Actions speak louder than words!

Photo credit: BBC

In the news, authorities officially began implementing the directives of 1^st Vice President Ali Osman Taha to lift direct pre-publication censorship on newspapers.

Taha gave out his orders on Wednesday, effective immediately, but according to the news, officers from the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) banned newspapers from publishing this portion, itself, of the VP’s remarks!

The NISS had previously made a similar move, when they banned newspapers from publishing a statement by the information minister, in which he confirmed there would no longer be any pre-publication censorship on newspapers!

Meanwhile, the National Press and Publications Council, which said it welcomes the government’s decision, delivered the worst possible message when it noted that it understands the circumstances that prompted censorship in the past; as if it wants to justify censorship and leave the door open for it to be reintroduced should similar circumstances occur in future!

In the above respect, we too welcome the decision and consider it an important step in the right direction. But further steps are needed in order to achieve real freedom of press and expression on the ground, and these should include lifting the ongoing publication bans on newspapers such as Al Midan, Al-Tayar and Rai Al-Sha’ab, along with the journalists who are still banned from writing.

Concerned parties had previously demanded a halt to confiscation, suspension of papers and imposing factional censorship, while calling on the aggrieved parties to resort to justice. But these appeals and calls that have been so frequently repeated throughout the past period failed to change conditions, with censorship maintained on and off over the last few years.

Allowing this to go on, in defiance of directives which seem to come from the highest authorities, can only mean that restricting freedom of the press is the government’s undeclared policy, despite any propagandist statements to claim otherwise.

It also signifies that the press does not enjoy sufficient protection by the law, despite the provisions of the Constitution on guaranteeing freedoms.

According to the stipulations of the Naivasha agreement, amendments were required to be introduced on the national security law, so that the mission of the security service is confined to gathering of information, though the government resisted that trend strongly.

Amendment of the national security law therefore remains an outstanding demand, to transfer security service jurisdiction on the press over to the judiciary and the Press Council, being the two parties exclusively concerned with looking into violations of the press.

The Journalists Union is entrusted with the mission of collaborating with the relevant committees in the National Assembly, for formulating legislation that protects the press against confiscation, selective censorship and other forms of injustice to which it is exposed and refers all alleged violations to the judiciary.