Press Freedom Monitoring Workshops Open Floodgates to Freedom ofInformation Requests to Pakistani Government

Following practical exposure within workshop settings, to procedures for obtaining information from government such as exist under the "Freedom of Information Rules, 2004", Pakistani journalists from the provinces have reportedly sent dozens of requests for information to government departments concerned. This move towards transparency and good governance, however slight, holds promise for freedom of information and freedom of expression in the country. This innovative action was triggered within the context of a series of workshops on media pluralism and freedom of expression in Pakistan, undertaken by the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), as part of a project funded by UNESCO's International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) entitled: "Freedom of expression monitoring in Pakistan". The aim of this project is through press freedom training workshops, to establish an effective network of journalists to monitor and defend freedom of expression. These workshops were launched at the Press Club, Kotri, Sindh Province in December 2004 and to date six more have been completed in different parts of the country such as, Hala, Gambat, Jamshoro and Mirpurkhas, (Sindh), Rahim Yar Khan, Bhakkar and Darya Khan, (Punjab); Mardan, (NWFP), and Karachi. Workshop facilitators came from senior echelons of PPF, including PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali and vice chairperson Fazal Qureshi, PPF Director Samina Ishaque and PPF Media Coordinator Musawar Shahid, while senior professionals from among the local journalists were included in the trainers' panels. The workshops examined forms of harassment faced by Pakistani journalists both in the cities and in rural areas with a view to determining effective methods through which individual journalists, journalists' organisations and press clubs could monitor attacks on press freedom, and support journalists and media organizations that have been victimized. In these workshops, journalists were informed on how to deal with situations of violation of freedom of the press not merely in their area, but also elsewhere in the country. Sessions also focussed on how to start or join an ongoing provincial or national campaign to draw government public attention to the issues at hand. The participants of these workshops comprised male and female journalists working for national, regional and local publications as well as freelance writers. In the seven workshops, PPF was able to spread awareness about freedom of press laws, and practices to over 100 journalists, now participants in a budding network. The workshops also provided a comprehensive understanding of the international and national basis for freedom of expression as well as constraints to exercising this right. Emphasis was placed on the monitoring of freedom of expression and on the development of practical guidelines for monitoring and investigating violations of freedom of expression. The IPDC project is still ongoing.

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