Pakistan prepares one of the toughest laws in the world against journalism

Situation of journalism in Pakistan

 The situation of journalism in Pakistan, which is already bad, could get even worse. The recent invasion of journalist Asad Toor's home on May 25 by agents of the country's feared military intelligence agency to beat him for speaking out against the armed forces has put the growing threats against the country's journalists under the spotlight of organizations that defend press freedom around the world.

For asking for the identification of the aggressors in a protest held three days later, one of Pakistan's best-known journalists, Hamid Mir, had his program banned from the Geo News grid as of last Monday (5/31). His speech was so brave that it went viral on social media in the country.

One more step towards autocracy, says Reporters Without Borders

Pakistan has been controlled by the army for almost half of its 74-year history, since the United Kingdom partitioned India in 1947, then a British colony. Although the current Pakistani president and prime minister are not military men, they came to power with their support.

Journalist Hamid Mir, who had his program banned, says that this control is the tragedy of the country:

There is strong censorship and it is no wonder that the country occupies one of the 40 worst positions in the global press freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders, which analyzed 180 countries. In a statement, the organization said that Toor's beating, followed by Mir's dismissal, "is another step by Pakistan towards autocracy".

One of the five most dangerous countries for journalists

Pakistan is on the list of the five most dangerous countries in the world according to a survey by the International Federation of Journalists, with 138 journalists murdered in the three decades between 1990 and 2020.

In 2020 alone, 148 cases of threats and attacks against journalists were recorded, including kidnapping and shooting attacks. Five professionals were killed, placing Pakistan as the country with the second most murders of journalists over the past year, behind only Mexico. Mir himself, now banned from programming, was shot six times in April 2014 on his way to the station and still lives with two bullets lodged in his body. Two years earlier, a bomb had been discovered in his car.

Does it seem like a horror scenario for anyone who wants to practice journalism? Because if the new rules proposed by Ordinance 2021, forwarded by the Ministry of Information, are approved, the situation will get much worse.

Shahzada Zulfiqar, president of the Federal Union of Journalists of Pakistan, describes the proposal as “martial law of the media”.

“We are entering the worst and darkest era of press freedom in this country. It's getting worse every day. Journalists lack security both in their careers and in their personal lives.”

The threats of the new law to journalism

The 2021 ordinance introduces some of the most draconian measures seen in years, including an almost complete ban on negative coverage from the government or the military. For starters, it repeals all press freedom laws that currently (little) protect Pakistani journalists.

Under the new rules, TV newscasters will not be able to broadcast views that are "detrimental to the sovereignty, integrity or security of Pakistan".

Reports that “defame or ridicule the head of state, or members of the armed forces, legislative bodies or the judiciary” simply cannot be done.

A body will be designated, the Pakistan Press Development Authority, which will have powers to inspect any news organization, summon any journalist for investigation and revoke the license of any outlet. Even journalists broadcasting on YouTube will need a license.

Any type of content may be prohibited without prior notice. In case of dispute, a court, appointed by the Ministry of Information and not by the judiciary, will decide what can and cannot be said.

In addition, convicted “offenders” may be punished with up to three years in prison. Not to mention, of course, the fines, which could run into the millions of rupees.

Associations say the proposal is a declaration of war on journalism

On Thursday (3/6), all representative organizations of the independent press in Pakistan launched a campaign against the new law. The ad was published by all newspapers in the country, with a few rare exceptions. The text says that "there are clear reasons for the set of all organizations of the independent press in print, radio and TV and digital media to unanimously reject the proposed law of the Ministry of Information".

The ad opposes the creation of the Pakistan Press Development Authority and says the proposal is “a declaration of war against independent journalism”, which aims to mute all critical media voices through a system of coercive censorship.

The associations criticize the fact that the proposed body “can impose arbitrary sanctions, including the invasion of newsrooms, the imposition of closed fines or the closure of any news outlet on the flimsiest of pretexts”, in addition to its decisions being open to challenge only in the Supreme Court, as they will be exempt from review by any court.

They also emphasize that, in addition to the normal taxes already paid, news organizations would be required to pay new license fees to the Government in order to continue operating, with exorbitant amounts.

This is the second time Mir has been banned from air:

This is not the first time that a military order has taken Hamid Mir's Capital Talk program off the air . It is one of Pakistan's most prestigious programs, which has been aired every weeknight for the past two decades on Geo News, the country's most popular channel.

A similar situation happened in 2007, when General Pervez Musharraf, then president of Pakistan, imposed a state of emergency in the country. On that occasion, the military leader (who, because of this violation of the Constitution, would lose power in 2008, would be sentenced to death in 2019 and would have this sentence annulled in 2020) suspended constitutional rights, sent the Armed Forces to the streets, arrested the leader of the legislature and, among other measures, banned Hamid Mir from appearing on television.

This time, the ban came shortly after Mir spoke out against the country's still all-powerful military system during a May 28 press freedom protest in Islamabad in solidarity with Asad Ali Toor, who had been beaten three days earlier in his own home. A few days later, when informed that because of this his program would be withdrawn from the schedule, he did not blame the broadcaster:

“When Geo called me to say they were being pressured to take me off the air, I didn't blame them. The station's owner, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, has already spent 241 days behind bars unjustly, on politically motivated charges."

The banning of the Mir program was even condemned by Amnesty International, which said in a statement that the decision further undermines freedom of expression “in an already repressive environment”:

“Censorship, harassment and physical violence should not be the price journalists pay for doing their jobs.”

Beating was just the most recent case

Toor was just the latest journalist attacked in Pakistan's capital.

On April 20, it was the turn of another prominent Pakistani journalist, known for criticizing the military. It is veteran Absar Alam, Mir's colleague at Geo TV, who was seriously injured by a shot fired while walking in a park near his home.

In July last year, Matiullah Jan, known for his critical coverage of the justice system and the military's attempts to control it, was kidnapped for half a day by men who tortured him and threatened to kill him if he continued his critical reporting. .

In the case of the break-in at Toor's home, the attackers posed as officers from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the shadowy security arm of the military. Toor is known for social media posts criticizing abuses by the military and the ISI. He reported that the attackers forced him to shout slogans in support of Pakistan, the military and the ISI:

“I was told that the army and the ISI were not happy with my journalism. As they tortured me, they asked me why I had cited the ISI and the army in my reports.”

Although the attackers were filmed by security cameras, no one was arrested. Instead, a smear campaign was launched against the journalist, following a pattern used against assaulted media professionals.

Pakistani authorities denied any involvement in the beating and claimed that Toor, with the aim of seeking political asylum abroad, would have staged the attack, despite the scars and bruises resulting from the assault.

For its part, the Federal Investigation Agency, accused of routinely harassing journalists, summoned Toor to respond to new accusations and filed a lawsuit for “defamation” against a government institution.

In an interview with the BBC to talk about the case, the Minister of Information, Fawad Chaudhry, said:

“We probably have more free press than in the first world.”

Prime Minister defends the press

The irony is that current Prime Minister Imran Khan, who came to power in 2018 with the backing of the military, was one of the few politicians who supported journalist Hamid Mir when he first had his talk show banned in 2007.

Khan was once married to a TV journalist and came into close contact with the media during his glittering sports career before entering politics. He is considered the greatest cricketer Pakistan has ever had and captained the team that won Pakistan's only World Cup in cricket in 1992.

Mir says that when he was banned from TV in 2007 and therefore took the talk show to the streets of Islamabad, the current prime minister, who was a regular participant, promised him:

"When I become prime minister, journalists will have real freedom of the press."

At the time Khan took office, Pakistan was ranked 139th on Reporters Without Borders' global Press Freedom rankings.

Since then, journalists and civil rights groups have denounced a continuing erosion of press freedom. Last year the country had already plummeted to 145th place. “Impunity for crimes of violence against journalists is total,” says Reporters Without Borders.

After the beating of his colleague Toor and the banning of his program, Hamid Mir was invited to write an article for the British newspaper The Guardian, which was published this Thursday (3/6). The text ends as follows:

“I want to ask Prime Minister Khan if he remembers the promise he made to me 14 years ago. Will he side with journalists now, as he did then, or will he side with the enemies of press freedom?”