Growing Concerns Over Journalist Safety in Pakistan

Pakistan continues to be an extremely perilous place for journalists, with the first six months of 2024 alone seeing seven journalists killed. This alarming figure already sets a record for annual deaths, with half the year still remaining, and the trend suggests the number could rise further. The country’s military establishment intensifies its clampdown on […]

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Pakistan continues to be an extremely perilous place for journalists, with the first six months of 2024 alone seeing seven journalists killed. This alarming figure already sets a record for annual deaths, with half the year still remaining, and the trend suggests the number could rise further. The country’s military establishment intensifies its clampdown on freedom of speech and expression, targeting critics with severe persecution, including targeted killings, enforced disappearances, and physical torture by security agencies. In a further blow to press freedom, social media platforms and websites like X (formerly Twitter) are banned under the guise of unspecified security threats. The situation has notably worsened under General Syed Asim Munir, the current Army Chief.

Even activists and journalists in exile are not safe from the reach of Pakistani security agencies, facing transnational repression and regular death threats. Local reporters from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are particularly vulnerable to state-sponsored repression. One recent victim was Khalil Jibran, a former president of a local press club in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who was ambushed and fatally shot in June. Commenting on the dire state of press freedom, Iqbal Khattak, Pakistan representative for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), stated earlier this year, “The space for freedom of expression is shrinking, and dissent is being criminalized [in Pakistan].”

Adil Jawad, an investigator into journalist killings in Pakistan, revealed that at least four of the seven cases this year involving traditional journalists and citizen reporters were likely “work-related.” Most deaths occur in smaller towns and cities where social media’s role in amplifying persecuted journalists’ voices remains limited.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) reports that violence against journalists has long been prevalent, with 97 journalists and media workers killed over the past 30 years and over 3,500 journalists becoming victims of enforced disappearances since 2011. The Freedom Network, advocating for press freedoms, reported that 53 journalists were killed between 2012 and 2022, with only “two cases” leading to the punishment of the culprits. Most reporters and media personnel, barring a few well-known journalists, have little to no legal recourse. Cases of state-sponsored abductions and killings are rarely brought to court due to fear of retribution from the security establishment. Journalists in Pakistan thus face a double threat of physical danger and a lack of legal protection.

Citizen journalists face an increasingly restricted and complex operating environment. Besides the fear of state agencies, local factors also impede independent journalists’ work. In late May, Nasrullah Gadani, a journalist known for holding local politicians and feudal lords accountable, was killed in the Badin district of Sindh province. Just three days before Gadani’s death, Kamran Dawar, another journalist, was killed in North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In response to these killings, Anthony Bellanger, general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, asserted, “Journalists and media workers in Pakistan have a constitutional right to freedom of expression; however, this is undermined by targeted attacks, assaults, and killings. Authorities must ensure that the media is free to work without fear of retribution and that these killings are subject to an immediate, thorough, and transparent investigation.”

Pakistan’s press freedom rankings reflect the worsening situation. The country dropped two places in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders, now ranking 152 out of 180 countries. The Index described Pakistan as “one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, with three to four murders each year that are often linked to cases of corruption or illegal trafficking and which go completely unpunished.” The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) ranked Pakistan 11th on its 2023 Global Impunity Index, assessing countries with the worst records on prosecuting journalist killers.

The 2024 Pakistan Press Freedom Report documented 104 violations against journalists and media practitioners, including murders, attacks, injuries, kidnappings, threats, and legal cases between May 2023 and April 2024. The executive and judiciary in Pakistan appear helpless in safeguarding journalists’ rights and are often complicit in repressive practices. For example, the Shehbaz Sharif government in 2023 approved the E-Safety Bill and the Personal Data Protection Bill to further muzzle media freedom and regulate social media content.

General Munir is particularly concerned about social media content, criticizing the “negative propaganda” against the Pakistan Army on X, YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms. In a speech, General Munir blamed social media for “creating uncertainty and hopelessness in Pakistan.” Unable to control social media content and safeguard the military’s image, state authorities are now banning apps and websites. The government recently defended the months-long ban on X, citing it as a “threat to peace and national security” for spreading “misinformation and inciting violence.”

Journalists and the entire media community in Pakistan should brace for more repressive tactics and state-sponsored clampdowns. Impunity is expected to continue regarding journalist killings, as the state often acts as the perpetrator rather than the protector.

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