PFUJ calls for end to Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists
November 02, 2025: PFUJ urges Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments to end Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists and ensure their safety and press freedom.
JournalismPakistan.com | Published 12 years ago
Join our WhatsApp channel
Two Pakistani journalists Malik Siraj Akbar (picture) and Zubair Torwali have been honored by Human Rights Watch for their commitment to free expression and their courage in the face of persecution. The awardees each received 2012 Hellman/Hammett grants of up to $10,000 to assist the writers who may have trouble finding paid work or who face legal or medical expenses, the Pakistan Press Foundation reported.
The PPF quoting the Human Rights Watch website said the grants are named for the American playwright Lillian Hellman and her longtime companion, the novelist Dashiell Hammett. Both were questioned by US congressional committees about their political beliefs and affiliations during the aggressive anti-communist investigations inspired by Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. Hellman suffered professionally and had trouble finding work. Hammett spent time in prison.
The awardee Siraj Akbar’s work has appeared in prominent publications, including Dawn and the Daily Times and The Hindu andThe Times of India. His online newspaper Baloch Hal was blocked by Pakistani authorities due to its coverage of human rights violations in Balochistan by Pakistan’s military and security forces.
Following numerous arrests and apparent executions of Baloch journalists, activists, and intellectuals, and death threats to himself, Malik fled Pakistan for the US and was granted political asylum. He lives in Washington DC, where he maintains the Baloch Halwebsite and writes as a freelance journalist. In 2011, Malik wrote the book, The Redefined Dimensions of the Baloch Nationalist Movement.
Zubair Torwali, the other journalist honored is from the Swat valley in Pakistan. As a college teacher in Islamabad, he began writing op-ed articles for daily newspapers in Pakistan. He first wrote about the nearly-extinct Torwali language, and later began to criticize militancy in Swat and abuses committed by both the Taliban and Pakistani government forces.
He was targeted by the Taliban for his writing, faced numerous death threats from them and from the Pakistani military, and had to flee Swat for safer locations within Pakistan.
Zubair continues to write op-ed articles for Pakistani daily newspapers, despite having restricted movement and a low profile because of the threats he and his family continue to face.
November 02, 2025: PFUJ urges Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments to end Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists and ensure their safety and press freedom.
November 02, 2025: Impunity for crimes against journalists deepens worldwide as Pakistan reports a 60 percent surge in attacks and weak enforcement of safety laws.
November 01, 2025: Pakistan Press Foundation reports 137 attacks on journalists in 2025, highlighting rising threats, legal harassment, and censorship on the International Day to End Impunity.
November 01, 2025: A viral Samaa TV clip featuring MNA Sher Afzal Marwat’s crude remarks and Talat Hussain’s laughter raises questions about the declining ethics of Pakistani television.
October 31, 2025: Police foiled a plot to kill DawnNewsTV journalist Tahir Naseer in Rawalpindi after arresting suspects hired for Rs200,000. Naseer says threats followed his reporting.
October 31, 2025: CPJ calls on Pakistan to bring Imtiaz Mir’s killers to justice after the journalist was allegedly murdered by a banned militant group in Karachi.
October 30, 2025: The PFUJ has condemned a fabricated drug case against journalist Matiullah Jan, calling it an attempt to silence him and urging authorities to quash the charges immediately.
October 30, 2025: NewsOne TV remains on air but faces mass layoffs and delayed salaries, exposing Pakistan’s worsening media crisis and financial instability.
November 02, 2025 Independent outlet All About Macau to halt print and online operations amid rising pressure, financial strain, and legal threats, sparking press freedom concerns in the city.
November 01, 2025 Belarus court jails journalist Siarhei Chabotska for extremism and defaming the president, highlighting Minsk’s ongoing crackdown on press freedom.
November 01, 2025 Mexican journalist Miguel Angel Beltran was found murdered in Durango. CPJ urges authorities to ensure justice amid rising violence against journalists in Mexico.
November 01, 2025 UNESCO survey finds one-third of media lawyers cannot effectively defend journalists due to threats, limited resources, and lack of specialization.
October 31, 2025 Radio Free Asia, a US government-funded broadcaster covering tightly controlled Asian media environments, has suspended all news operations after federal funding dried up.