Reporting Under Threat Testimonies of Courage in the Face of Impunity from Pakistani Journalists Adnan Rehmat This book of testimonies has been produced by Civic Action Resources with support from Open Society Foundation. The contents of this 2014 publication are the sole responsibility of the author(s) – including all journalists testifying here of their free will – and may in no way be taken to reflect the views of someone else. Reporting Under Threat Testimonies of Courage in the Face of Impunity from Pakistani Journalists Adnan Rehmat This book of testimonies has been produced by Civic Action Resources with support from Open Society Foundation. The contents of this 2014 publication are the sole responsibility of the author(s) – including all journalists testifying here of their free will – and may in no way be taken to reflect the views of someone else. Contents DEDICATED to the brave journalists of Pakistan who put themselves in 1. When the suicide bomber came looking for the president danger every single day, as their stories in this book amply testify, so of the Peshawar Press Club 07 that we continue to stay informed of the world we live in. With over 100 killed and over 2,000 injured in the line of duty since 2000, 2. Going bananas chasing the truth 10 Pakistani journalists have literally paid with their blood to protect our 3. Faisla kis ka? The cost of speaking out in public interest 12 right to freedom of expression. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to 4. Carrying on editing in the face of coercion 15 them. 5. The pressures of censorship and self-censorship 17 6. Uncompromising journalism 21 7. Risking life chasing facts 23 8. The thin line between pursuing news and becoming news 26 9. Charged with terrorism for reporting about nationalists 31 10. In the line of fire in the line of duty 33 11. Editing trouble in a troubled region 35 12. The cost of covering terrorism 39 13. Dying in a suicide bombing 42 14. Reporting between the jail and the grave 44 15. Losing a job to threats from militants 48 16. Foreign correspondent, local threats 50 17. Shootout at Lyari 53 18. A broken arm for journalism 57 19. A catch and a miss – saved in the nick of time 59 20. Naked intimidation 62 21. Law and law enforcement 64 22. Killed – the reporter with a heart 66 23. Reporting about militants and the fragility of safety 69 This book of testimonies was made possible with the help of 24. Taken prisoner for reporting 72 professionals with journalism experience themselves – especially Mr Aurangzaib Khan, Ms Sadaf Baig and Mr Iqbal Khattak – who won the 25. Placed on a hit list 74 confidence of journalists to bring their stories in their own words to 26. A bullet for a cause 77 us. But especially all the journalists who were willing to come on 27. Tea with the khakis 80 record to tell their fascinating real life stories of courage. Reporting Under Threat 03 Contents DEDICATED to the brave journalists of Pakistan who put themselves in 1. When the suicide bomber came looking for the president danger every single day, as their stories in this book amply testify, so of the Peshawar Press Club 07 that we continue to stay informed of the world we live in. With over 100 killed and over 2,000 injured in the line of duty since 2000, 2. Going bananas chasing the truth 10 Pakistani journalists have literally paid with their blood to protect our 3. Faisla kis ka? The cost of speaking out in public interest 12 right to freedom of expression. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to 4. Carrying on editing in the face of coercion 15 them. 5. The pressures of censorship and self-censorship 17 6. Uncompromising journalism 21 7. Risking life chasing facts 23 8. The thin line between pursuing news and becoming news 26 9. Charged with terrorism for reporting about nationalists 31 10. In the line of fire in the line of duty 33 11. Editing trouble in a troubled region 35 12. The cost of covering terrorism 39 13. Dying in a suicide bombing 42 14. Reporting between the jail and the grave 44 15. Losing a job to threats from militants 48 16. Foreign correspondent, local threats 50 17. Shootout at Lyari 53 18. A broken arm for journalism 57 19. A catch and a miss – saved in the nick of time 59 20. Naked intimidation 62 21. Law and law enforcement 64 22. Killed – the reporter with a heart 66 23. Reporting about militants and the fragility of safety 69 This book of testimonies was made possible with the help of 24. Taken prisoner for reporting 72 professionals with journalism experience themselves – especially Mr Aurangzaib Khan, Ms Sadaf Baig and Mr Iqbal Khattak – who won the 25. Placed on a hit list 74 confidence of journalists to bring their stories in their own words to 26. A bullet for a cause 77 us. But especially all the journalists who were willing to come on 27. Tea with the khakis 80 record to tell their fascinating real life stories of courage. Reporting Under Threat 03 28. Killed reporting terrorism in the border regions 83 PROFILES OF COURAGE – 29. 25 days in captivity 85 30. A brush with a proclaimed offender 87 Storytellers tell their stories 31. Running for dear life 89 32. Wishing for natural deaths, not by bullets 92 The rise of terrorism in Pakistan since 2000 has made the country one of 33. Breaking up breaking news 94 the most dangerous countries on the planet to practice journalism as borne out by annual global reports in recent years from media 34. The cost of coverage of political unrest 97 watchdogs Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), Committee to Protect 35. Brand a journalist and murder him 99 Journalists (CPJ), International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Freedom 36. The terror of being branded anti-state 101 House and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). Over 100 journalists and media workers have been killed and over 2,000 injured in 37. Forced into taking the sting off reporting to survive 103 Pakistan in the line of duty since January 1, 2000. Between 2000 and 38. Exile and murder – the wages of being a journalist 105 2014, a journalist has been killed in Pakistan at a staggering average of 39. Silenced – the journalist who barely slept 110 one a month. This is the highest fatality rate for journalists of any country in the world for this period. 40. When patriotism of journalists is questioned 112 41. Firm in the face of fear 114 The level of impunity against journalists in Pakistan is reflected by the 42. A picture worth a thousand threats 116 fact that only two cases have reached the primary conviction stage in courts, one for a foreign journalist (Daniel Pearl) and one a local (Wali 43. On the wrong side of militants, driven to death 118 Babar). Even in these two cases lengthy legal processes remain until the 44. A faked encounter with near-death 121 final convictions are handed out. The accumulative effect of this 45. The politics of violence 123 impunity – the high rates of fatality and low rates of conviction – is that journalists are forced to work in tough conditions, often amid increasing 46. Tuning in to news reports of my abduction in captivity 125 vulnerability and risk exposure in the absence of safety resources, 47. Lynched by an angry, mourning mob 127 including appropriate training, or sometimes assuming self-censorship 48. Forced to kiss my tormentor’s feet and humiliated 129 and institutional censorship. 49. Perceived as an enemy of the state 131 Considering the high risks that about 20,000 active journalists in Pakistan 50. From criticism to critical to cancellation to comeback 134 face, it seems ironic that most people who benefit from their work have no clue to the conditions they work in – from navigating a climate of fear 51. The added vulnerability of women in journalism 136 to dealing with the dilemma of their right to safety clashing with the 52. Cheating an obituary by a whisker! 139 people’s right to know; and from the woeful inadequacy of safeguards 53. The perils of being the guardian of public interest 141 for them to the compromises they have to make to continue reporting. This publication is an attempt to fill this critical gap: to hear the stories of 54. Journalism from the shadows 143 our daily storytellers. 55. Long-distance threats, long-term consequences 145 56. A police encounter 147 And in an attempt to convey the immediacy of the daily tribulations they face we have helped the journalists tell us their stories in their own 57. Food for thought 150 words. Hence the accounts here are the journalists’ very own – in first 04 Reporting Under Threat Reporting Under Threat 05 28. Killed reporting terrorism in the border regions 83 PROFILES OF COURAGE – 29. 25 days in captivity 85 30. A brush with a proclaimed offender 87 Storytellers tell their stories 31. Running for dear life 89 32. Wishing for natural deaths, not by bullets 92 The rise of terrorism in Pakistan since 2000 has made the country one of 33. Breaking up breaking news 94 the most dangerous countries on the planet to practice journalism as borne out by annual global reports in recent years from media 34. The cost of coverage of political unrest 97 watchdogs Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), Committee to Protect 35.