Media Blackout in Pakistan's Tribal Areas Triggers Outrage
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LAHORE, Mar 26 (OneWorld) - National and international media groups in Pakistan are protesting attempts to prevent journalists from reporting on the government's offensive against Al-qaeda and Taliban members in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where security forces are accused of several rights violations.
The military operation is underway in South Waziristan agency in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA). The forces, which are said to have suffered a huge number of casualties, are accused of killing civilians in the region. International media group, Reporters Sans Frontières has objected to Pakistan's concerted efforts to block media coverage, requesting armed forces spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan to guarantee media access to the region by giving special passes to journalists. More than a dozen journalists in Wana currently working as stringers for Pakistani and foreign media complain they are not allowed to report freely. They are prohibited from entering the combat zone, and have to be cautious about what they report. Several journalists have been arrested or barred from the area for attempting to report on the offensives. One of them was Mujeebur Rehman, correspondent for the Urdu daily "Khabrian" and a stringer for several foreign TV stations. His digital camera was confiscated and he was held for several hours because he attempted to film military operations. The same fate met Shaukat Khattak, a reporter with local TV station Geo. On March 18, he was arrested while filming army activity in the Dabkot area of the operation zone. Khattak says he showed the security personnel all the relevant documents, but they said they had orders not to allow anyone into the area and arrest those who didn't comply. "They blindfolded and handcuffed another journalist and I, and took us to their camp several miles away," Khattak recalls, adding that they were held for four hours and released only after higher authorities intervened. Since Khattak works with an influential media group, his documents were returned, but the other journalist hasn't recovered his papers and equipment. The soldiers reportedly also threatened and insulted both journalists. Khattak claims the government has imposed a ban on reporting in the operation zone, and civilians there fear for their lives. But Mahmood Shah, secretary (security) of the FATA, says journalists have not been banned from entering the area. He explains the journalists' detentions as a "security misunderstanding." The government will check whether there was any deliberate attempt to stop newspersons, and those found guilty of misbehavior will be punished, Shah promises. There were several other cases of harassment as well. Two tribal journalists reporting for foreign agencies, Mujibur Rahman Wazir and Mohammad Yunis, were detained by troops while filming them and the site of fighting. They were freed the next day after the intervention of political authorities. Last week, a reporter and photographer for the Associated Press news agency were turned back by troops at a roadblock about an hour's drive from Wana. Half a dozen other journalists, including two Pakistani photographers, were not allowed into South Waziristan. Haroon Rashid, correspondent for the BBC World Service radio in Peshawar, Saiful Islam of the Urdu-language daily "Surkhab" and a correspondent for the pan-Arab TV station Al-Jazeera were arrested at Peshawar military hospital on March 21. They were trying to interview soldiers wounded in the South Waziristan fighting. Pakistani intelligence officials caught them and interrogated them on their reasons for being there. They destroyed their film and confiscated their minidisc recorders. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and other journalists groups have also protested the government's "undeclared ban" on covering the offensive. The PFUJ's senior vice president Yasin Khan Sahir says officials must ensure no restrictions are imposed on journalists Sahar promises to raise the issue with the government, and take international journalist organizations into confidence to seek their help to pressure the government to permit journalists to work freely. The Tribal Union of Journalists has condemned the detention of journalists, with president Sailab Mehsood remarking that it is unfortunate the government is trying to silence the press to prevent people from knowing the truth. The unofficial ban on reporting isn't the only instance of an attempt to muzzle the media in Pakistan. This month, the government stopped advertising revenues to leading newspaper and magazine group, the Nawa-i-Waqt Group. Executive editor Nawa-i-Waqt Arif Nizami says the move was prompted by the group's critical reporting on the government. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed claims responsibility for the action against the media organization, qualifying that the number of advertisements has only been reduced. He promises the government will compensate the group's losses. |
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