“Twenty-nine journalists have been killed in Pakistan in the past five years, many of them for carrying out their professional duties. Very few, if any, of the perpetrators have been brought to justice,” the Board of WAN-IFRA said in a resolution issued during its meeting on Thursday (1 March) in Dubai.

The resolution called for the government to ensure that state agencies carry out their duty to protect, not intimidate, journalists. It also called on President Ali Zardari to ensure media professionals can conduct their work without fear of violence or retribution.

The full resolution can be read at http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/53262/

WAN-IFRA issued three other resolutions that:

- Calls on the government of Ukraine, ahead of the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Kiev in September, to make a concerted effort to improve press freedom in the country. (Full resolution can be read at: http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/53263);

- Calls for constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression in Tunisia, and resistance to attempts to limit freedom of the press. The Board noted that how authorities handle the issue will have an impact far beyond Tunisia’s borders. (Full resolution can be read at: http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/53264);

- Calls on the Turkish authorities to immediately release Ahmet Şık, Nedim Şener, and six other journalists jailed in connection with the ‘Ergenekon’ conspiracy and to uphold freedom of expression in Turkey. (Full resolution can be read at: http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/53266).

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

Learn more about WAN-IFRA at http://www.wan-ifra.org or through the WAN-IFRA Magazine at http://www.wan-ifra.org/magazine

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA, 96 bis, rue Beaubourg, 75003 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 07. Fax: +33 1 42 78 92 33. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: larry.kilman@wan-ifra.org