it as harassment and attack on media freedoms.
Amnesty report said that hearings in the treason trial of former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf continued to be delayed, creating tensions between the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the powerful military.
The report regretted that despite clear rulings by the Supreme Court to the government in 2013 demanding he recovery of victims of enforced disappearances, “the authorities did little to meet its obligations under international law and the Constitution to prevent these violations”. It said that “men and boys” were subjected to enforced disappearance across Pakistan and particularly in the provinces of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.
The report added several victims were later found dead, bearing what appeared to be bullet wounds and torture marks. The government did not implement the Supreme Court orders calling for bringing the responsible to justice.
Amnesty noted that religious minorities continued to face laws and practices that resulted in their discrimination and persecution. “Dozens of ethnic Hazaras were killed in attacks in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan; the armed group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for many of these, saying they were because the Hazaras were Shia Muslims. Members of the Sikh religious community staged several protests throughout the year against killings, abductions and attacks on their places of worship in different parts of the country.”
“Abuse connected with the blasphemy laws occurred regularly during the year as demonstrated in several high-profile cases,” the report said mentioning the killing of renowned human rights lawyer Rashid Rehman in the city of Multan.
Speaking to The News, Amnesty International spokesperson Mustafa Qadri condemned attacks on journalists and media houses by both state and non-state actors, including political parties who boycott media houses to pressurise them. “2014 was a very difficult year for media in Pakistan. Journalists faced violent threats and harassment in various forms. Pakistan’s highest profile journalist Hamid Mir was ambushed in April last year but his attackers are still free and no one has been brought to justice.”
Qadri said that there were “lots of challenges dealing with threats to journalists but media community also must address the failure of media houses to protect its own staff which is particularly important given how politicised Pakistani media landscape is.”
He called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government to, as a first step, focus on investigating high profile cases such as that of Hamid Mir, Raza Rumi, Saleem Shehzad, Musa Khankhel, Hayatullah Khan, Irshad Mastoi, Abdul Haq Baloch and other journalists whose killers have not been brought to justice. He said that “unprecedented pressure” had been put on media houses last year by political parties as well as militant groups and particularly mentioned Geo TV which faced well-organised campaigns.
“This is an attack on the freedom of expression. It’s a threat to the eyes and ears of the nation. Free media plays a key role in exposing human rights abuses. No militant or political group should attack media freedoms for its political and strategic goals,” Qadri said.