Protests ensue following death of journalist
By David DastychPakistani journalist Hayatullah Khan was found dead Friday evening near the town of Mir ali in the North Waziristan, a tribal territory near the afghan border.
His body was dumped in a mountain area. He was handcuffed and there was a fresh bullet injury on the back side of his head. a long beard and a frail posture suggested he had been held in captivity for some time.
Khan was a local reporter and cameraman in Mir ali. He covered security issues for the Nation and other Pakistani papers and worked for a European news agency and, occasionally, for Islamabad-based GEO TV.
Khan was kidnapped Dec. 5, 2005, near his town by unknown gunmen. The political administration of North Waziristan claimed he had been abducted by some criminals, possibly for ransom. But his family blamed the regional administration and the Pakistani government. Not without a reason. a few days before, Khan complained that some operatives of the powerful Pakistani intelligence (ISI) demanded that he better drop journalism or leave North Waziristan. They were angry at him for his bold coverage of the critical situation in the region.
a prominent Pakistani journalist and writer, Hamid Mir, said that in September 2005 he worked with Khan in North Waziristan filming for the GEOo TV some dead bodies of innocent civilians, killed by the Pakistani army and declared by soldiers as "terrorists." They also filmed some local tribals, who were moving openly with heavy weapons in that area, undisturbed by the Pakistani troops. When Hamid Mir's TV documentary was aired, Khan was accused by the regional authorities of allegedly exposing some "secrets." He was threatened and told to stop working as journalist. But he refused to do so.
Some time later, while working for a European news agency as cameraman, Khan took pictures of a U.S. missile that killed an al-Qaida leader in North Waziristan - abu Hamza Rabia. an army spokesman claimed that Rabia was killed by explosion, while making a bomb at his home in Mir ali. But the pictures taken by Khan proved without any doubt that the terrorist was killed by a missile launched from an american drone.
Mir said a few days before the kidnapping, Khan came to Islamabad and met him. He had a feeling that something bad would happen to him, because the government agencies, and the ISI in particular were criticizing and threatening him. after the abduction of Khan, Mir mentioned this conversation to some high government officials, and also he wrote two articles in the Daily Jang, reporting that Khan's family suspected that regional officials and ISI stood behind the kidnapping.
Khan was buried yesterday in his hometown - Mir ali. On the same day, in Islamabad, journalists boycotted the proceedings of the National assembly, staging a demonstration outside the Parliament House. When Minister of the Interior aftab ahmad Khan Sherpao came out to negotiate, the demonstrators shouted "no talks with killers." For the first time in Pakistan the journalist community unanimously declared that certain government agencies should be held responsible for the murder of Khan. Opposition MPs also came out from the Parliament Building and joined in the demonstration. The journalists declared Monday, June 19, a "Black Day" all over in Pakistan. They are demanding an independent judicial inquiry into the murder of the journalist from North Waziristan. Two other journalists had been killed before in another Pakistan's tribal area - South Waziristan.
The murder of Khan evoked international protests of journalists. From its HQ in New York City, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Pakistani government to find and prosecute those responsible. according to Reuters' report, the CPJ said Khan had in the past been threatened by security forces, suspected Taliban members and tribesmen for his investigative reporting. also U.S. forces in afghanistan detained him for five days in 2002, his colleagues said.
according to CPJ, worldwide 47 journalists were killed in 2005 125 newsmen were imprisoned. In Iraq, since the outbreak of the last war, 97 journalists and other media workers have been killed. The last year's records of the killings represent the highest death toll in the journalist profession in the past decade.
In Pakistan, which is a close U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, there is a hidden war going on in the tribal territories near the afghanistan border. While the Pakistani army units fight against the Taliban warriors, al-Qaida operatives and local rebels, journalists reporting about the military operations often find themselves attacked from all sides. The worst of all is perhaps the menace and the illegal operations maintained by factions of the powerful Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence, or ISI. a part of the ISI is favoring the radical Islamists, who oppose the government of President Musharaf in Islamabad. The autonomous tribal regions, such as the North and South Waziristan, have a bad reputation as "lawless territories."