UNESCO alarmed over safety of journalists

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 18 May 2012

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova condemned the murders of Pakistani journalists Tariq Kamal and Murtaza Razvi. She warned that the security situation for journalists in Pakistan is deteriorating and called for justice.

Summary

ISLAMABAD: UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokovahas denounced the murders of Pakistani journalists Tariq Kamal and MurtazaRazvi and expressed alarm over the continued deteriorating security of journalists in the country. “The brutal murders of Tariq Kamal and MurtazaRazvi stand unequivocally condemned,” the Director-General said.

“Every attempt must be made to bring their killers to justice.” In a post on its website www.unesco.org, the UNESCO official said: “These latest killings, coming less than one month apart, highlight once again the dangerous conditions in which journalists in Pakistan work.

This is cause for alarm and requires urgent action, in the name of press freedom and the rights of citizens to be informed.” Tariq Kamal was a reporter with a Sindhi language daily published in Karachi. He was reported missing on May 7, along with a friend. The bodies of the two men were found on May 9.

According to Kamal’s family, he had left Karachi for another town in Sindh province on May 3 to follow up what he described as an “exclusive” news story. He was reported missing after his family failed to receive any news from him. MurtazaRazvi was a well-known columnist and political analyst with the national English language daily Dawn.

His body was found strangled and tortured in a Karachi apartment on 19 April. See more here:www.unesco.org