CPJ, RSF among 9 rights groups urge PM Shehbaz to address 'deteriorating press freedom' in Pakistan

A group of nine press freedom and human rights organisations, including international bodies, have penned a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, urging him to take “immediate action to address the country’s rapidly deteriorating press freedom environment”.

The organisations include the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters without Borders, CIVICUS, the International Federation for Human Rights, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the International Press Institute, the Freedom Network, Bolo Bhi and Rural Media Network Pakistan.

In the letter, the organisations said they were writing to express “deep concern over Pakistan’s rapidly deteriorating press freedom climate”.

“In recent months, journalists in Pakistan have disappeared, faced detention and criminal investigations, been blocked from reporting in certain parts of the country, and lost jobs due to government and law enforcement agencies’ pressure,” the organisations said.

“These developments have further eroded the ability of Pakistani journalists to report freely and safely,” they said.

The organisations also said it was “alarming” to see the growing use of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca), and investigations by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) against journalists for reporting on matters of public interest.

They said that authorities had also introduced restrictions on reporting in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), “imposed internet and telecommunications blackouts, taken regulatory action against broadcasters, and imposed draconian new guidelines requiring journalists working for international media outlets to obtain authorisation before reporting outside the three main cities”.

“Maintaining public order and national security, and preventing the spread of alleged false information, must not become open-ended grounds for suppressing public-interest reporting,” they said.

In their list of demands, the group called for the immediate release and safe return of journalists Razi Tahir and Muhammad Saif, who they said “were seized and taken to an undisclosed location on August 1”.

The organisations further called for a prompt and transparent investigation into an attack on reporter Mian Zahid Owaisi in June and urged the authorities to bring all those responsible to justice.

The groups also called for the withdrawal of curbs on foreign media and an end to “using information blackouts to restrict reporting”, while also highlighting the alleged blocking of Al Jazeera’s website following government criticism of the outlet’s reporting on AJK.

Lastly, they also called for an end to “interference in the operations of independent broadcasters”. They said that Aaj TV has dismissed veteran journalist Munizae Jahangir after 11 years at the station and cancelled her current affairs programme.

“Jahangir’s dismissal followed pressure from authorities and her removal reflects a broader pattern in which journalists are taken off air after reporting on issues considered sensitive by the state or other powerful actors,” they said. They also noted that the broadcast licence of Geo News was also suspended for 15 days.

In May, the Freedom Network said in its annual report that Pakistan’s media was standing at a crossroad amid an existential threat and increasingly restrictive environment, deteriorating safety and job security, significant challenges to professional integrity of media and its practitioners.

Titled “Free speech and public interest journalism under siege”, the report said that the existential crisis was triggered by amendments to Peca in January 2025 that now “make it easier” for authorities to arrest, fine and imprison journalists and dissidents — both offline and online — besides other challenges.

“The existential threat is serious as such a situation is seen rare in Pakistani media history. This situation is threatening the very foundation of democracy and the state is more brutal now than it was before to tolerate hard questions,” Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak said.