Call for amendments to make ‘toothless’ Sindh Commission for Protection of Journalists powerful

The Pakistan Journalists Safety Coalition’s (PJSC)-Sindh chapter and members of the Sindh Commission for Protection of Journalists and Other Media Practitioners (CPJMP) have unanimously demanded amendments to make the “toothless” commission more powerful and at same time asked for “proactive support” from Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s government to overcome logistic and other issues which the body has been facing since its inception in December 2022.

“The current legal framework is not enough to expect the commission to deliver. As long as amendments are not made to the current law, the commission appears weak and the issue of impunity is unlikely to be tackled,” PJSC-Sindh chapter and CPJMP members said, according to a press release issued here on Friday.

Co-chaired by PJSC-Sindh chairperson Aamir Latif and Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak, the meeting, which was held on Thursday here, met to take stock of the commission affairs and meeting participants were unanimous that the Sindh government was taking “least interests” in getting the commission fully operational.

Since its notification in December 2022, the commission has not provided with secretariat-level support to combat impunity for crimes against journalists nor has the provincial government allocated any budget in annual provincial budget for the commission.

“The government is not taking any interest,” Mazhar Abbas told the meeting, which was also attended by Karachi Press Club president Saeed Sarbazi, CPJMP members Jabbar Khattak and Dr Tauseef Ahmed, besides Ghulam Mustafa, Pakistan’s coordinator of the IFJ.

Iqbal Khattak lamented that the Sindh commission was not delivering despite unanimity among all stakeholders on tackling impunity for crimes against media and its practitioners. “Where does the problem lie?” he asked. “We need to remove these roadblocks the commission is facing, and the Sindh government’s role is important.”

Jabbar Khattak requested Freedom Network to help draft the amendments before calling on the PPP leadership and other parliamentary party leaders in the Sindh Assembly to pass the amendments unanimously.

At least 21 cases of different threat categories were documented in Sindh province from January 2024 until 10 December 2024. Two journalists were murdered during the same period.

Sindh emerged the most dangerous province for journalists in the 2024 Pakistan Impunity Report of Freedom Network, with Islamabad and Punjab designated as the “second and third dangerous places” to practice journalism in Pakistan.

The meeting set three goals to make the commission effective and authoritative. “Amend the current law; urgent logistic support for commission and its members, need to change chairperson’s selection criteria and commission’s fact-finding mandate to investigate any attack against journalist,” the meeting explained the three goals.