The Pakistan army on Friday rejected a recent report by the Amnesty International that journalists in the country were under a “serious threat” from state security forces, political parties and religious militant groups and said that such allegations were “baseless”.
The report said that several journalists claimed to have been threatened for reporting on the military, political parties or armed groups but the authorities failed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The report alleges that the “security forces continued to act with impunity and were accused of widespread human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, deaths in custody and extrajudicial executions targeting political activists, journalists and suspected members of armed groups”.
The army dismissed the charges and described them as an attempt to defame the Pakistani forces.
An army statement said that the report had baselessly maligned security forces personnel allegedly involved in human rights abuses and media coercion.
“These reports are a depiction of an overall agenda that is aimed at demeaning Pakistan and targeting/ tarnishing the image of the security forces,” a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations said.
It said Pakistani security forces personnel abided by the law, cognizant of human rights obligations and committed to providing protection to all segments of Pakistani society including journalists.
