Publications
JordanThe Amman Center for Human Rights Studies
releases report on “media freedoms in the Arab countries” For the first half of 2007
30 July 07
A total of 35 Iraqi media have been workers killed and 30 media workers in the West Bank Gaza Strip have been assaulted
A report on media freedoms in the Arab countries for the first half of 2007 reveals that 35 journalists in Iraq have been killed and more than 30 Palestinian and foreign journalists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were assaulted.
The report, prepared by the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS), monitored the freedom of the press and the assault on journalists in 18 Arab countries. It recorded, with the exception of Iraq and Palestine, that there were 23 arrests, 19 cases where journalists were punished by being prohibited from writing and closure of newspapers.
The report also reveals 15 cases of assault and harassment of journalists when they were performing their professional duties. seven cases of seizure and closure of newspapers and independent media institutions. The report also reveals; seven cases of threats made to journalists, three cases of official payment of fines as a consequence of publication, seven cases of imprisonment, and finally eight cases of subpoena of journalists to court.
Iraq:
In the case of Iraq there is high rate of killing of journalists. In fact, 35 Iraqi journalists were killed earlier this year. The violations committed against journalism in Iraq is divided into three categories, In the report i.e. the assaults by the armed groups, the assaults by the foreign forces, and the violations committed by the Iraqi authorities.
The assaults by the armed groups scored the maximum in these violations as the report recorded nine cases of abduction of journalists, 33 cases of premeditated murder and assassination, six cases of assault and sabotage of the media institutions, six cases of failed assassination attempts of journalists, and one threatening attempt.
As for the violations committed by the foreign military forces in Iraq, the report reveals two cases of storming, two cases of murder and one case of ban on publication.
Palestine:
On the issue of Palestine, 34 violations of the media freedoms took place and all of them were committed by the Israeli occupation authorities. These are as follows: eight injuries, six arrests, four cases of shooting, 15 assaults on Palestinian and foreign journalists, and one case of prohibition of publication.
The report documented 27 violations committed by the armed groups and the Palestinian authority as follows: three cases of abduction of foreign journalists, two cases of threats, two cases of murder, 18 cases of assault on journalists and press institutions, and two cases of abduction of Palestinian journalists.
The report’s team tried to identify the direct and indirect political, social and cultural reasons, which led to these cases which were recorded in the report as violations.
The report is part of the preparations made by the ACHRS to complete its third annual report on the media freedoms in the Arab countries. The introductory remarks of the biannual report states that the process of producing this report and preparing it for publication has been approved after control and monitoring the most prominent violations committed against the press and media whether Arab or foreign in the Arab countries.
ACHRS President Dr Nizam Assaf noted that the report used a general approach in monitoring and also used the archives of media freedoms violations. Its focus is on the type and nature of the violations and the geographic and political environment, which led to the rise of these violations. There was also a focus on details from many stories of media freedoms violations in order to satisfy the curiosity of the scholars of media freedoms in the Arab World while taking into consideration the type and uniqueness of the issues of violations which differ from one Arab country to another.
The ACHRS called on all scholars and observers to give their remarks and views on this modest effort for the purpose of enhancing the report and averting the mistakes which might have been made.
