Mr. Asif Ali Zahari
Co-Chairperson
Pakistan Peopleâ??s Party
Bilawal House
Karachi
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Dear Mr. Zahari:
The Overseas Press Club of Americaâ??s Freedom of the Press Committee writes to congratulate you for your significant role in helping to bring true, as opposed to virtual, democracy to Pakistan, through the recent elections. We write as well, to encourage you and Mr. Nawaz Sharif in your stated intent to re-open all channels of communication to the once thriving Pakistani press, which is now hoping to recover its vitality after increasing tension, restraints and abuse from previous governments and the present provisional one.
The suppression of the media extended, as you know, well beyond threats and intimidation, to physical attacks, kidnapping, disappearances and ultimately the murder of at least seven Palistani journalists in 2007. Since the investigations of the murders were not made public, or in fact may not have happened, one must assume the impunity of those involved in all forms of criminal acts against journalists.
In the months before the elections, the Freedom of the Press Committee did write several times in November and again in January to appeal to the then government, not only to cease and desist from encouraging criminal behavior towards journalists and media organisations, but from its own unsavory actions to close down media whose only crime was to practice the rules and the code of a free and investigative press.
Mr. Zardari, we are writing to you and Mr. Sharif with the hope that your promises of freedom of the press and of expression will become reality once again in Pakistan. It is not clear that the draconian restraining (gag) rules on the media put in place by the president during the time of appalling internal stress just before and after the elections have been lifted. The world press understands and appreciates the intensity of the problems you face, as well as the difficulty of governing turbulent tribal enclaves. The more that is known from a free press, sir, the better the chances for control.
We shared with all of Pakistan the shock of the brutal assassination of Mrs. Bhutto. And we of the Overseas Press Club of America applaud the strength and courage that you and Mr. Sharif showed in managing to maintain stability in the election period. But now, it appears that troubles between the government and the media may be coming back. This must not be. Following is a brief but disturbing review of events since our last letter to President Musharraf in January:
â?¢ PEMRA apparently continues its curbs on the media, including threats to close offices and communications critical of the President.
â?¢ Nicholas Schmidle, a journalist who wrote on Pakistan and â??next-generation Talibanâ?? in the January 6 magazine section of The New York Times, was summarily deported several days later. He was given no explanation for the deportation. Mr. Schmidle had been living in Pakistan for the past sixteen months.
â?¢ On February 9, Mr. Chiati Mujhaid, a senior journalist with the weekly, Akbar-e-Jehan, was killed in broad daylight in front of his own house.
â?¢ Sohail Qalandar, resident editor of the daily, Express, and his friend, Niaz Mohammad, who have been missing since January 2, have not yet been found.
The complaints of physical threats to journalists and their property continue, and as your colleagues form
your new government, the Freedom of the Press Committee asks you to reflect deeply on the strength and
integrity of the man or woman you appoint as Minister of Information and Communication.
We wish you well; we hope to have the courtesy of a reply.
Very truly yours,
Jacqueline Albert-Simon
Larry Martz
Freedom of the Press Committee
cc:
Mr. Mian Nawaz Sharif
Leader
Pakistan Muslim League
1 Model Town
Lahore
Pakistan
H.E.Pervez Musharraf
President
Office of the President
Awan-e-Sadar, Constitution Avenue
Islamabad
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Muhammed Ali Durrani
Minister of Information
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
3517 International Court, NW
Washington, DC 20008
H E. Mahmud Ali Durrani
Ambassador of Pakistan to the U.S.A.
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
3517 International Court, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Fax: (202) 666.1465
Ambassador Munir Akram
Permanent Representative
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
to the United Nations
8 East 65th Street
New York, NY 10021
Fax: (212) 744.7348
H.E. Anne W. Patterson
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan
Embassy of the United States of America
Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5
Islamabad
Pakistan
Fax: (011.92.51.2) 27.64.27
Mr. Abbas Nasir
Editor-in-Chief
Dawn TV
Haroon House
Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road
Karachi 74200
Pakistan
Fax: (011.92.21) 569.3995
Rana Qaisar
Islamabad Resident Editor
Daily Times
Aquhbar Market, Moti Plaza
Murree Road
Rawalpindi
Pakistan
(ranakaisar@hotmail.com)
M.A.Zubari
Editor-in-chief
Business Recorder
Recorder House
531 Business Recorder Road
Karachi 74550
Pakistan
(edkhi@br-mail.com)