After Pakistani journalist Umar Cheema was kidnapped, tortured, dumped and blindfolded outside of Islamabad, Pakistan, for writing critical articles about the government, he had a choice to make: stay silent or share his story.

Cheema’s captors warned him that if he spoke to the media, he would be picked up and tortured again, this time more severely. But Cheema, dedicated to a free press in Pakistan, knew he had to speak.

‘I told myself that speaking up is the only option,’ Cheema said. ‘Staying silent is not an option for me.’

Cheema told students his story and insights on the importance of a free press Thursday night in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Cheema received the Tully Free Speech Award at Syracuse University seven months after his Sept. 4, 2010, abduction and the following Pakistani media frenzy.

Cheema was selected from 11 nominees by a committee of SU students and faculty, including Joel Kaplan, associate dean of professional graduate studies in Newhouse, and Roy Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech and a professor of communications law and journalism. Past award winners include captured and tortured Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho and Zimbabwean journalist Frank Chikowore, who was jailed by the government for his writings.

The committee looks to award someone who has faced challenges to exercise the right to free speech, Kaplan said.

When Cheema began his journalism career in Pakistan a decade ago, he was told how hard it would be, but he didn’t believe it, he said.

Cheema usually covers politics and security issues, work other people are generally scared of doing, he said. He writes for the influential newspaper The News, which has faced major trials from the government and has been financially punished by multiple regimes, Cheema said.

In 2004, Cheema was purposefully run over by a car, resulting in multiple fractures in his left leg that left him unable to jog until just recently, though the incident did not deter him from his work, he said.

‘I want to do something for my people,’ Cheema said. ‘I feel that my efforts have brought some changes. There is a change of mind taking place among the ruling elite, and they realize they are being exposed by a journalist like me and others, so I feel satisfied.’

Cheema described Sept. 4, 2010, as the day his freedom was robbed. He was walking 10 minutes from home at about 3 a.m. after a night out with friends when two cars cornered him. Several people got out, introduced themselves as members of the Islamabad police, and told Cheema he had to come with them. They handcuffed him behind his back, blindfolded him and threw him into the car.

They brought him to a home in an abandoned area, where he was taken to a room and stripped naked. They tortured him with a long piece of leather and a wooden rod, condemning his writing, and later discussed molesting him, at which point Cheema asked for mercy. They shaved his head and eyebrows and forced him to make a video and pose for objectionable photos, Cheema said.

When it was over, one of the torturers told Cheema, ‘Now the torture inflicted on your body will go on for life, and you will remember it.’ They again blindfolded and handcuffed him and dropped him off at his car an hour outside Islamabad. After warning him not to tell anyone, they sped away.

‘I removed the clothes on my face and you know that it was after eight hours, I saw the sunshine, and it was very pleasant,’ Cheema said.

Cheema immediately drove to his editor’s home, where he told her everything, and the story was publicized ‘loud and clear,’ Cheema said. There was a great public outcry, and the prime minister personally called him to condemn the act.

Though a criminal and judicial investigation was put in place, no one has been caught or accused. Cheema said he believes it was the act of a government intelligence agency to try and end his journalism career, he said.

Imran Khalid, a doctoral student in environmental policy at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, is originally from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and thanked Cheema for his decision to speak out.

‘Pakistan hasn’t had a free media for a long time, and it’s been instrumental in bringing democracy back to Pakistan,’ Khalid said. ‘Pakistan is a difficult country to work in, and it’s people like him who are going to make a difference if Pakistan moves forward.’

Gutterman, director of the Tully Center, said it’s one thing to hear about free speech in a classroom and another to actually see someone who faces challenges just by showing up to work every day.

‘Reporters like Umar really face significant threats and challenges, and our students and their citizens need to recognize that,’ Gutterman said.

Though Cheema lives in fear and has placed himself under voluntary house arrest for safety reasons, he still writes for The News and believes he is meant for the journalism profession.

‘No matter what kind of experience I have had,’ Cheema said, ‘it is my strong determination to continue doing what I am doing.’

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Published on April 17, 2011 at 12:00 pm