Killers enjoy impunity in Pakistan: IPI
JournalismPakistan.com | Published: 23 November 2012
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The International Press Institute highlights the alarming trend of journalist killings in Pakistan, with 35 targeted murders in the last decade. Impunity reigns for those who commit these crimes, affecting the safety of media workers.Summary
VIENNA: The International Press Institute (IPI) reports that at least 48 journalists have been killed in the line of duty in Pakistan in the last 10 years, with 35 of them deliberately targeted and murdered because of their work.
In 2012 alone, five journalists were killed in the country, according to IPI's Death Watch. For every journalist deliberately targeted and murdered, there are many others who have been injured, threatened and coerced into silence.
Pakistani journalists are killed, unjustly detained, abducted, beaten and threatened by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, militants, tribal and feudal lords, as well as some political parties that claim to promote democracy and the rule of law. Sadly, the perpetrators of violence against journalists and media workers enjoy almost absolute impunity in Pakistan.
According to figures complied by the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), of the 48 journalists killed in the line of duty in the past 11 years, 14 were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The number of murders in Balochistan was 12, Sindh (9), Federally Administrated Tribal Agencies (8), Punjab (3) and Islamabad (2).
The IPI is a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists dedicated to the furtherance and safeguarding of press freedom.
KEY POINTS:
- 48 journalists killed in Pakistan in the last 10 years, 35 targeted.
- 2012 saw five journalist murders in the country.
- Impacts include injury, threats, and coercion against journalists.
- Perpetrators largely evade justice in Pakistan.
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reports the highest murders at 14, followed by Balochistan with 12.
