Is Yemen committed to media freedom? [Archives:2005/834/Opinion]

Mohammed Hatem Al-Qadhi
[email protected]
Last week, the Ministry of Information shocked us as media professionals by presenting a draft law for press and publication, claiming that it would ensure more freedom for journalists as well as more room to operate freely.

This is fine, but should'n the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) have been a part of the team conducting the amendments on the law? The YJS represents the journalists and therefore should be a main partner in this process.

I remember when the Danish took the initiative last year to develop a comprehensive media program, and all hell broke loose. The government was not happy about the possibility of a professional media that did not fall in line with its interests. The government tried to hamper this effort by creating a problem for the Danish delegation in Taiz, which was harassed by the Political Security Office. The government believed that the Danish were coming to establish a union for private publishers, providing them with a printing press. This was infact completely false.

The YJS was completely ignored when it came to a very critical issue like the draft law. We blame the YJS for not taking the initiative put last year by some journalists that it should present a draft law that voices the concerns of journalists and meets their ambition of having a more liberal law. However, this does not justify the behavior of the Information Ministry, which has worked in secret on the law for journalists who were kept in the dark.

I do not really have any explanation for such silly behavior by the government at a time where calls for reform are gathering throughout the Arab world. Instead of showing more commitments to the world that it respects human rights and the freedom of the media, our government has shown more hostility towards the media by hassling journalists in various ways. Our government has forgotten that several international declarations have been issued from Sana'a, indicating Yemen's commitments to freedom of media, human rights and other democratic values. The case of the imprisonment of our colleague Abdulkareem al-Khaiwani is a concrete example of tendencies to harass the media. Journalists were very happy when President Ali Abdullah Saleh specifically demanded in June 2004 the removal of the clause allowing the imprisonment of journalists.

However, contrary to the hopes of the media community, the situation has deteriorated, as allegations and prosecutions of publishers, editors and journalists increased in the second half of last year, making it the worst year for press freedom in Yemen since the unification in 1990.

Now, the Ministry of Information announces that the law will open the scope for further freedom for media professionals. I do not believe that it will as government officials always make empty promises. By law, the publication of “false information that threatens public order or the public interest” or “false stories intended to damage Arab and friendly countries or their relations with Yemen” is punishable by fines and sentences of up to five years in jail. Journalists are even prosecuted not in accordance with the Law No. 25 of 1990 for Press and Publication, but according to the Penal Code, deeming them criminals. The current law is full of other shortcomings that constitute a major hindrance for the press to operate freely. However, the government wants more and more restrictions in the amended law.

Journalists should not keep quite and wait for the government to make a new law. They should make a lot of fuss about the government's intentions to hinder media freedom. They should be satisfied with any amendments to the law, including freedom of electronic media. The state monopoly over radio and television should come to an end because media ownership in a real democratic society should be open to everybody.

Yemen committed itself to the Sana'a Declaration of 1995, concerning the freedom of electronic media. The government used to take the law as an excuse for not allowing private radio and television stations to operate, claiming there is no way to regulate such matters. But, as long as the law will be amended, new articles about free electronic media should be added. Free media is one of the indispensable elements of a democracy. A society can never be democratic without a functioning, free media.
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