Amnesty International has said journalists in Pakistan were living under constant threat of killings, harassment and other violence from all sides, including intelligence services, political parties and armed groups like the Taliban.
A news report titled, 'A bullet has been chosen for you': Attacks on journalists in Pakistan', describes how Pakistani authorities have allegedly failed to stem human rights abuses against media workers or to bring those responsible to justice, a Amnesty International press release said today.
Amnesty International has documented 34 cases of journalists being killed in Pakistan in response to their work since restoration of democratic rule in 2008, but only in one case have the perpetrators been brought to justice.
"Pakistan's media community is effectively under siege. Journalists, in particular those covering national security issues or human rights, are targeted from all sides in a disturbing pattern of abuses carried out to silence their reporting," Amnesty International's Deputy Asia-Pacific Director David Griffiths said in the release.
The report is based on extensive field research in over 70 cases and interviews with over 100 media workers in Pakistan. It examines several recent cases where journalists have been targeted for their reporting by a range of actors, the release said.
It claimed that only in a handful of high-profile cases thorough investigations been carried out.
"The government has promised to improve the dire situation for journalists, including by establishing a public prosecutor tasked with investigating attacks against journalists. But few concrete steps have been taken," Griffiths added.
