News
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
HRCP slams murder, abduction of journalistsStaff Report
PESHAWAR: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned the murder of a journalist in Khuzdar and the abduction of another in the North Waziristan tribal region, and called upon the authorities to take significant measures to effectively address the threats to the safety of journalists and end impunity for violence against them.
In a statement issued on Monday, the commission Chairperson, Zohra Yusuf, said, “HRCP is alarmed at the murder of journalist Munir Shakir in Khuzdar, the fourth killing of a journalist in the district in the last 12 months. He was shot dead by two armed men riding a motorcycle. Equally disturbing is the abduction of another journalist, Rehmatullah Darpakhel, from Miranshah in North Waziristan on August 11. No one has claimed responsibility for either incident and the motives of the culprits also remain unclear.”
It is a matter of grave concern that despite escalating violence against journalists, including several murders, the government has failed to take effective measures to safeguard their lives. There is a growing sense of insecurity among media persons who increasingly interpret each attack on journalists as a warning to others to ‘behave’, she said.
Over two-dozen journalists from North Waziristan, who are members of the Tribal Union of Journalists, are so fearful for their lives that they are reported to be considering quitting their profession.
“HRCP believes that the sharp rise in killings and other forms of violence against journalists is linked directly to the fact that in almost all cases in the last few years where journalists have been killed or attacked on account of their work, the culprits remain unidentified and unpunished,” the HRCP chairperson said.
The commission urges the authorities to investigate Shakir’s killing to identify and prosecute his killers, and take immediate steps to ensure the safe recovery of Rehmatullah, she said.
The government must do all it can to make certain that Rehmatullah’s abduction does not end in an unfortunate manner as did Hayatullah Khan’s, another journalist from Waziristan who was abducted in December 2005 and whose bullet-riddled body was found six months later. It is disconcerting that findings of a probe into Hayatullah’s death by a judge of the high court are yet to be made public, Zohra said.
“HRCP calls upon the government to respond through effective action and not mere words in the next few days, sending a strong message to the mischief makers that it would no longer stand by as a mere spectator as journalists are killed and snatched,” she said.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk