Some of the most widely read human
rights stories of 2013 constitute the denial of driving rights for Saudi women,
use of violence by police against peaceful protestors in Turkey, mass killings
in Egypt etc. Though human rights are recognized in the international arena
through legal means like Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948),
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (1966),
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (1966), they
remain less acknowledged in the domestic sphere. Citing a quote by John F.
Kennedy “The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are
threatened.” one would want to classify people on the basis of the knowledge
they have regarding their rights. Among the first category of individuals, a
sense of unawareness prevails which leads to their exploitation. The second
category includes individuals who are well informed but are denied their rights
by force and they are journalists.
Freedom of the press has been a
highly debated topic when it comes to human rights. Right to information is the
fundamental right of a citizen and it is quite unfortunate that individuals in
certain countries are not permitted to exercise this right. Both the
information sender and recipient tend to be in grave danger. According to Dr.
Justice A. Anand, Former Chief Justice of India, democracy and human rights are
mutually supportive. This invokes the need to examine the contradictions that
exist in democratic and authoritarian countries around the world, specifically
the region of Asia as it hosts 60% of the world’s human population.
In Asia, North Korea follows a
strict authoritarian rule, which imposes extreme control over freedom of expression.
It has been the subject of international criticism for the brutal violation of
human rights. On the other hand, though Pakistan is a democratic state, a
recent report by Amnesty International states that 34 journalists have been
killed since 2008. A comparative study between the two countries would bring
about answers to various questions concerning the freedom of press from a human
rights perspective.The areas that could be considered
are role of the government, violent measures taken by police, domestic laws on
freedom of the press, gender, international laws on freedom of the press etc.
As far as India is concerned, the
level of press freedom is partially free owing to the political inclination of
certain media houses which produce manipulated news updates that project the
interests of selected political parties. India’s rank in the World Press
Freedom Index is 136 out of 180 nation-states, an improvement from its rank of
140 in 2014. The recent issues of Jagendra Singh and Vyapam Scam have only
threatened the press freedom scenario in India. The WPFI considers the following criteria while
ranking the countries for the level of press freedom:
- Media pluralism and independence
- Respect for the safety and freedom of journalists
- Legislative, institutional and infrastructural environment in which the media operates
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