PPF and 38 others urge Media Freedom Coalition member states to act on Gaza
Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) joined a collective call of civil society working on media
freedom globally to urge the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) member states to “consistently
and publicly call for the treatment of Palestinian journalists, who continue to report from Gaza in
spite of the risks, as civilians according to established norms of International Humanitarian Law,
as well as urging for the immediate and unfettered access of international journalists to Gaza”.
“Despite recent UN figures that at least 122 journalists have been killed, the collective official
silence of the MFC member states as a group regarding these killings, with increasing evidence
of journalists being specifically targeted, along with the lack of actions to ensure that
international journalists can access and report from Gaza, seriously diminishes our collective
ability to credibly stand up for media freedom globally.
“The global rules-based order is served by predictability and consistency, as it all comes down
to the shared commitment to live up to these norms in practice. Unfortunately we now witness
the opposite with many states who routinely take initiative to promote media freedom and safety
of journalists remaining silent on this issue. Calls for accountability in other situations are no
longer credible when those calls are not made now in the face of such human suffering,
destruction of media facilities, communication blackouts, arrests and threats that extend to the
Occupied West Bank alongside increased censorship measures within Israel, and a consistent
lack of accountability for the alleged targeting of journalists during this conflict,” reads the call.
The full call can be viewed below.