The AI report says that several journalists claimed to have been threatened for reporting on the military, political parties or armed groups, but the authorities failed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
 
AI’s Pakistan researcher Mustafa Qadri said that his organization has received credible reports of threats to and attacks on journalists because of their coverage of the elections and alleged vote-rigging by some political parties. “Pakistan has a very poor record in protecting journalists from attacks and as far as we’re aware no one has been prosecuted for killing a journalist since the case of Daniel Pearl in 2002. Failure to address these attacks sends a signal that the perpetrators—be they political parties or other groups – can literally get away with murder. It obviously has a profound impact on freedom of expression in Pakistan because the media plays a critical role in informing the people and keeping the powerful accountable.
 
Unfortunately, some members of political parties feel they have a licence to use violence to influence the media. Threats to and attacks on journalists are a human rights abuse without any justification,” said Mustafa, without naming a political party, but it’s widely known which parties in Pakistan use violence and threats to media and political opponents.
 
He said that the people of Pakistan showed tremendous courage by coming out to vote in record numbers and braving the risk of attacks by the Taliban and other armed groups but these elections were not free of violence and rigging in many areas of the country, where in some cases whole polling stations were taken over by goons affiliated with political parties.
 
He said that it was unfortunate that members of the Awami National Party (ANP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), who faced the brunt of attacks by the Taliban attacks, have also been implicated in attacks on journalists, agreements seeking to prevent women from voting in some electorates, or incitement against supporters of other political parties. “As elected representatives of the people of Pakistan, politicians have a responsibility to demonstrate respect for human rights and the rule of law. Any individual or group implicated in abuses must immediately be investigated by the authorities, and, where admissible, evidence is available, alleged perpetrators of these abuses must be brought to justice in fair trials regardless of their rank, status or party affiliations,” he demanded.
 
The report says that religious minorities suffered persecution and attacks in 2012, with targeted killings by armed groups and religious leaders inciting violence against them. “The Armed Forces and armed groups continued to perpetrate abuses in the tribal areas and Balochistan province, including enforced disappearances, abductions, torture and unlawful killings. The courts successfully compelled the authorities to bring a handful of victims of enforced disappearance before them, but failed to bring perpetrators to justice in fair trials.”
 
The report lauded that in a landmark decision on 23 September, the Supreme Court ruled that members of the transgender community are entitled to the same rights under the Pakistan Constitution as other citizens.
 
The report alleges that the “security forces continued to act with impunity and were accused of widespread human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, deaths in custody and extrajudicial executions targeting political activists, journalists, and suspected members of armed groups”.
 
The report appreciates that the Supreme Court took bold initiatives on the issue of “victims of enforced disappearances” but “reports of enforced disappearances continued across the country, especially in Balochistan province and the north-west tribal areas”.
 
The report says that the Pakistani Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Balochistan Liberation Army and other armed groups such as the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) targeted security forces and civilians, including members of religious minorities, aid workers, activists and journalists. They carried out indiscriminate attacks using improvised explosive devices and suicide bombs, said the report adding that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had openly claimed responsibility for the killing of Shia Muslims in many incidents.
 
The report notes that “Ahmadis, Hindus and Christians remained at serious risk of violence and intimidation on the basis of their religious beliefs. “There were at least 79 attacks on Shia Muslims – the most for any religious group in the country. Religious minorities were disproportionately represented in incidents where private individuals sought to invoke Pakistan’s vaguely formulated blasphemy laws.”
 

The competition is open to journalists from around the world. Entries can be in all journalistic formats (print, online, TV and radio) published or broadcast for the first time between January 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013. Submissions must focus on human rights and development.

Entries can be in one of the seven competition languages: Arabic, Chinese, German, English, French, Russian or Spanish. Submissions can also be in an additional language broadcast by Deutsche Welle if accompanied by a translation in a competiton language.

A winner will be picked from each of the following regions: Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe as well as Germany. The prizes are valued at 2,000 euros each and will be awarded at a ceremony held August 14, 2013 in Berlin.

Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Deutsche Welle (DW) are jointly holding the competition for the first time and have opened it to international journalists. Over the previous 37 years the competition was open to German journalists only. Jury members for 2013 include Dr. Auma Obama, head of the Sauti Kuu Foundation; filmmaker Dr. Rita Knobel-Ulrich; Michael Windfuhr, deputy-director of the German Institute for Human Rights; and Ingo Zamperoni, host of the daily TV news program, Tagesthema, broadcast by ARD.

Submissions must be received by May 31, 2013. Further information and submission details can be found at: www.GermanMediaAwards.org

The Rory Peck Awards, sponsored by Sony UK Ltd, are billed as the only awards aimed at honoring freelance cameramen and camerawomen. The Rory Peck Trust was established in 1995, two years after freelance cameraman Rory Peck was killed while filming in Moscow.

There are three awards: news, features and the Sony Professional Impact Award. (Source: IJNET)

In all categories the awards recognize quality of camerawork, but also take into account individual endeavor, initiative and journalistic ability.

All entries must have been broadcast (television, agency feed, recognized online news publisher) between June 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013.

The application deadline is June 3. To know about details of this award you may visit this page: http://rorypecktrust.org/3289/Rory-Peck-Awards

Onneshon covers science, technology, the environment and medicine, with a special focus on the latest developments in Germany and Europe. It will be shown every Saturday at 6:30 pm as well as Sunday at 1:30 am and 3:30 pm on Ekushey TV in Bangladesh.

“We are really excited about this latest development in Bangladesh,” said Tobias Grote-Beverborg, DW’s Distribution Executive for South Asia. “We have been broadcasting to Bangladesh for more than 40 years and by producing a new television program in Bengali, we hope to be able to win over even more fans.”

Onneshon is produced by DW’s Bengali team in Bonn and hosted by Debarati Guha. In addition to presenting the latest scientific developments, the show also reports on various aspects of everyday life in Germany and comments on the differences between Germany and South Asia, surprising as they might sometimes be.

Multimedia content from the Onneshon series can also be accessed at www.dw.de/bengali, and will be distributed by DW’s online partners in the region.

As one of Bangladesh’s most popular private TV stations, Ekushey TV provides television services to an estimated audience of more than 32 million homes in Bangladesh. Apart from broadcasting via cable and satellite, Ekushey was also the first Bangladeshi TV channel to offer content via live stream, which is available at www.ekushey-tv.com.

Winners from each region will receive cash prizes and a two-week study tour to the United States to meet health experts.

Entries must relate to diseases that are preventable or treatable with vaccines, such as polio, measles and pneumonia. Possible topics include the discovery of new vaccines, testing of vaccines, public attitudes toward immunization, innovative approaches to delivery of vaccines or the efficacy or failure of immunization campaigns.

Eligible entries include print, broadcast or online media stories published or broadcast between March 15 and May 15, 2013, which includes World Immunization Week (April 24-30). The deadline for submitting stories is May 20, 2013.

The program is administered by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) in Washington. You can visit this link for more information: http://ijnet.org/blog/how-land-your-dream-journalism-fellowship

Source: ICFJ.

During the course, participants will gain: improved knowledge of the international legal framework pertaining to international justice; understanding of the functioning of international justice together with its successes and failures; and an understanding of the major practical and ethical challenges facing journalists such as the politicization of international justice and the protection of witnesses.

Eligible countries include: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Autonomous Palestinian Territories, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Macedonia, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe. (Source: IJnet)

Fellowship applicants must submit a registration form, resume, letter of motivation and proof of English proficiency by May 7.

Interested person can get more data abouth fellowship here.

Applications will be accepted until May 01, 2013, and the fellowship will run from September 2013 – March 2014.

For more information
about this fellowship, go to iwmf.org/2013neuffer,

contact
Ann Marie Valentine (202-496-1992, neuffer@iwmf.org) and follow @IWMF on Twitter.
Founded in 1990 by a group of prominent U.S. women journalists, the International Women's Media Foundation
is a Washington-based organization that believes the
news media world-wide are not truly free and representative without the equal voice
of women. The IWMF celebrates the courage of women journalists who overcome
threats and oppression to speak out on global issues. The IWMF's programs
empower women journalists with the training, support and network to become
leaders in the news industry.

Candidates must have at least one year’s experience working in Asia at an English-language publication and be fluent in English and at least one Asian language. A team of Journal editors working in conjunction with NYU professors will select one or more fellows for the program.

The Fellowship covers tuition and fees for two of the three semesters of the program, as well as a stipend of US$24,000 to cover travel to New York, living expenses, at least one trip home, as well as incidental costs such as textbooks. Previous fellows have gone on to staff positions at the Journal and other major news organizations in the U.S. and Asia.

For more information about the program, contact: Prof. Adam L. Penenberg, assistant director, Business and Economic Reporting program at NYU at Adam.Penenberg@nyu.edu

You can find more about this fellowship in this link: http://wsjfellowship.com/