ISLAMABAD, May 2: The Human Rights Cell, Pakistan People's Party, has apprised the secretary-general, Commonwealth, Don Mckinnon, about the plight of journalists in Pakistan.

In charge of the Human Rights Cell MNA Fauzia Wahab, in a letter, informed the secretary-general that journalists were being harassed and their rights abused. She mentioned the suffering of Sami Yousufzai, a stringer for Newsweek magazine, who was arrested in Bannu in the NWFP.

In her letter, Ms Wahab wrote, "Sami Yousufzai was detained while travelling by car with another American freelance journalist on April 21. Yousufzai, American journalist Eliza Griswold and driver Mohammed Salim were arrested and taken away separately for questioning.

As Ms Griswold is a US citizen and the government can hardly afford to upset the Bush administration, she was released after questioning. But the hapless Pakistanis, without protection of either the parliament or the judiciary, are still kept behind the bars.