Protecting the Rights of Journalists

The information we receive shapes the world. But what kind of world would we build if the people who pass on the information are cut off by certain powerful people. Last year on the 17th of February 2020, a journalist named Aziz Memon, an employee of a local television channel named KTN News was found dead with his body floating in an irrigation channel and wire wrapped around his neck just hours after he went missing while on his way to work. This gruesome incident took place in Mehrabpur town of Naushahro Feroze district, Pakistan. Aziz Memon had released a video month earlier mentioning the threats from opposition Pakistan People’s Party and local police. His allegations also included individuals being paid for attending a widely publicized 2019 “train march” in which PPP Chair Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had stopped trains to give speeches to the public. Difficult to even read right? A man being murdered for such a mere thing. 

Well, this is just one among 1230 reported incidents about journalists being killed since 2006. Most of the journalists face the threats of gang violence, terrorism, state corruption, human rights abuses, or reporting on subjects that are otherwise critical to the government or public officials exposes them to various forms of attacks and violence. While in a few cases journalists are also being targeted because of their identity like religion, sex, minority, sexual orientation, etc. There have been cases of ‘Honor killing” reported against female journalists. Many threats faced by them are also linked to the use of technology like online harassment, coordinated online defamation campaigns, phishing attacks, domain attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and troll armies. These are gradually being used to silence, intimidate, and threaten journalists. Adding more to these endless ways of threatening they are also subjected to surveillance and monitoring due to the increased use of technology. These result in not only affecting journalists but the society as a whole by hampering our freedom of expression, democratic norms, and access to information at large. 

Around 59% of the journalists are now being killed in countries at peace rather than war zones. At the same time, there has been a 2% rise in journalists being deliberately murdered or targeted. Reporting mechanisms especially for state practices especially in individual cases need to be strengthened. Often, cases of violence and threats targeting journalists are not registered or prosecuted under the national legal system, especially when there is state involvement. There is a need to support Civil Society actors for them to conduct robust reporting on the progress of cases. We need a thorough, prompt, and impartial judicial system where states are obliged to enable prosecutors to act independently, without unnecessary interference, and ensure their safety and protection when need be. Support needs to be provided to journalists against their legal battles to silence them. Also, investigative journalist networks should work to resolve crimes against their fellow journalists while uncovering the stories of the perpetrators. However, this is just the beginning. The deputy director of IPI Scott Griffen said that “The unbroken cycle of impunity for crimes against journalists fuels further violence against the press at a time when the free flow of news is more valuable than ever.” And if this does not change now, we would see the expansion of “Global Zones of Silence” where only the rich and the powerful people decide the news you hear.