Islamabad:
The joint action committee (JAC) of media organizations has written a letter to the Permanent Interior Committee of the Senate, expressing its reservations on the amendments proposed to the 2016 Electronic Crime Prevention Law (PECA).
In the letter addressed to the president of the Committee, Senator Faisal Salem Rahman, Jac said that the amendments that will be introduced through the 2025 Peca bill (amendment) of 2025 may have significant implications for press freedom and freedom of expression.
These amendments, he said, have been introduced without any consultation or discussion with the relevant interested parties, including the media and the organizations of journalists.
He said that JAC, a representative body of all media organizations: PFUJ, CPNE, AEMEND, APNS and PBA, is not against the promulgation of laws that regulate the means consistently with democratic norms.
“However, the process through which this amendment is being progressed – presently and without a significant commitment to interested parties – continues the principles of justice and the spirit of democracy.
“Such an approach erodes trust and raises serious concerns about the intention behind the bill, particularly its impact on constitutionally guaranteed rights as freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”
Jac said that legislation of such importance must be molded through a participatory and transparent process, guaranteeing that the concerns, objections and suggestions of all interested parties be taken into account.
“Approve this law in its current form, without addressing these issues, will be inevitably seen as an attempt to quell dissent and restrict freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan, which is neither acceptable nor justifiable in a democratic society.
Jac urged the president of the committee to grant a hearing to JAC representatives before the Committee debates the amendment bill. “We want to express our serious concern about certain aspects of this bill that seriously hinder freedom of expression,” he added.
