US rights body lambasts Pakistan's gag on press
PTI, New York
Flaying Pakistan's military government for becoming 'increasing intolerant' to freedom of press, a human rights watchdog group has asked President Pervez Musharraf to demonstrate his 'genuine commitment' to press freedom by releasing journalists arrested on "trumped-up" charges. "It is time for General Musharraf to show the world whether he is a reformer or no different from other military rulers. How he deals with press freedom is a big test. As of now, he and his government are failing," the US-based Human Rights Watch has said. Since Musharraf took power in a military coup in 1999, the Watch emphasised, the Pakistani government has "systematically" violated the fundamental rights of members of the press corps through "threats, harassment and arbitrary arrests." "Many have been detained without charge, mistreated and tortured, and otherwise denied basic due process rights," it said. The government, the rights group said, has sought to, and in several cases succeeded in, removing independent journalists from prominent publications. "Meanwhile, the arrest of editors and reporters from local and regional newspapers on charges of sedition is becoming increasingly commonplace," it added. The Watch also referred to reports that Musharraf had himself threatened a journalist whose car was later set on fire. In a letter to Pakistani President Musharraf, the Watch highlighted the case of Amir Mir, Senior Assistant Editor of the monthly magazine Herald , whom it said, Musharraf reportedly threatened at a reception for Pakistani newspaper editors. Musharraf is reported to have condemned the Herald for being "anti-army" and working against "national interest," and argued that the time had come for the Herald and Mir to be "dealt with," the Watch said. Musharraf's comments, it added, reportedly included specific references to stories filed by Mir for the magazine. Two days later, unidentified persons set Amir Mir's car ablaze outside his house. Mir later received a message purporting to be from the Pakistani intelligence services (ISI) claiming responsibility for the attack and warning that this was "just the beginning," the rights group alleged. In this context, the Watch asked Musharraf to publicly disassociate himself from the comments about the Herald and order an investigation into the attack on Amir Mir's car, said Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch.
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