Amnesty International | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Amnesty expresses concern over executions in Pakistan

Pakistan Press Foundation

NEW YORK: Human rights are fast becoming a casualty in the drive to wipe out fanatical groups like the militant Islamic State group and Boko Haram, the head of Amnesty International warned as the watchdog released its annual report on the state of human rights around the world. “What is unique to 2015 is that […]


Amnesty assails use of executions to tackle threats

Pakistan Press Foundation

UNITED NATIONS: The “dark trend” of governments using executions in a “futile attempt to tackle real or imaginary threats” to state security and public safety was stark last year, Amnesty International said in its annual review of use of death penalty across the world. “It is shameful that so many states around the world are […]


Scaffold looms for Pakistani convicted as teen

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: Condemned for murder when he was a teenager, Shafqat Hussain could be one of the next to go to the gallows in Pakistan’s wave of executions that follows a Taliban school massacre. The country last week ended its moratorium on the death penalty in terror cases in the aftermath of the slaughter at an […]


Ban on death penalty in terror cases lifted

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Pakistan ended its moratorium on the death penalty in terror-related cases, the prime minister’s office announced on Wednesday. “There is no good and bad Taliban. The military operation is taking on all terrorists without any discrimination,” Nawaz Sharif replied to a questioner during a press briefing. He said it was agreed to continue the […]


Blasphemy sentence against TV channel will have chilling effect

Pakistan Press Foundation

The prison sentence for blasphemy handed down by a court in Pakistan against four people, including the owner of a major private TV channel and one of its star actresses, will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and the media, Amnesty International said. The organization also noted serious concerns about the fairness of […]


Pakistan bans TV channel amid increased attempts to control freedom of expression

Pakistan Press Foundation

There have been protests in Pakistan against attacks on media workers.© Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ)There have been protests in Pakistan against attacks on media workers.© Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ)© Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) “ARY TV must be immediately allowed back on air. There is simply no justification for the […]


Journalists under attack

Pakistan Press Foundation

On the morning of July 2, unidentified men attacked the Express News Peshawar bureau chief’s home. This was the third attack on him. Jamshed Baghwan, as I know him for the past 15 years, is a brave and self-made journalist. He is among those who have balanced views and encourage unbiased reporting. He researches thoroughly, […]


Ban of major private TV network is ‘attack on press freedom’

Pakistan Press Foundation

The Pakistani government’s suspension of Geo TV, the country’s largest private broadcaster, is a politically motivated attack on freedom of expression and the media, Amnesty International said. “The suspension of Geo TV is a serious attack on press freedom in Pakistan. It is the latest act in an organized campaign of harassment and intimidation targeting […]


World media bodies, rights watchdog slam Geo’s closure

Pakistan Press Foundation

WASHINGTON/PARIS/ISLAMABAD: Rights watchdog Amnesty International and international media organisations on Friday condemned the suspension of Geo News licence by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) and termed it politically-motivated and an attack on the freedom of press. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the Pemra’s decision and termed it politically motivated and […]


Jang Group being silenced apparently on military orders, says Amnesty

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: Amnesty International, the world human rights watchdog, has said that up to 80 percent of the Jang Media Group’s distribution in print and on the airwaves has been disrupted by media industry bodies, apparently under the orders of the Pakistani military. The Pakistani authorities should immediately investigate the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the military’s premier […]


What AI revealed was earlier censored by Jang Group

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: The Jang Group was not publishing my stories for the last many days giving full details with evidence that Pakistan Army officials working for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were directly, and in some cases indirectly, contacting cable operators and pressurising them to put the Geo News and other Geo channels off air without waiting […]


Police, security forces use torture with impunity in Pakistan, says AI

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: The word ‘torture’ does not appear in the Pakistan Penal Code, even though Section 348 alludes to it as it points to “wrongful confinement to extort confession”. But what if the confinement is not wrongful and what about the (torturous) means used? Regarding that, the law is silent. Pakistan was one of the many […]


Torture rife across Asia, says Amnesty

Pakistan Press Foundation

LONDON: Amnesty International (AI) has said that torture is rife across the Asia-Pacific region, with China and North Korea among the worst offenders and a host of other governments, including Pakistan and India, betraying promises to stamp it out. At the launch of Amnesty International’s global campaign, ‘Stop Torture’, on Monday, the human rights organisation […]


MQM London holds protest rally against AI’s report

Pakistan Press Foundation

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has alleged that a report on threats to Pakistani journalists prepared by the Amnesty International is “biased, unfounded and malicious” aimed at damaging the democratic credentials of the party. In a recent report titled “A bullet has been chosen for you – attacks on journalists in Pakistan” the Amnesty said […]