Umar Cheema
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Umar Cheema () is a journalist and investigative reporter for the
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
i newspaper '' The News''. In 2008, he won a Daniel Pearl Journalism Fellowship, becoming the first Pearl fellow to work at ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''.


Education

Cheema holds a master's degree in mass communication from
Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...
in
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
. He also attended
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
as a Chevening Scholar (
Chevening Scholarship The Chevening Scholarship is an international scholarship, funded by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and partner organizations, that enables foreign students to study at universities in the United Kingdom. History The C ...
), doing M.Sc. in Comparative Politics ( Conflict studies).


Career

Cheema's investigative reporting on sensitive issues of corruption and military interference in politics has made him many powerful enemies. Cheema has contributed to global investigative journalism teams, examining the
Panama Papers The Panama Papers () are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These document ...
,
Paradise Papers The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsche Z ...
,
Pandora Papers The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 ...
, and Swiss Bank disclosures.


Kidnapping

On 4 September 2010, he was abducted, beaten, flogged and sexually assaulted by a group of assailants. They also shaved his head, eyebrows, and mustache. Cheema reported that his attackers asked him if he was trying to discredit the government with his reporting, leading him to believe that they were from Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is the premier Pakistani Intelligence community, intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant t ...
agency.


Aftermath

Following the incident, ''The New York Times'' issued an editorial, calling on the Pakistani government to find out who abducted Mr. Cheema and bring them to justice."
The Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The ''American Journalism ...
echoed the call, describing the attack as "a message sent to all journalists in Pakistan" that must be answered. For his brave journalism and willingness to publicly speak about the attack at risk of his own life, the CPJ awarded Cheema its 2011 International Press Freedom Award, "an annual recognition of courageous journalism". In his acceptance speech, Cheema thanked the group for its "recognition of the bold work Pakistani media is doing". On 14 April 2011, Cheema also received the Tully Center Free Speech Award of
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
. Cheema is the father of a son and a daughter. Adil, his son, was two years old when Cheema was abducted.


See also

*
List of kidnappings The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings. By date * List of kidnappings befo ...
*
List of solved missing person cases Lists of solved missing person cases include: * List of solved missing person cases: pre-1950 * List of solved missing person cases: 1950–1999 * List of solved missing person cases: post-2000 See also

* List of kidnappings * List of murder ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheema, Umar 2010s missing person cases Alumni of the London School of Economics Enforced disappearances in Pakistan Formerly missing Pakistani people Living people Kidnapped Pakistani people Missing person cases in Pakistan Pakistani investigative journalists Pakistani male journalists 1976 births