Capacity building training on reporting crimes against journalists

Islamabad : Inspector General of Police Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar has said that respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms guaranteed in Constitution of Pakistan is at center of policing practices by Islamabad police.

He was speaking as chief guest at a capacity -building workshop jointly organised by Parliamentarians commission for human rights (PCHR) and Peace and Justice Network in collaboration with Islamabad Police here at the Police Lines Headquarters. The purpose of the workshop was to strengthen the capacity of Islamabad police on institutionalizing the reporting and recording mechanism of crimes against journalists.

Police personnel especially Moharras were participants of the workshop. As part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda, the training focused on increasing the reporting capacity of the duty bearers on SDG 16.10.1.) As per vision of the prime minister, the IGP said, police was progressing towards institutionalizing enhanced procedures that protect all sections of society.

The police chief said media was a very important segment of society while police and media would have to work closely to combat crime and eradicate the social evils from the society. Islamabad police acknowledges the important role of journalists in representing the people and therefore attaches high importance to their safety and protection, he added.

He asked the policemen to resolve the issues of journalists on priority basis and adopt decent attitude with all segments of the society. Speaking at the occasion, Executive Director PCHR Muhammad Shafique Chaudhry reiterated that, “Under Pakistan’s Constitutional Obligations, International Human rights commitments and our national development framework, it is our collective responsibility to work towards achieving SDG 16.10 and ensure access to information, press freedom and safety of Journalist.

” Under this program, he said that PCHR and PJN are seeking to establish integrated reporting mechanism in police department and other relevant government departments to collect authenticated data for appropriate policy reforms and parliamentary discourse on these issues. He also appreciated the continued support of federal government particularly IGP Islamabad Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar Khan and thanked UNESCO for their support during the program.

CEO Peace and Justice Network Raza Ali shared the overall objectives of this program and previous progress. He explained the reporting template in detail and dilated upon different fields of template.

To meet the requirement of SDG16.10.1, we need to have verified data about all categories of journalists and media workers, he opined. Senior Police officials from all relevant police stations also attended the workshop. The IGP Islamabad distributed certificates among the participants of the workshop and hoped that such sessions would be held in future to promote relation between media and police.