Jordan Watch: The limits to press freedom in the Arab World

The miserable statement for regulating Arab satellite media announced by the Arab information ministers at their "exceptional" recent meeting in Cairo caused a wave of negative reactions from many journalists, intellectuals and human rights institutions and media organizations in the Arab world. This united refusal of the document provided an ironic model for the Arab writers and journalists being unanimous in their belief in freedom of expression, although most of them do not hesitate in accusing their colleagues who express different opinions with blasphemy calling for their silence at best, while keeping all options open in the worst of conditions!

Of course the official Arab statement is a scandal in content, and a condemnation of the official Arab system of collective thinking, which sometimes become epidemic in a collective tyranny. This is strange considering that some Arab states have legislation and regulations relatively advanced in the field of information and freedom of expression, particularly Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Jordan, but collective Arab thinking is usually more repressive!

Some considered that the target of this statement were some satellite channels, and others identified Al Jazeera TV by name, which helped the station to promote itself again as a model of freedom of the Arab media.

But this attack on the official Arab statement ignored the urgent need to discuss the limits of freedom of expression in the Arab media. There is no absolute freedom of expression, and media must respect certain principles and values

Having said that I am not aspiring to be a Minister of information, but this is at least what we say when we all currently oppose the publishing of cartoon drawings abusive to Prophet Mohammad PBUH in Denmark That, of course, is not freedom of expression as it is an offence to the feelings of millions of Muslims in the world. This is attitude of all Islamic and national movements and the Arab street in addition to the Governments of course which cannot stay silent and need to succumb to public pressures to save political costs.

It is certainly difficult to agree on a reference to regulate freedom of expression. All of the Arab governments, for example, want to silence the voice of critique while some governments allow a measured limit of opposition. The Islamic movements reject any view other than their own, while ultra-national movements call for the rejection of any peace policy in the region. Leftist movements reject liberal policies and traditional Arab thinking refuses social freedoms, the western way. So how can we accept a formula for limits of freedom of expression?

Some Arab satellite channels practice lies in their political coverage such as the news of the training camps for the Hariri movement in Jordan.There is a high level of moral decay in the entertainment satellite channels and there is incite and intolerance and sometimes clear calls for murder in some religious satellites. All of this, in fact, exceeds many of the values for freedom of expression.

The global human rights system which is theoretically the best that mankind has ever agreed upon in issues of common principles and values to protect communities has identifies some controls on the freedom of expression. Article 19-2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights indicates that "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right includes freedom to seek different forms of information and ideas, receive and impart to others regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art or any other media of his choice ", but Article 19-3 places some controls by saying that" entails the exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article and the special duties and responsibilities. and may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary for the respect of human or reputations of others, and the protection of national security or public order or public health or morals. Article 20 of the same states that "any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law". This discrimination and hostility does unfortunately exist in abundance and Arab media.

We need to treat the disease we have in Arab media, but certainly not as prescribed by Arab information ministers.