CPJ urges Pakistani authorities to probe journalist’s disappearance
New York, November 20, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Pakistani authorities to immediately investigate the apparent disappearance of BBC Urdu-language reporter Dilawar Khan Wazir, who has not been heard from since leaving the capital, Islamabad, for his hometown of Dera Ismail Khan this morning, according to the BBC. Khan, who reports from the…
Pakistani journalist slain; CPJ urges investigation
New York, November 1, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges an immediate, high-level investigation into today’s murder of Mohammad Ismail, Islamabad bureau chief for Pakistan Press International (PPI). Ismail’s body was found this morning near his home in Islamabad with “his head completely smashed with some hard blunt object” according to Mazhar Abbas, secretary-general of…
Pakistan:Musharraf government ignores promises to protect journalists
New York, September 21, 2006—As violence against journalists and violations of press freedom grow in Pakistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the government to keep its promise to reveal all information it holds on media deaths and disappearances. CPJ research shows that nine journalists have died for their work since 2002, and there…
Pakistan: Police attack TV crews covering religious rally in Lahore
New York, September 18, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the police beating of television crews covering a religious rally in Pakistan. Journalists said police officers attacked two journalists from Pakistan’s ATV terrestrial network who were covering a meeting of the Sunni Tehrik (Sunni Movement) religious organization in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday…
Pakistan: Reporter killed by masked gunmen
New York, September 15, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Pakistani authorities to conduct a thorough and timely investigation into the shooting death of journalist Maqbool Hussain Sail. Two masked gunmen on a motorcycle shot Sail late Thursday in Dera Ismail Khan, 175 miles (280 kilometers) southwest of Islamabad, according to the Rural…
BBC reporter’s brother killed in Pakistani tribal area
New York, August 30, 2006—The teenage brother of a BBC correspondent was found murdered today in South Waziristan, a violent and lawless tribal region along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Taimor Khan, 16, brother of Dilawar Wazir, an Urdu language reporter for the BBC, was abducted in the town of Wana on his way home from…
Pakistan: CPJ calls on authorities for information about missing journalist
New York, July 13, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Pakistani province of Sindh to clarify immediately whether they are holding journalist Mehruddin Mari, who has been missing since July 2. CPJ has confirmed that Mari, a correspondent for the Sindhi-language newspaper The Daily Kawish, was taken by police, according to…
Two Pakistani journalists charged after months in custody
New York, June 22, 2006—Authorities filed criminal cases against Geo TV correspondent Mukesh Rupeta and freelance cameraman Sanjay Kumar today, more than three months after the two disappeared in Jacobabad in south Pakistan’s Sindh province. The two journalists were accused of filming a Pakistani air force base in violation of the Official Secrets Act, and…
Pakistan: CPJ urges probe into journalist killings
Washington, June 21, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists met with Pakistan’s new ambassador to the United States today to press for an investigation into the killing of Hayatullah Khan and other journalists. Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani said he would convey CPJ’s concerns to his government when he visits Islamabad at the end of the week.