Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about
recent attacks and threats against Amir Mir, senior assistant editor
of the English-language monthly the Herald.
In what appears to be a campaign of intimidation, in June Mir was forced
to resign as editor of the Weekly Independent, a Lahore-based,
English-language newspaper, under pressure from local government officials
who accused the paper of running articles that were "against the national
interest" and of having an "anti-army policy." Mir then went to work
for the Herald, a magazine known for its critical articles about
your administration.
Mir says that during the last few months, he has continued to receive
threats from government officials who ordered him to stop writing against
the army and told him that Your Excellency was personally angry with
him for his articles about the military.
On November 21, local Pakistani newspapers reported that Your Excellency
allegedly made critical comments about the Herald in a meeting
with a group of newspaper editors on November 20. According to local
news reports, you accused the magazine of "damaging our national interest."
On November 22, three unidentified assailants set fire to Mir's car,
which was parked in front of his house in Lahore. Mir says he received
a phone call on November 23 from a member of the Inter-Services Intelligence
government security agency telling him that this was "just the beginning."
In response to criticism of these attacks against Mir, on December 4,
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed denied that Your Excellency
had made the reported critical comments and reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment
to press freedom, saying that the government would "safeguard and protect
freedom of the press as it believes that a free and vibrant media are
essential for the consolidation of democracy."
As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to defending
our colleagues worldwide, CPJ respectfully asks Your Excellency to fulfill
your pledge to respect the rights of journalists to safely and freely
report the news without fear of harassment or reprisal from government
officials. We will continue to monitor events in Pakistan closely to
ensure that Mir and other journalists are not threatened or intimidated
for their reporting.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We await your response.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
