• May 31, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

LAHORE: The protest against the attack on senior anchorperson Hamid Mir and illegal suspension of Geo TV network transmission continued on Friday, as civil society members, journalists, representatives of labourers and political workers raised their voice in favour of media freedom and against targeting the Jang Group. The protesters demanded immediate restoration of Geo transmission, […]

• May 30, 2014
• General News

LAHORE: The Joint Action Committee for Peoples Rights has called for the arrest of the killers of lawyer and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s Multan coordinator Rashid Rehman and demanded state protection for lawyers and journalists working on controversial cases in a protestmeeting held at Aiwan-e-Iqbal on Thursday. In honour of Rehman, who was killed […]

• May 25, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

LAHORE: The Protest against the ban/suspension of Geo TV is gaining strength with every passing day as more people from all walks of life, including members of civil society, lawyers, the journalist community, labourers and workers of the Geo/Jang Group, thronged outside the Jang, Geo offices to hold a protest demonstration here on Saturday. The […]

• May 6, 2014
• Freedom of Expression

LAHORE: The Civil Society Network Pakistan and other organisations expressed solidarity with the Geo News and called for freedom of expression to be respected at a rally on Monday held outside the TV channel’s office on the Davis Road. A large number of protesters led by Civil Society Network Pakistan President Abdullah Malik said journalists […]

• April 29, 2014
• General News

GILGIT: A delegation comprising senators intending to probe human rights issues in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) kicked off its three-day discussion in Gilgit on Monday. The nine-member committee is being led by Senator Afrasiab Khattak while senators Farhatullah Babar, Mushahid Hussain, Nasreen Jalil, Talha Mahmood and Zahid Khan are also part of the delegation among others. The […]

• January 23, 2014
• General News

KARACHI: Even though the present-day world is called a liberal world, the “global South” is still not a liberal society and human rights violations are constantly on the rise there. These observations were made by Dr Azra Anjum, a former professor of political science at the University of Karachi, while speaking at a workshop titled […]

• October 9, 2013
• Freedom of Expression

LAHORE: The Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Ordinance seems more of an experiment than a bid to introduce transparency by which the public could know about the functioning of various departments. The proclaimed objectives (of the Ord) however are that the people would be able to have an oversight over government decisions, spending, appointments, […]

• September 28, 2013
• Freedom of Expression

LAHORE: In a landmark decision, the Punjab cabinet approved on Friday the much-delayed draft of the Freedom of Information Law, deciding to forthwith promulgate it in the shape of an ordinance. The cabinet meeting was presided over by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif who decided to extend full assistance to quake-hit people of Balochistan. The cabinet […]

• August 27, 2013
• Media Development, Media Ethics

Experts of civil society, owners of private TV channels, representatives of associations of electronic and print media and advertisers, teachers and students of Mass-communication Department University of Karachi and others have reviewed the recommendations of Media Commission appointed by Supreme Court of Pakistan. This review was held at a roundtable event jointly organised by Citizens’ […]

• August 24, 2013
• Freedom of Expression

LAHORE: Representatives of civil society organisations on Friday rejected the draft Punjab Freedom of Information Bill 2013, describing it as a “disabler law” having no mention of the status of whistleblowers. Maximised time of redressal mechanism, long list of arbitrary “exemptions”, safeguarding many public domain information with the notion of “national defence or security”, “public […]

• August 2, 2013
• General News

ISLAMABAD: The civil society on Thursday demanded the government to immediately restore the ministry of Human Rights as an independent ministry, along with the appointment of a minister. The Insani Haqooq Itehad (IHI) has expressed its concern and dismay that the newly elected government has merged the federal Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) with the […]

• July 8, 2013
• Broadcasting, Front Page, Media and Governance

By: Hamid Mir ISLAMABAD: The Media Commission constituted by the Supreme Court has recommended to parliament to establish a Media Laws Review Task Force, restructure and rename the Ministry of Information and free Pemra, PTV, APP and PBC of government control. The two-member commission, comprising Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid and Javed Jabbar, has submitted […]

• July 1, 2013
• General News

ISLAMABAD: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is organizing an event today at the Pak China Friendship Centre where the media products of the selected students of Mass Communication from seven national universities would be launched. The media products included research studies, video documentary and short films on various aspects of child labour. Interesting stage and […]

• June 25, 2013
• General News

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Monday condemned the murder of 10 foreign climbers and at least one Pakistani citizen in Gilgit-Baltistan and called it a serious crisis in a region which could do without further aggravation. In a statement, the commission said: “The killing of the foreign mountaineers in Gilgit-Baltistan raises very […]