November 2, 2023
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
In August 2021, Pakistan became the first country in the world to officially legislate for the safety of journalists. The Sindh Assembly passed the Sindh Protection of Journalists and Other Media Practitioners Act which soon became a law.
In November 2021, the National assembly also passed the act which would act as a federal law, for not only Islamabad but also on an interim basis the rest of the country where there was no such law.
The legislation made sense as Pakistan has ranked as one of the most dangerous places for journalists. Since 2000, more than 170 journalists have been killed, says a report by Freedom Network, an Islamabad based research organization. The report, meant to be released for the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, 2023 has been written by media experts Adnan Rehmat and Iqbal Khattak, and specifies that although efforts have been made over legislation to protect journalists, the fact is that the country has failed to protect them.
From August 2021 to August 2023, 11 journalists were killed, while 11 were abducted from between 2021 and 2022.Those who were killed include Shahid Zehri, Nazim Jokhiyo, Muhammad Zada, Zia-ur-Rehman Faruqi, lshtiaq Sudhero, Iftikhar Ahmed, Arshad Sharif, Naresh Kumar, Sadaf Naeem, Ghulam Asghar Khand Faruqi and Jan Muhammad Mahar.
Pakistan has seen over 170 journalists, including two women, lose their lives in the line of duty since 2000. Regrettably, only two individuals were convicted for these grave offences, highlighting the issue of impunity.
Before the enactment of these laws, Pakistan ranked 157 out of 180 countries under the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index in 2021. By 2023, the nation had made significant progress, ascending to the 150th position, signifying an acknowledgement of the need to address violence against journalists and eliminate impunity through legal provisions.
In the two years following the legislation, Islamabad and Sindh emerged as the riskiest places for journalists, accounting for 37.5% and 22.5% of violations respectively. Furthermore, there was a concerning rise in persecution by government authorities and state agencies, involving serious charges such as sedition, treason, and electronic crimes.
One of the key reasons for the laws’ limited impact was the failure to operationalize the safety commissions mandated by the federal and Sindh laws. Despite unanimous support in the National Assembly, both the Imran Khan and Shehbaz Sharif governments neglected to establish these commissions, rendering the laws effectively non-operational.
In Sindh, while the Commission for the Protection of Journalists and other Media Practitioners (CPJMP) was established a year after the law’s notification, it lacked essential resources until December 2022, when renowned jurist Rasheed A Razvi was appointed as its first chairperson.
For the laws to truly protect journalists, urgent steps are required, including the formation of a safety commission under the federal act, allocation of resources for Sindh’s Commission, and the enactment of similar legislation in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab after the 2024 provincial elections.
With concerted efforts, including those of the Pakistan Journalists Safety Coalition, Pakistan has a unique opportunity to lead in combating impunity for crimes against journalists and media professionals. The ball is now in the court of lawmakers and stakeholders to turn this opportunity into a reality.
The United Nations observes November 2nd as the International Day to end impunity for crimes against journalists. The 2023 observance seeks to raise awareness of the main challenges faced by journalists and communicators in the exercise of their profession and to warn of the escalation of violence and repression against them.
However, the presence of safety legislation alone does not ensure protection against crimes if enforcement is not prioritized through operationalization and adequate resourcing. Astonishingly, incidents against journalists increased after the laws were enacted, with the highest number of violations recorded in regions where journalist safety laws were implemented.
Below are some appalling stats that the report has revealed. In the two years the passage of the journalists’ safety laws, 248 cases of violations. These include
- 11 cases of murders of journalists,
- 20 unsuccessful assassination attempts
- 25 instances of legal cases against journalists
- 11 cases of abductions, and a case of unsuccessful kidnapping
- 25 cases of arrests, detentions or illegal confinements by the state
- 59 cases of physical assaults out of which 26 resulted in bodily harms
- 5 cases of attacks on the homes of journalists
- 30 cases of specific threats of murder, etc
- 59 cases of harassment of journalists.
One of the key reasons for the laws’ limited impact was the failure to operationalize the safety commissions mandated by the federal and Sindh laws. Despite unanimous support in the National Assembly, both the Imran Khan and Shehbaz Sharif governments neglected to establish these commissions, rendering the laws effectively non-operational.
