Army dismisses Amnesty report

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 24 May 2013

The Pakistan army rejected a report from Amnesty International that claimed journalists face serious threats from various groups. The army described the allegations as an attempt to defame their forces and asserted their commitment to human rights.

Summary

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan army on Friday rejected a recent report by the Amnesty International that journalists in the country are under "serious threat" from state security forces, some political parties and religious militant groups as baseless.

The Amnesty report said that several journalists claimed to have been threatened for reporting on the military, political parties or armed groups, but the authorities failed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The army dismissed the charges and described them as an attempt to defame the Pakistani forces.

An Army statement said the report has baselessly maligned security forces personnel as allegedly being involved in human rights abuses and media coercion.

"These reports are depiction of an overall agenda that is aimed at demeaning Pakistan and targeting/tarnishing the image of the security forces," the statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations said.

It said Pakistani security forces personnel are law abiding, cognizant of human rights obligations and committed to providing protection to all segments of Pakistani society including journalists/media personnel.

The London-based Amnesty said in its 2013 annual report that several journalists claimed to have been threatened for reporting on the military, political parties or armed groups, but the authorities failed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The report alleges that the "security forces continued to act with impunity and were accused of widespread human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, deaths in custody and extrajudicial executions targeting political activists, journalists and suspected members of armed groups". - Xinhua