August 12, 2011

Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President’s Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9204801/9214171
Fax: +92 51 9207458
Email:  publicmail@president.gov.pk

RE: Urges for Swift Action to Locate Abducted Journalist in Pakistan

Dear President Asif Ali Zardari,,

I am sure you are just as horrified and concerned as I am about the abduction of Mr.Rehmatullah Dawar, who works with AAJ TV and the Urdu daily Ausaf.

According to information I have received Mr.Rehmatullah Dawar was abducted at a bazaar in Miranshah, the capital of the militancy-gripped agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), by unidentified men travelling in two cars with tinted windows.

The men fired shots in the air to keep people away as they bundled Dawar into one of the cars, according to reports.

The motivation for the abduction is unclear, and no one had claimed responsibility.

However, Ahmadullah Ahmadi, the spokesman for Haji Gul Bahader, the most powerful militant commander in North Waziristan, condemned the abduction and said the local Taliban would assist to locate Dawar, according to the Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ).

I write to you to express my deep concern. I join International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) , Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in demanding authorities in Pakistan take swift action to locate and safely recover a senior tribal journalist who was abducted in North Waziristan on August 11.



I urge to the Government of Pakistan to direct its authorities not to delay in investigating the abduction of Rehmatullah Dawar and to recover him safely.



I remind the Government of the failure of its authorities to take appropriate action in the case of Hayatullah Khan, who was similarly abducted in 2005. I urge that a similar failure not be permitted again.

The abduction of Dawar, who comes from Darparkhel village, reportedly has similarities with the case of Khan, who also worked with Ausaf and was abducted in North Waziristan in December 2005. His handcuffed body was found with several gunshot wounds six months later.

North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan, is in the grip of an armed conflict between Pakistan security forces and militant groups believed to be associated with Al-Qaeda. The area is subject to regular strikes by US drones targeting suspected militants.

By the years in Pakistan Journalists have been harassed, arbitrarily arrested and detained, subjected to enforced disappearance, torture and extrajudicial killings. Contrary to the spirit of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, state agents have committed such violations at a recently increased rate, and with impunity.

These are crimes in domestic law, under international human rights law the state bears responsibility to prevent such abuses or to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.

I demand that Pakistani government take steps to provide security for journalists and allow them to carry out their duties without fear of harm and intimidation.

President Zardari, you have told the international community that the protection of journalists is in your mandate. I also want to remind you that you have told the international community that in past you had asked your cabinet members to work with Parliament in developing legislation to monitor and address attacks on journalists.

I ask you and your government to reaffirm the pledges you made to us and Pakistan’s community of journalists.

It is shocking for me that government of Pakistan is silent on the issues of abduction and disappearances by the state intelligence agencies and no one has yet made responsible for these acts which have been happening since 2002. And during the civilian government this menace has increased many fold and it looks as if the government is simply a silent spectator before their powerful law enforcement agencies.

The case of abduction of Mr.Rehmatullah Dawar is the clear demonstration of the violation of freedom of expression and freedom of media even the freedom of right to making opinion which are not only guaranteed in the constitution of Pakistan and laws of the land but also to the article 18 and 19 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which was ratified by the government of Pakistan in April 2010.

Guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by Pakistan.

I urge you to assure the safe recovery of Mr.Rehmatullah Dawar and prosecute in open court those who are responsible for the abduction and disappearances of the citizens.

I hope that you will take personal interest into the case and provide redress to the victim.

Yours sincerely,

William Nicholas Gomes
Journalist and Human Rights Activist

Hong Kong