release of a new report on widespread impunity, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the incoming government of Pakistan to urgently address the issue of violence against the press by bringing perpetrators of past crimes to justice. “Pakistan has one of the world’s worst records of prosecuting anti-press…
New York, May 17, 2013–Pakistani authorities should dismiss separate complaints filed against newspapers and journalists in Baluchistan for publishing statements made by banned militant groups, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
New York, May 10, 2013 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Pakistan’s interim government to reverse its decision to expel New York Times bureau chief Declan Walsh from the country. The order comes on the eve of national elections that will bring about the first successful change of civilian government in Pakistan’s history.