CPNE, PFUJ, APNS and PBA discuss present state of press freedom

A joint meeting of the APNS, the CPNE, the PFUJ, and the PBA was held here to consider the present state of press freedom in the country.
The meeting attended by the APNS President Hameed Haroon, APNS Secretary-General Muhammad Aslam Kazi, CPNE President Syed Fasieh Iqbal, CPNE Secretary-General Wamiq Zuberi, PBA President Salman Iqbal, PBA Secretary-General Syed Sarfaraz Hussain Shah and Shamim-ur-Rahman of PFUJ adopted the following declaration:
"We, the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, the Pakistan Broadcasters Association, and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists believe that the imposition of the Emergency on November 3, 2007, and the suspension of fundamental rights consequent upon such imposition, have wreaked heavy damage on existing structures for sustaining free press and of freedom of expression in Pakistan, freedoms which are enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution. Additionally, the suspension of writ jurisdiction and the denial of access to courts against coercive actions by the executive against the press have put the cause of free press back by two decades in Pakistan.
"The state and President Pervez Musharraf's administration have relied essentially on three policy tools to accomplish the gagging of the press since the imposition of the emergency.
(1) All television channels were initially suspended and a vast number of them have been required to sign an undertaking and/or a modified Code of Ethics, that renders them vulnerable to the most arbitrary and draconian forms of executive action without effective judicial recourse under the emergency laws.
(2) The promulgation of two new black ordinances - the Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Amendment Ordinance, 2007, and the Pemra Amendment Ordinance, 2007 - are designed to ensure that while the electronic-media and the independent channels can be switched off at short notice or taken off air, the print-media is in no position to offer support or even seek legal redress as a corrective action to such draconian measures. The continuing ban on the four Geo channels along with one ARY channel have been utilised to serve as a chilling reminder to any newspaper or television channel that attempts to oppose the state of affairs.
(3) Brutal doses of violence meted out to protesting journalists across the country in Karachi on Tuesday, in Faisalabad on Wednesday, are an ugly reminder of how far the government is prepared to go to maintain a repressive climate for the Pakistani media.
The gory scenes of violence and physical intimidation that have been prohibited from broadcast by television licensees and in photographs which have been prohibited for publication in newspapers in Pakistan under the two new black laws are instead finding their fullest expression in real life on the streets of Pakistan as the police and the security forces go on rampage against them. The trend initiated with the attack by the security forces on Geo television in Islamabad in March 2007 has now become a frequent tool of state repression, a trend that needs to be curtailed immediately.
"The present state of affairs is no longer tolerable. It appears that enlightened attempts to persuade this administration to change its course of persecution of press and substitute it instead with a policy of dialogue and persuasion now stand only a remote chance of success. If the number of suspended channels that have gone back on air has been considered a success story for constructive engagement, it is also true to say that a massive failure remains.
Two of the most important news channels in Pakistan ie Geo news and ARY One World still remain off the air while three entertainment channels of the Geo group, Geo entertainment, Geo Super and Aag have also not been restored on air by the government, it is also feared that consequent upon a total ban on government advertisements in Geo's sister newspaper, Jang and the remaining publications in the group, the newspapers of this group may be the next target of the government, if confrontation continues.
"We having deliberated the situation at length and come up with the following program of action:
"We urge President Musharraf, interim -Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro and interim - Information and Broadcasting Minister Nisar Memon to act upon the unanimous demand of the four bodies that together represent the whole media - both electronic and print - in Pakistan:
(1) As a pre-requisite, we insist that the ban on two channels belonging to Geo group ie Geo Entertainment and Aag may be lifted as a confidence building measure (CBM) for the talks that will ensue between the representatives of the media bodies and the government.
(2) A second CBM before the talks requires the total lifting of ban on government ads placed in Jang Group to allow a sense of confidence in the media to be restored. When negotiations ensue immediately hereafter the aim of such negotiations will be to lift the ban on Geo news, Geo Super and ARY One World channels which are still off the air as of this meeting.
(3) A withdrawal of black amendments to the two press laws imposed on the beginning of the Emergency to allow normalcy to prevail in the media.
(4) An immediate review and withdrawal of all FIRs that have been instituted against journalists involved in recent agitation on the above-mentioned matters.
"Finally, in addition to the above agenda and plan of action to be tackled by the Government of Pakistan, the four press organisations expressed complete dismay at the delay by Dubai Media City in restoring the two Pakistani news channels in violation of all internationally accepted norms of business.
They also urged the UAE government to reconsider the policy shift with respect to the functioning of Dubai Media City and intend to communicate to all important press right organisations and International Chamber of Commerce against the relinquishment of fair business and free media practices," the APNS press release concluded.-PR