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
The IFJ
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