Pakistani Journalists Need Protection to Ensure a Fair Election

To ensure that Pakistan’s elections are fair and transparent, media personnel must be guaranteed a safe environment to work, the Committee of Protect Journalists (CPJ) told state officials Tuesday.

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Over the last months, a number of “worrisome occurrences” have been reported which have “prevented the free distribution of news or...appear to be aimed at intimidating journalists into silence,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in an open letter to Prime Minister Nasir ul-Mulk.

British-Pakistani Journalist Gul Bukhari was abducted in June, Asad Kharal was assaulted in Lahore; Marvi Sirmed was the victim of a home robbery, other media personnel were accused of anti-state activity or pressured to stall their publications arbitrarily.

The NGO Reporters Without Borders agreed with their colleagues, saying in a statement, "What with threats, abductions, beatings, illegal suspensions and disrupted distribution, media and journalists are being harassed by the military and intelligence services, as well by political actors, in a clear attempt to intimidate them and prevent independent reporting ahead of the elections."

Britain's rights watchdog, Amnesty International, reported incidents of “arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, attacks on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly" transpiring across Pakistan.

While the Independent Press Institute released its own statement denouncing media intimidation to members of the press by the state military.

The CPJ Executive Director continued on to say, “The atmosphere of intimidation in Pakistan stymies the country's press corps and undermines the electoral process. Ultimately, this environment of fear will undercut the legitimacy and authority of the new government.

Simon closed the letter by requesting the state openly condemn any acts of aggression or threats to the press, take measures to ensure that publications on all media platforms are able to distribute their product peacefully, investigate and penalize those behind the violence towards journalists and their trade- even federal institutions like the military.

“We urge you to consider our recommendations to prevent this from occurring and to avoid weakening the electoral process,” the CPJ official said.