Adux
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Pak govt trying to muzzle media
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities are engaged in a âconcertedâ attempt to muzzle the media, using violence and financial pressure to blunt criticism of the government, a leading rights group alleged Friday.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf says he has introduced unprecedented media freedoms since he seized power in a 1999 coup. The United States, his main international backer, cites lively debate in newspapers and on the country's booming private television channels as evidence of Musharraf's democratic credentials.
But Human Rights Watch says those liberties have been eroded, especially since March 9, when Musharraf triggered a hail of criticism from political opponents and media commentators for suspending Pakistan's top judge.
In an open letter to Musharraf, the New York-based group also alleged that security forces were implicated in the death of one journalist and the detention of five more since the start of 2006. Three of those detained were allegedly tortured, it said.
âHuman Rights Watch is concerned about concerted and increasing attempts by the Pakistani government to muzzle the media,'' the group's Asia division chief, Brad Adams, said in the letter.
While some media carry critical comment, many reporters receive phone calls from intelligence agents or unidentified persons pressuring them to avoid publishing stories that expose âgovernment or, in particular, military misdeeds,â Adams said.
Government officials were not immediately available for comment on Friday.
The letter criticised a move by Pakistan's media regulator this week against Aaj TV, a private channel covering week-long protests against Musharraf's removal of the Supreme Court chief justice.
While officials say the judge was abusing his office, critics accuse the military president of trying to tame the judiciary ahead of possible legal challenges to his continued rule. Aaj says the regulator is threatening to stop its transmissions after accusing it of âcasting aspersionsâ on the judiciary and bringing the army into disrepute.
A provincial court has suspended the regulator's order temporarily.
The rights group commended Musharraf for personally apologising for a violent police raid on the Islamabad studio of Geo, another TV channel covering the judicial crisis.
But it also cited complaints from Dawn , a leading English-language newspaper, that authorities are threatening to cut government advertising â a vital source of revenue â over its coverage of political tension in Baluchistan province.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...rying_to_muzzle_media/articleshow/1965710.cms
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities are engaged in a âconcertedâ attempt to muzzle the media, using violence and financial pressure to blunt criticism of the government, a leading rights group alleged Friday.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf says he has introduced unprecedented media freedoms since he seized power in a 1999 coup. The United States, his main international backer, cites lively debate in newspapers and on the country's booming private television channels as evidence of Musharraf's democratic credentials.
But Human Rights Watch says those liberties have been eroded, especially since March 9, when Musharraf triggered a hail of criticism from political opponents and media commentators for suspending Pakistan's top judge.
In an open letter to Musharraf, the New York-based group also alleged that security forces were implicated in the death of one journalist and the detention of five more since the start of 2006. Three of those detained were allegedly tortured, it said.
âHuman Rights Watch is concerned about concerted and increasing attempts by the Pakistani government to muzzle the media,'' the group's Asia division chief, Brad Adams, said in the letter.
While some media carry critical comment, many reporters receive phone calls from intelligence agents or unidentified persons pressuring them to avoid publishing stories that expose âgovernment or, in particular, military misdeeds,â Adams said.
Government officials were not immediately available for comment on Friday.
The letter criticised a move by Pakistan's media regulator this week against Aaj TV, a private channel covering week-long protests against Musharraf's removal of the Supreme Court chief justice.
While officials say the judge was abusing his office, critics accuse the military president of trying to tame the judiciary ahead of possible legal challenges to his continued rule. Aaj says the regulator is threatening to stop its transmissions after accusing it of âcasting aspersionsâ on the judiciary and bringing the army into disrepute.
A provincial court has suspended the regulator's order temporarily.
The rights group commended Musharraf for personally apologising for a violent police raid on the Islamabad studio of Geo, another TV channel covering the judicial crisis.
But it also cited complaints from Dawn , a leading English-language newspaper, that authorities are threatening to cut government advertising â a vital source of revenue â over its coverage of political tension in Baluchistan province.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...rying_to_muzzle_media/articleshow/1965710.cms
