“With a lame foot,” Iraq celebrated World Press Freedom Day yesterday, Friday, as advocates of press freedom describe it, due to the hundreds of violations that journalists were exposed to over the past year and the preceding year. While they pointed out that these violations indicate an “aggressive” methodology by the authorities against journalists, they emphasized that the independent authorities and unions were supportive tools for this methodology, pointing out that the lack of legislation that protects journalists and the chaos of freedoms are reasons that limit the ceiling of media freedom in Iraq.
The head of the Association for Defending Freedom of the Press, Mustafa Nasser, said during an interview with “Al Aalem Al Jadeed” that “there is nothing new in the file of press freedom, as the association has recorded an increase in the number of cases of detention, arrest, prosecutions, various harassment, judicial rulings, and arrest orders against journalists.”
Nasser adds, “These violations indicate an aggressive methodology used by the authorities in a blatant manner, sometimes by political parties and influential people, and at other times by instructing the security services to chase journalists in the streets and prevent them from filming, as happened in Basra on orders from the governorate’s police chief.”
He added that “independent bodies and press unions have also emerged as supporting tools for the methodology of intimidation and repression against journalists, and some journalists received penalties of dismissal, transfer, marginalization and exclusion by the heads of some journalistic institutions,” pointing out that “this police methodology contradicts the promises of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani, who pledged Immediately upon assuming power, he will protect media freedom and demarcate democracy and freedoms.”
The Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, had expressed, in a tweet on the “X” platform, yesterday, Friday, his full support for journalists in carrying out their work without restrictions or coercion, “in order for them to carry out their work with complete freedom, in accordance with our constitution, which guarantees public freedoms.”
The head of the Society for Defending Freedom of the Press points out that “these violations indicate the implementation of a methodology aimed at reducing the already low level of freedom of journalistic work, after the ruling forces imposed almost absolute control over all independent bodies and entities whose decisions are guaranteed by the constitution to be independent,” calling for “the restoration of The Publication and Information Court, which was abolished by the higher judiciary on the pretext that it did not have a law, as well as the courts’ commitment to the recommendations of the Judicial Council regarding publishing issues and not considering them as criminal offences.”
Nasser also calls on the House of Representatives to “carry out its tasks in reforming the legal system that protects freedom of journalistic work and adopting a fair law for the right to obtain information. Also the Prime Minister needs to fulfill his promises regarding protecting journalists from the oppression and violence of the security services, holding accountable those who issue orders to suppress journalists according to personal whims, and working seriously to The file to end impunity against perpetrators of violations against journalists.”
In addition, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, during the period from May 2023 until this month, the Association for Defending Press Freedom documented 333 violations against journalists, including detention, arrest, and injuries, as well as raids or storming with an armed attack on journalists’ homes and media headquarters. Cases of detention reached 53 cases, injuries reached 6 cases, armed attacks reached 12 cases, prevention, obstruction and beatings reached 232 cases, lawsuits filed against journalists, 22 cases, and other violations reached 8 cases.
According to the association’s monitoring, last April recorded the highest violations with 57 cases, followed by August 2023 with 47 cases out of the total number of violations during a year. At the governorate level, Baghdad ranked first among the cities that most violated journalists with 66 cases, followed by Erbil with 64 cases, then Basra with 54 cases.
For his part, Ali Abdel Zahra, a member of the Alliance for Defending Freedoms, confirmed during an interview with Al Aalem Al Jadeed that “Iraq celebrates World Press Freedom Day with a lame foot until this moment. After 21 years of democratic experience, we have not seen democracy in work and in dealing with journalists by successive authorities, specifically from 2005 until today.”
Abdel Zahra believes that “this is due to two reasons: The first is the lack of legislation to provide a legal umbrella for press freedoms, including the right to obtain and dispose of information and the Information Crimes Law. To this day, journalists are still exposed to accountability according to the laws of the dictatorial era within the Penal Code and the application of its harsh articles against any journalist who might criticize the corruption of a government or political entity under The clause of insulting the authorities or revealing state secrets if the journalist publishes corruption documents or files.”
In November 2021, the House of Representatives read the draft cybercrime law for the second reading, renewing the confusion surrounding the law that was proposed in the version presented by the Council of Ministers in 2011, and was rejected by the Iraqi street and international organizations, because of the penalties it included that limit freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution.
The member of the Alliance for Defending Freedoms adds, “The other reason is that there is chaos, even today, with the organization of freedoms, which has made politicians and executives prey on journalists. We saw the Minister of Planning how his protectors dealt with journalists a while ago and detained an institution’s staff because they were present in front of him.”
He points out that “freedom of the press and media is absent until today, so we need awareness and real legislation. Yes, there is a law on the right to obtain information proposed in Parliament now, but it is a law that is limited to name only, because its content and materials restrict access to information. Indeed, it does not mention any right for journalists to obtain information and linking the information to those concerned, as the journalist must request information about a corruption file from the same party according to long bureaucratic procedures.”
He concludes that “the proposed laws are emptied of their content, and they are police laws written with a security mentality that does not believe in transparency, so they withhold information from journalists, and not, as they are supposed to, give them their right to access it in accordance with the international agreements signed by Iraq.”
On May 3 of each year, the world celebrates World Press Freedom Day, a day designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to commemorate the adoption of the historic Windhoek Declaration, which took place at a meeting of African journalists on May 3, 1991.
The United Nations dedicates this day to celebrating basic principles, assessing the state of journalism in the world, informing the public of violations of the right to freedom of expression, and recalling the many journalists who faced death or imprisonment in order to carry out their missions of providing the media with daily news.
The Comoros topped the Press Freedom Index in the Arab World for the year 2024, while Iraq ranked low at 169, despite the passage of more than 21 years since the overthrow of the previous totalitarian regime, according to a report issued last year by the international organization “Reporters Without Borders,” and according to the same report, Kuwait ranked 131, Kuwait 140, Saudi Arabia 166, Egypt 170, Bahrain 171, and Syria ranked penultimate (179).
On Press Freedom Day.. Iraq Celebrates a “Lame Foot”
