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Pakistan: Three journalists were arbitrarily arrested by notorious intelligence agency ISI

Asian Human Rights Commission Urgent Appeal - April 29, 2009 (see sample letter below)

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-043-2009

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from TheNews International, Islamabad, that three journalists from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) had been illegally arrested by the notorious intelligence agency of the state, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) for the purpose of extracting the source of news about military operations in Buneer, where the Taliban has taken over control of the city. The ISI declared that the three journalists would not be released until and unless the journalists, one in particularly, Mr. Dilawar Jan disclosed the source of his news about the start of military operation in the area. On the other hand, Taliban Pakistan has threatened the journalists of the country that if they continue to criticize the Taliban type of justice system, the Nizam-e-Adl (NAR), they would be treated with dire consequences and would be tried in Taliban courts.

Case details:

According to the information received from Mr. Hamid Mir, the prominent anchor person of the Geo Television program, the Capital Talk, on Wednesday, April 29, 2009, a journalist of the ‘TheNews International at NWFP province, Mr. Dilawar Jan, was asked by the officials of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) to disclose the source of a news item about the start of the military operation in the Buneer, the Taliban controlled area. Mr. Jan, however, refused to disclose his sources as it was against the ethics of journalism. At 16 hours he was again contacted by the ISI officials and instructed to come to office of the ISI at Peshawar Cantonment, in the heart of the provincial capital. As he reached the station office of the ISI, he was detained there until the disclosure of the source of his story. But at 18 hours the government and the military themselves announced that a military operation has already initiated in the Buneer against the Taliban militants, even then ISI wanted to know about the source of disclosure of the operation before it was officially announced.

In the late hours of the same day, two other journalists, namely Mr. Mushtaq Yousufzai and Mr. Bukhar Shah, had gone to ISI provincial head quarters and enquired about the illegal detention of Mr. Dilawar Jan but both of them were also held arbitrary till the disclosure of the source of the news. Mr. Hamid Mir, the anchorperson, tried to keep in contact with the intelligence officers for the release of the journalists but he was told that they were not under arrest and they would be released soon. At 23:30 hours the Geo Television broadcast the news of the illegal detention of Mr. Dilawar Jan by the ISI, but purposely avoided to inform about the illegal detention of two other journalists as it would create panic in the journalist community and would give a bad name to the Pakistan armed forces. The spokesperson of the arm forces of the Pakistan has shown his inability to comment on the arrest of the three journalists and avoided calls from journalists, media houses and the AHRC.

On the other hand, The Taliban of Pakistan has warned the journalist of NWFP, in particular, and journalists of the country in general, not to object the activities of the Taliban and if they do not desist doing so they would suffer horrible consequences. The journalists in the NWFP are in a dangerous position from both sides – the government of Pakistan and the Taliban.

Suggested action:

Please write letters to the authorities to take action against the officials of the ISI who continuously arbitrarily detain the journalists whom they had illegally arrested to disclose source of his story and the detention of two other journalists in order to pressure other journalists in the country in their display of illegal acts. Please urge the authorities to immediately release the journalists.

The AHRC is also sending separate letters to the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion.

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Sample letter:

Dear____________,

Pakistan: Three journalists were held by the ISI the notorious intelligence agency

Name of the victims:

1. Mr. Dilawar Jan, Correspondent TheNews International, Peshawar, NWFP-Pakistan
2. Mr. Mushtaq Yousafzai, Correspondent TheNews International, Peshawar, NWFP-Pakistan
3. Mr. Bukar Shah, Prominent journalist of the province Peshawar, NWFP- Pakistan

Name of alleged perpetrators:

Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Peshawar Cantonment, NWFP, Pakistan

Place where they are presently detained:

They are presently held at the at the ISI station office in Peshawar Cantonment of the ISI in NWFP

I am shocked to know that one prominent journalist was illegally and arbitrary arrested by the ISI, the intelligence agency of the Pakistan for reporting the news about the start of the military operation in Buneer, Taliban controlled area of the country. The two other journalists were also kept illegally in the ISI station office to pressure the arrested journalist for disclosure of his story. The act is exactly what the criminals are doing after the kidnapping.

According to the information I have received that on Wednesday, April 29, 2009, a journalist of the ‘TheNews International at NWFP province, Mr. Dilawar Jan, was asked by the officials of the ISI to disclose the source of a news item which was about the start of the military operation in the Buneer, the Taliban controlled area. Mr. Jan refused to disclose his sources as it was against the ethics of the journalism. At 16 hours he was again contacted by the ISI officials to come to office of the ISI at Peshawar Cantonment, in the heart of the provincial capital. As he reached the station office of the ISI, he was detained there till the disclosure of the source of his story. But at 18 hours the government and the military themselves announced that a military operation has already initiated in the Buneer against the Taliban militants, even then ISI wanted to know about the source of disclosure of the operation before it was officially announced.

In the late hours of the same day, two more journalists, Mr. Mushtaq Yousufzai and Mr. Bukhar Shah went to ISI provincial head quarter and enquire about the illegal detention of the journalist but both of them were also held arbitrary till the disclosure of the source of the news. Mr. Hamid Mir, the anchorperson, tried to keep in contact with the intelligence officers for the release of the journalists but he was all the time told that they will be released soon and are not arrested. At 11:30pm the Geo Television broadcasted the news of illegal detention of Mr. Dilawar Jan by the ISI, but purposely avoided to inform about the illegal detention of two other journalists as it would create panic in the journalist community in general and would give bad name to the Pakistan arm forces. The spokesperson of the arm forces of the Pakistan has shown his inability to comment on the arrest of the three journalists and avoided to take the calls from journalists, media houses and AHRC.

On the other hand, The Taliban of Pakistan has warned the journalist of NWFP, in particularly, and journalists of the country in generally, that not to object the activities of Taliban and if they do not desist saying against journalists they will be responsible of horrible consequences. The journalists in the NWFP are in dangerous position from both sides- Pakistan government and Taliban.

I severely criticize the role of ISI in the civil and political affairs of the country who in the presence of the parliament and restoration of the constitution are still active to undermine not only the government authority but also the law of the land. I was shocked to know that parliament and lawful civil authorities are silent to the illegal and arbitrary arrests of these three journalists and had still not initiated any action against the state agency.

I urge you to release the above mentioned journalists and take action against the officials of the ISI who are responsible for the illegal and arbitrary arrest and kidnapping of the journalists.

Yours sincerely,

Please send your letters to:

1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President
President's Secretariat, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 922 1422, 4768/920 1893 or 1835
E-mail: (please see and post your appeal in the website - http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx)

2. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Prime minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596
E-mail: webmaster@infopak.gov.pk

3. Federal Minister of Law
Justice and Human Rights
S Block, Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2628
E-mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk

4. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk

5. Mr. Bashir Ahmad Bilour
Senior Minister, (L&G)
Government of North West Frontier Province
Peshawar, NWFP, pakistan
Fax 92-91-9212533
Email: info@nwfp.gov.pk

Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)