United Nations in Pakistan, members of the parliament, Human Rights Commission, media workers, journalists and Press Clubs signed a ‘Declaration on Safety of Journalists’ in Islamabad on Monday, to demand collective and coordinated action from all stakeholders to stop the killing and harassment of journalists and end impunity.
The declaration was adopted and signed as an outcome of the National Consultative Meeting, organized to provide Pakistan with specific inputs to the United Nations’ implementation strategy of the ‘Action Plan on the Safety of Journalist and the Issue of Impunity’, an initiative of which United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was the convening agency in collaboration with other United Nations agencies, including United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNODC and UNWOMEN. The declaration was signed on November 5, ahead of the UN 2nd Inter-Agency meeting, which would be held on November 22- 23 in Vienna, Austria this year.
UNESCO Islamabad Director Dr Kozue Kay Nagata, in her opening remarks, highlighted the importance of the Declaration on Safety of Journalists by saying, “The safety of journalists and the struggle against impunity for their killers was essential to preserve the fundamental right to freedom of expression, guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Freedom of expression is an individual right, for which no one should be killed, but it is also a collective right, which empowers populations through facilitating dialogue, participation and democracy.”
United Nations Pakistan Resident Coordinator Mr Timo Pakkala also attended the meeting. He emphasized on the strategic importance of the adoption of UN’s system wide plan of action and its strategies, noting the alarming numbers of journalist killings in Pakistan. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Pakistan ranked 3rd in world’s deadliest nations for the press in 2012 after Syria and Somalia.
Senator Haider Abbas Rizvi, member of National Assembly’s special committee to investigate the issue of threats to journalists and media personal, said, “By signing this declaration, we are bound to show commitment as whole, and not in fragments.”
Participants worked in different groups along with the drafting committee nominated by the participants. The declaration proposed various interventions including an enacting policy and legal framework, enabling civil society as accountability watchdogs, and equipping media workers with the capacity to practice their duties, to protect them against attacks and to combat impunity, in the interests of freedom and democracy.
The meeting provided a rare window of opportunity for global action, ahead of the UN meeting, which would focus on practical ways to implement the UN system wide Plan of Action for the Safety of Journalists.
