IFJ Backs Pakistan’s Journalists in Demands for Safety

IFJ Backs Pakistan’s Journalists in Demands for Safety

Pakistan, May 17 2011 - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply disturbed by the failure of Pakistan’s federal and local governments to seriously address the safety crisis for journalists working in Pakistan’s conflict areas.

“The IFJ joins Pakistan’s journalists in voicing alarm at the acute safety crisis for media personnel trying to keep the world informed about a region of enormous importance and in understanding the difficulties confronting Pakistan,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

The IFJ fully supports its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), in calling for country-wide protests on May 21 to demand the Government and authorities address the dangers for media personnel and bring to justice those responsible for attacks on journalists.

The call follows the murder of senior tribal journalist Nasrullah Afridiin a targeted car-bomb blast in Peshawar on May 10.

Afridi had been reporting from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan, but moved to Peshawar after local authorities failed to provide him with security despite threats to his life from militant groups.

Afridi was the 10th journalist from FATA to be killed in the past two years, according to Safdar Dawar, president of the Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ).

Authorities had issued no reports of inquiries into these killings and the Government had taken no steps to protect media personnel working in the area, Dawar said. No compensation had been provided to the families of victims.

Dawar noted that media organizations had not assisted families of journalists killed as a result of their work, including Afridi’s employers, the state-owned Pakistan Television (PTV) and the daily Mashriq.

Due to a lack of protection, almost a third of the TUJ’s 230 members had moved out of FATA because of threats from various groups, he said. The crisis in safety and maintaining journalism in FATA was compounded by financial insecurity for tribal journalists who often did not receive regular salaries for their work.

At a meeting on May 16, the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) directed criticism at the federal and provincial governments for not publicly condemning the murder of Afridi or ordering an immediate inquiry, while police in Peshawar were alleged to have misrepresented information about the murder in order to play down its significance.

In a statement, PFUJ Secretary-General Amin Yousuf condemned the Government for not taking seriously the need to investigate violence against journalists, including recent shooting attacks which injured Naveed Kamal, of Metro One TV in Karachi and Abdullah Bhittani, of Afghanistan’s Benawa News Agency and Independent News Pakistan, in Rawalpindi.

Despite assurances that culprits in these cases would be traced, no arrests have been made.

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific

Find the IFJ on Facebook here

ENDS

© Scoop Media