The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and its affiliates and partners within the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN), are shocked and outraged by the murder of Razzaq Gul, senior journalist and reporter with Express News in Turbat city in the Kech district of Pakistan’s Balochistan Province.
According to information received from IFJ-affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Gul was seized from near his home on the evening of May 18 and soon afterwards reported missing with local police. His body was discovered in a part of the city close to the Old Civil Hospital the next day. It bore marks of severe torture and fifteen bullet wounds to the head and chest.
The Balochistan Union of Journalists, a constituent unit of the PFUJ, estimates that Gul is the twenty-first journalist killed in the province in the last three years.
PFUJ President Pervaiz Shaukat has once again drawn attention to the alarming increase in the targeted killing of journalists in Balochistan, which sets it apart from other parts of Pakistan where the hazards for the media have multiplied enormously in the last few years.
According to PFUJ General Secretary Amin Yousuf, a campaign strategy will be formulated over the next few days to bring pressure on the authorities to counter this alarming spiral of violence against journalists.
“We condemn this unspeakable brutality against a journalist whose work over the ten years has been lauded for its high professional quality and integrity”, said the IFJ Asia-Pacific.
“We join the PFUJ in their demand that the authorities act firmly under the law to dispel the climate of impunity for attacks on journalists. We underline once again that media managements, journalists’ unions and the authorities need to work together, to agree on urgent measures to restore security for the media profession”.
“All the belligerents in the ongoing conflict in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan, including non-state actors, need to be brought into this compact to assure the security of journalists, in accordance with all relevant international conventions”.
For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0950
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