Iraq Media Developments

The pardon came a day after an appeals court had upheld the year-long prison sentence for Khaiwani, the editor-in-chief of the opposition paper Al-Shoura. Only hours before, Human Rights Minister Amat Al-Alim Al-Soswa called on the government to release Khaiwani.

Many press freedom groups and diplomats have pressured Yemen's government to remove some of its 1990 media law's harsher restriction, including provisions for imprisoning journalists.

Journalists said told the English-language newspaper The Yemen Observer they were confused about the pardon, pointing out that although ministers, a parliamentary report and President Ali Abdullah Saleh have called for the abolition of prison sentences for journalists, nothing has changed. Journalists also said 2004 was a black year for the press, and they fear the situation will deteriorate with a new media law, although the Ministry of Information has not yet released the text of the draft law.

At the end of February, journalists claimed they faced increased pressure from the government, according to The Yemen Observer. "Never before has press freedom in Yemen been so threatened," a March 5 article stated, charging that in February, "as many as 16 journalists were summoned to face a flurry of lawsuits filed against them."

Despite calls to decrease journalist imprisonment, journalists said they expect the worst from the new draft, pointing to the numerous arrests, detentions and lawsuits against journalists. "The new law will open the gates and allow laws that multiply penalties against journalists," former YJS Abdul-Bari Haher said at the roundtable. For this reason, the YJS leadership is drafting its own law, which it claims will be the best in the region.

The Minister of Information Hussein Dhaifallah Al-Awadi told AFP that the new media law would remove provisions that allow for jail sentences of up to a year for journalists criticizing the head of state, but that is only one of several provisions allowing journalist imprisonment.

Yemen's media law, “Law No. 25 of 1990 for Press and Publications,” regulates only the print media and provides no provisions for decentralization of the broadcast media. Yemen has no privately owned local TV or radio stations.

International organizations consider Yemen's 1990 law to be one of the best in the Middle East region, particularly on paper. A 2003 report on Middle East and Maghreb media by Internews and the Stanhope Centre said Yemen's 1990 law was considered “liberal by regional standards,” but pointed to significant content restrictions. The law prohibits, among other things, the spread of ideas “contrary to the principles of the Yemeni Revolution, prejudicial to national unity or distorting the image of the Yemeni, Arab or Islamic heritage.” Such restrictions have been the basis of several lawsuits.

The law also provides for fines and up to five years' imprisonment for the publication of “false information that threatens the public order or the public interest” and “false stories intended to damage Arab and friendly countries or their relations with Yemen.” Criticizing the president is also outlawed.

Even removal of outright prison terms in the law may not help journalists stay out of jail, said Former editor-in-chief of the English-language newspaper The Yemen Times Walid Al-Saqqaf. He said that unless a new law limits fines on journalists and newspapers, journalists could still end up in jail if they are unable to pay the fines.

In December 2003 the Ministry of Information proposed a new draft law, prompting an outcry from many media outlets and press-freedom watchdog groups. An Arab Press Freedom Watch bulletin noted two damaging articles: One article required all journalists to be members of the Syndicate in order to work legally. Another article gave 3 percent of a newspaper's advertising revenue to the Syndicate. The latter article was aimed specifically at privately owned newspapers, as political party and governmental newspapers rely less on advertising revenue. There was no change to the provisions on journalist imprisonment. Ultimately, however, the government did not adopt the new law.

An editor at the daily Arabic-language newspaper Al-Ayyam, who asked to remain anonymous, said he continues to oppose these 2003 amendments and any other similar amendments. This editor and other journalists said the government has meddled in YJS activities, so even a YJS-drafted law could be detrimental to press freedom if it gives such power to the union could prove disastrous.

“These restrictions would make [the Syndicate] a partner in my newspaper. The next thing you know, they'll be at my gates, auditing my accounts. That will never happen, even if we have to go to court,” the Al-Ayyam editor said.