Roots of Impunity Pakistan’S Endangered Press and the Perilous Web of Militancy, Security, and Politics
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Roots of Impunity Pakistan’s Endangered Press And the Perilous Web of Militancy, Security, and Politics By Elizabeth Rubin A special report of the Committee to Protect Journalists Pantone Goe 23-5-1-C CMYK 0 91 94 4 RGB 212 56 55 HEX #D43837 CRISIS IN TURKEY 3 Roots of Impunity Pakistan’s Endangered Press And the Perilous Web of Militancy, Security, and Politics By Elizabeth Rubin A special report of the Committee to Protect Journalists Issued May 2013 Defending Journalists Worldwide Pantone Goe 23-5-1-C CMYK 0 91 94 4 RGB 212 56 55 HEX #D43837 Founded in 1981, the Committee to Protect Journalists responds to attacks on the press worldwide. CPJ documents hundreds of cases every year and takes action on behalf of journalists and news organizations without regard to political ideology. To maintain its Pantone Goe 23-5-1-C CMYK 0 91 94 4 RGB 212 56 55 HEX #D43837independence, CPJ accepts no government funding. CPJ is funded entirely by private contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations. Roots of Impunity Pakistan’s Endangered Press and the Perilous Web of Militancy, Security, and Politics Editorial Director: Bill Sweeney Senior Editor: Elana Beiser Deputy Editors: Kamal Singh Masuta, Shazdeh Omari Designer: Nancy Novick Copy Editor: Lew Serviss Map: John Emerson © 2013 Committee to Protect Journalists, New York. All rights reserved. Printed by United Book Press. CHAIRMAN Jonathan Klein ADVISORY BOARD Sandra Mims Rowe Jane Kramer Tom Brokaw Mhamed Krichen Gwen Ifill VICE CHAIR David Laventhol Steven L. Isenberg Kathleen Carroll Lara Logan David Marash HONORARY CHAIRMAN Rebecca MacKinnon Charles L. Overby Terry Anderson Kati Marton Erwin Potts EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Michael Massing Dan Rather Joel Simon Geraldine Fabrikant Metz John Seigenthaler Victor Navasky Paul E. Steiger DIRECTORS Andres Oppenheimer Andrew Alexander Clarence Page Franz Allina Norman Pearlstine Christiane Amanpour Ahmed Rashid Dean Baquet Gene Roberts John S. Carroll María Teresa Ronderos Rajiv Chandrasekaran Diane Sawyer Sheila Coronel David Schlesinger Josh Friedman Paul C. Tash Anne Garrels Jacob Weisberg James C. Goodale Mark Whitaker Cheryl Gould Brian Williams Arianna Huffington Matthew Winkler Charlayne Hunter-Gault COVER PHOTO: A protester with a poster of the murdered Karachi reporter Wali Khan Babar. AP/MOHAMMAD SAJJAD TITLE PAGE PHOTO: In Quetta, where several journalists have been killed, a demonstration against anti-press violence. AP/ARSHAD BUTT 2 Committee to Protect Journalists ABOUT THIS REPORT A security guard outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad. REUTERS/FAISAL MAHMOOD his report was written by Elizabeth Rubin, an independent journalist who has covered Pakistan and South Asia for numerous publications, including The New York Times Magazine. She has reported from conflict zones around the world, including Afghanistan, TIraq, and the Balkans. The Committee to Protect Journalists commissioned Rubin to conduct this independent investigation into the dangerous conditions facing members of the news media in Pakistan. Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, wrote the introduction to this report and prepared its recommendations. The appendix of journalists killed from 2003 to 2012 is based on the research of CPJ staff over the past decade.Sumit Galhotra, CPJ Steiger fellow, contributed new reporting to the capsule reports of journalists killed. Galhotra also contributed research to several other sections. Pakistan is the fourth-deadliest nation in the world for the press since 2003, CPJ research shows. Although a number of journalists have died in suicide bombings or other conflict-related circumstances in the country, at least 23 have been targeted for murder. CPJ research also shows Pakistan has one of the world’s worst records of impunity in anti-press violence. Not one journalist murder over the past decade has resulted in a conviction. This report examines the targeted killings of reporters Wali Khan Babar and Mukarram Khan Aatif, along with the roots of impunity in Pakistan. The nation’s press, while free and robust, faces extraordinary danger from militants, political groups, criminals, intelligence agents, and military and government officials. Addressing the culture of impunity in anti-press violence is central to the nation’s future. An Urdu-language version of this report is available at cpj.org/reports/roots-urdu.pdf. ROOTS OF IMPUNITY 3 CONTENTS Pakistan Air Force cadets in Karachi. REUTERS/AKHTAR SOOMRO INTRODUCTION 6 BY BOB DIETZ CHAPTER I 8 THE MURDER OF WALI KHAN BABAR Babar was an unusual face on the air in Karachi: Popular and handsome, he was a Pashtun from Baluchistan. He was also a rising star at Geo TV, which was grooming him to be an anchor. His murder provides an unfortunate prism through which to study the state of media, justice, power, and politics in Pakistan. VERBATIM: THREATS, PROMISES, AND FEARS 17 CHAPTER II 18 A DEATH IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA Officially, there is no mystery to Mukarram Khan Aatif’s death. He is another casualty of the war on terror, executed by the Taliban because of his reporting for a U.S. government-backed news outlet. But unofficially, many do not believe Aatif was killed on orders of the Taliban, at least not for the reasons publicly stated. FOR VOA REPORTERS, A DIFFICULT BALANCE 25 A DEADLY DECADE 26 4 Committee to Protect Journalists The Pakistani flag at the mausoleum of the country’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. AFP/ASIF HASSAN CHAPTER III 28 INTIMIDATION, MANIPULATION, AND RETRIBUTION A couple of years ago, prominent journalists began publicizing the threats they were receiving from intelligence agencies. It was a risky calculation, but silence, they reasoned, encouraged further intimidation. Has their tactic worked? For the well-known, it’s offered some protection. But for journalists who work out of the spotlight, threats still lead to something worse. ‘IN CASE SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME’ 34 CONCLUSION 35 The murder of Saleem Shahzad in May 2011 galvanized journalists across Pakistan in a way that few other events have. For a short time their power was felt. They secured a high- level investigation. They named intelligence officers who had threatened Shahzad and other journalists. But two years later, precious little has come of their efforts. CPJ’S RECOMMENDATIONS 38 The organization’s recommendations to Pakistani authorities, news media, and the international community. APPENDIX 40 JOURNALISTS KILLED 2003-2012 Capsule reports on journalist fatalities. ROOTS OF IMPUNITY 5 INTRODUCTION MQM supporters with portraits of party leader Altaf Hussain. REUTERS/AKHTAR SOOMRO By Bob Dietz t least 42 journalists have been killed—23 of will of the intelligence services, the army, and crimi- them murdered—in direct relation to their nal elements in the political parties. work in Pakistan in the past decade, CPJ n Intelligence services that aggressively pursue a research shows. Not one murder since 2003 political agenda; that pressure, manipulate, and in- has been solved, not a single conviction won. Despite timidate news media; and that, at times, collaborate Arepeated demands from Pakistani and international with or enable the Taliban and other militants. journalist organizations, not one of these crimes has n A criminal justice system that is weak and lacks inde- even been put to a credible trial. pendence, leaving it vulnerable to political pressure. This perfect record of impunity has fostered an n Police who are insufficiently trained in such funda- increasingly violent climate for journalists. Fatali- mental areas as forensics and security. ties have risen significantly in the past five years, and n Government officials who, in a climate of wide- today, Pakistan consistently ranks among the deadliest spread impunity, feel free to intimidate journalists. countries in the world for the press. n And news media that, while free and robust, are The violence comes in the context of a govern- also manipulated by the intelligence services, the ment’s struggle to deliver basic human rights to all military, and the political parties. citizens. The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan laid it out succinctly when it said in its “It’s rough out there,” Najam Sethi told CPJ. Sethi, annual report in March 2012 that “militancy, grow- longtime editor of The Friday Times and host of a ing lawlessness, and ethnic, sectarian and political popular Urdu-language political program on Geo TV, violence exposed the government’s inability to ensure and Jugnu Mohsin, his wife and fellow journalist, have security and law and order for people in large parts of lived under intense threat for years. “One never knows the country.” whether the Taliban is gunning for you or whether the It is in this environment that reporter Elizabeth agencies are gunning for you,” said Sethi, who is based Rubin investigated the targeted killings of two journal- in Lahore. “And sometimes you don’t know because ists—Wali Khan Babar in Karachi and Mukarram Khan one is operating at the behest of the other.” Aatif in the tribal areas—along with the underlying cul- Sethi, a strong critic of militant groups, is equally as ture of manipulation, intimidation, and retribution that critical of the government, the military, and the coun- has led to so many other killings. Her reporting found: try’s intelligence agencies. In the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the border with Afghanistan, where n An array of threatening actors that includes not only Aatif was killed, the threatening actors include the militants, criminals, and warlords, but also political, military and intelligence services, militants, weapons military, and intelligence operatives. and drug traders, and various warlord groups that the n A weak civilian government that acquiesces to the government plays against one another. The nation’s larg- 6 Committee to Protect Journalists The Taliban claimed responsibility for this roadside bombing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. REUTERS/M. ABDULLAH est city, Karachi, where Babar was murdered, is a combat has been done beyond the filing of a preliminary police zone of political parties fighting for turf, militant groups report.