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Iraqi Kurdistan parliament approves
restrictive press bill
14.12.2007
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December
14, 2007
New York, -- The Committee to Protect
Journalists is deeply concerned about a restrictive
new press bill approved on Tuesday by the Kurdistan
Regional Government’s (KRG’s) parliament.
The bill, which awaits approval of the KRG President
Masoud Barzani before becoming law, has yet to be
made public; however Tuesday’s parliamentary session
was broadcast live on local Kurdish television.
Journalists who viewed the parliamentary session and
later spoke with lawmakers told CPJ that the new
bill significantly increases financial penalties
from a draft version of the law that had been on the
table in recent months, and imposes other new
restrictions. The new law stipulates fines of up to
around 10 million Iraqi dinars (US$8,200) for
journalists found guilty of a number of vague
offenses such disturbing security, spreading fear,www.ekurd.net
or encouraging
terrorism. (Some news reports said that fines could
reach 20 million Iraqi dinars for newspapers.)
The older version of the bill prescribed fines of
between 1 and 2 million dinars (US$800 and $1,600)
for similarly vague offenses.
Iraqi Kurdish journalists also told CPJ that the new
bill contained other restrictive provisions not
contained in the previous draft, including
amendments that would allow the government to
suspend newspapers and a requirement that editors in
chief be members of the Kurdistan Journalists’
Syndicate (KJS). Journalists also said the law would
allow members of the press to be tried for criminal
offenses under other Iraqi laws that allow for
imprisonment.
The reported provisions allowing newspaper
suspensions, mandatory membership in the KJS, and
the possibility of imprisonment for journalists are
new and contradict the statements of several Kurdish
officials and parliamentarians to CPJ about their
desire to draft a progressive press law that differs
from harsh media laws that predominate in the
region.
“The secrecy surrounding this bill is deeply
disturbing, and reports that Kurdish officials have
taken steps to push through a significantly harsher
bill raises further alarm,” said CPJ Executive
Director Joel Simon. “Officials assured CPJ that the
press law would not hinder the work of the media,
but the new bill is even worse than the old one.
President Barzani should not sign it.”
Kurdish lawmakers and KJS officials noted that
details of the bill have yet to be made public and
said that Barzani can still send the bill back to
parliament for further discussion. KJS head Farhad
Awni said he met with officials from Barzani’s
office today to express his concern.
In meetings with KRG officials in Erbil in November,
CPJ expressed concerns about the earlier draft of
the bill with lower fines, noting that even those
penalties could be used to economically debilitate
newspapers. Given the tenuous financial and
political situation of independent papers—several
operate at losses or barely break even—the bill’s
elastic language could be exploited by
pro-government judges to put critical newspapers out
of business.
The media in Iraq’s Kurdistan region are dominated
by Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party and Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan,www.ekurd.net
the region’s main
political parties. However, several outspoken
independent and semi-independent newspapers—in
addition to online news sites—have emerged over the
last several years, providing critical coverage of
local politics and government.
While the margin to criticize is relatively wide in
the independent press, a CPJ mission to Erbil in
Sulaimaniyah in October and November found a rising
number of physical attacks on the press, arbitrary
detentions of reporters by security forces, and the
use of the courts to harass journalists. Those
targeted often harshly criticize local officials,
discuss alleged high-level corruption, or write
about the parties’ top leadership. The CPJ
delegation raised particular alarm about beatings
and abductions carried out by men wearing
military-style uniforms and the press law as well as
politicized lawsuits against outspoken newspapers.
cpj org
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