Pakistan under Zia
Sir: Could I enlist both your support and that of any interested readers of the Spectator in a campaign we are conducting for press freedom and human rights in Pakistan?
Because of my own connection with Middle East and Third World news agencies and newspapers I have been appalled at the plight of journalistic colleagues in Pakistan under General Zia's new regime. Many professional friends have been imprisoned without trial, suffered the lash which is the General's 'tonic' for recalcitrant journalists, or are being persecuted to a degree that now inhibits even their private conversation.
Mr Callaghan recently visited Pakistan. Whilst one welcomes a stable Pakistan government in keeping with British and American interests in the area, surely the British Government does not support General Zia's regime in its flagrant violation of human rights? If Western declarations about the value of human rights, including those of Dr Owen on 3 March 1977, are to be taken seriously, they should apply to Pakistan.
Together with a few parliamentarians and press friends I have recently formed a small committee known as the London Committee for Democratic Government and Press Freedom in Pakistan. Our interest, I might add, is not only Pakistan. We would like to work to support many of our journalistic and writer friends in the Third World who are struggling against elitist governments who do not yet see the value of a free or even partially free press in shaping the future of their countries. Would any interested readers of the Spectator, particularly journalists or communicators, who might offer some help or moral support to our campaign, please write to the undersigned.
Claud Morris 1 5a Lowndes Street, London SW1
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