Islamabad 3rd Roundtable - Declaration of Support for Media Legal Reforms in FATA

Yasser Latif Hamdani was one of the delegates who signed this declaration for media reforms in FATA.

“We, the participants of the Islamabad Roundtable on Legal Cover for Media Reforms in FATA [June 20, 2012], comprising eminent lawyers and members of bar associations from across Pakistan, including lawyers from FATA, after debating it at length endorses the consensus Declarations of the previous two roundtables of FATA and media stakeholders [held in November 2011] seeking the same legal rights for citizens of Pakistan residing in FATA as in the rest of Pakistan.

"We especially support, endorse and demand for FATA the firm compliance of Articles 19 and 19A of the Constitution of Pakistan guaranteeing freedom of expression and right to information, and including the right to have legal, independent local media, which is imperative for full realization of political reforms in the region.

"The legal fraternity of Pakistan also expresses solidarity with the citizens of Pakistan residing in FATA in fulfillment of their inalienable Constitutional, legal and political rights and all efforts to afford them the same legal and media freedoms as in the rest of Pakistan, and urge the Governments, Legislatures, the FATA Governor and the President of Pakistan to take concrete steps to realize these rights for the Tribal Areas.”