Sethi: Pakistani media challenging military
Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi was in the United States last week to talk about the challenges facing his country at a critical moment. Ever the contrarian, he also sees opportunities. “For the first time the media is challenging the military,” he told an audience of friends and colleagues at CPJ offices in New York. “That’s…
A week after Pakistan justice pledge, journalist murdered
New York, May 10, 2011–The death of a journalist apparently targeted by militants in Pakistan today highlights the country’s entrenched climate of impunity for anti-press attacks, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari told a CPJ delegation on World Press Freedom Day that he would pursue justice for journalists killed on…
Mission Journal: CPJ tackles impunity in Pakistan
After months of planning and preparation, our CPJ team had assembled in Islamabad with an ambitious plan. On May 3, we had a meeting scheduled with President Asif Ali Zardari to discuss the country’s failure to investigate the killings of journalists. We also had positive indications that our delegation would be able to meet with…
Pakistan vows to pursue justice in journalist murders
Islamabad, Pakistan, May 3, 2011–Pakistan’s president committed to pursue justice for journalists killed in the line of duty, pledging to take steps to reverse the country’s rising record of impunity. A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists met with President Asif Ali Zardari today to discuss the growing number of targeted attacks on journalists…
Arrests made in Pakistani journalist’s January murder
New York, April 8, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes movement in the case of the murder of Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar in Karachi, and calls for a full prosecution to break a longstanding pattern of impunity in journalist murders in Pakistan. Police arrested five men they say carried out the killing in…
Pakistani journalist abducted, released in Karachi
New York, March 22, 2001–The Committee to Protect journalists joins with colleagues in Pakistan in calling for an immediate investigation into Monday’s abduction and abuse of senior journalist and vice president of the Karachi Union of Journalists, Mohammad Rafique Baloch.
Updates on Wali Khan Babar and Umar Cheema in Pakistan
Here are two quick updates on prominent Pakistani cases we’ve been following: Despite police claims made soon after the assassination-style killing of Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar on January 13, there have been no arrests made in his case, and there is little reason to expect that there will be any. Babar was one…
Journalist gunned down in Pakistan’s violent Baluchistan
New York, February 22, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists joins with the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in calling for an investigation into the drive-by shooting death of Abdost Rind, a 27-year-old part-time journalist in the Turbat area of Baluchistan province in Pakistan’s southwest on February 18.
Attacks on the Press 2010: Pakistan
Top Developments • Suicide bombings take devastating toll on media, killing, injuring dozens. • Journalists face threats from all sides, notably Taliban and the ISI. Key Statistic 8: Journalists killed in relation to their work in 2010, the highest figure in the world. Pakistan was the deadliest nation for the press in 2010 as violence…