Recently in Free Press Category
Laila Lalami speaks on NPR about the importance of maintaining artistic integrity in the creative process, even if the demands of governments or the marketplace force one to make compromises after a work is completed.
It was a refreshing surprise to see my local Congressman, Chris Van Hollen, come out in support of exiled Moroccan journalist Aboubakr Jamai. The Committee to Protect Journalists quoted Van Hollen in a press release deploring the limiting of press freedom in Morocco.
Al Jazeera reports that a Moroccan Court of Appeals has handed down only slightly reduced sentences for reporter Mustapha Hurmatallah and editor Abderrahim Ariri of Al Watan Alaan. The pair were originally charged for publishing allegedly secret information related to heightened government security in response to an anticipated Al Qaeda attack. At present Hurmatallah faces seven months in jail, and Ariri a five month suspended sentence; both are being assessed 1,000 dirham fines.
In general, in a free society the dissemination of information by the press is not subject to criminal sanctions. (Illegal dissemination of information by a member of the government or armed forces is another matter.) For a narrow range of offenses -- primarily libel and slander -- the press like anyone else should be at least theoretically subject to monetary penalties, but in the United States even these are very unlikely to be assessed for defamation of any public figure (George Bush included). (The United States is ranked 53rd on Reporters Without Borders' ranking of countries by the freedom of their press; Morocco is 97.)
Morocco will never be a free society so long as journalists are being put in jail for doing their jobs.
The two journalists from the weekly newspaper Al Watan Al An, Mustafa Hormatallah and publisher Abderrahim Ariri were convicted by a criminal court in Casablanca for "concealing items derived from a crime."VOA News. The conviction of two journalists for apparently violating Morocco's version of the Official Secrets Act, is the kind of prosecution that before the Bush Administration would have been laughable in the United States. Ironically, it would appear that, with its support for secret detentions and torture, the Bush Administration's effect on press freedom and human rights in Morocco has been generally malign at a time when the Kingdom has become more liberal generally.
Other than the fact that I deplore the suppression of TelQuel and NIchane and the arrest of editor Ahmed Benchemsi, I am too depressed to say much. For a comprehensive description of this latest outrage to freedom of the press in Morocco, see Eatbees.
The Morocco Report calls upon the Blogoma to rise up in protest of Morocco's decision to block access to YouTube, joining the likes of China, Syria, and Iran as Internet censors. Fortunately, an attack on the Internet is often defeated by the Internet itself, and there are a number of suggestions online for circumventing such censorship: see for example, Blogspot Blogs Banned in India and How to Access Blocked Sites. Unfortunately, since I am not in Morocco, I cannot personally verify whether any of these methods work, although I would certainly appreciate feedback from anyone who tries them.
Sexual Threats Stifle Some Female Bloggers - washingtonpost.com
The Washington Post today ran a story on women bloggers being targeted with harassment and threats of violence:
As women gain visibility in the blogosphere, they are targets of sexual harassment and threats. Men are harassed too, and lack of civility is an abiding problem on the Web. But women, who make up about half the online community, are singled out in more starkly sexually threatening terms -- a trend that was first evident in chat rooms in the early 1990s and is now moving to the blogosphere, experts and bloggers said.
Beyond the obvious revulsion against threats of sexual violence against anyone, there are several additional reasons why this story is particularly disturbing. Not only are many of the attacks quite graphic, but also the perpetrators are often able to remain anonymous on the Internet. While one's first sympathies go to the victims, the consequences for the blogosphere are also likely to be severe. I would venture to say that a majority of the high quality blogs that I read regularly are written by women, and for women in the Maghreb the Internet seems to have been a particularly liberating opportunity for public expression. It would be a shame for the criminal actions of a few sociopaths to shut down access to free expression on the Internet for over half of the population. Finally, if my daughters want to blog when they get older, I want them to be able to do so without fear.
Censorship’s New Clothes - New York Times
Laila Lalami has a courageous op-ed piece in today's New York Times defending the Moroccan magazines Nichane and Le Journal Hebdomadaire, the latest victims of a new wave of censorship in the Kingdom aimed at placating Islamist sentiment.
The Morocco Report: Aboubakr Jamai Resigns, Cites Unpayable Fine
Morocco Report has a good background and analysis piece on the resignation of publisher Aboubakir Jamai from the leadership of Le Journal Hebdomadaire, one of Morocco's leading magazines. Crushed under the burden of a fine in the neighborhood of $350,000, Jamai is resigning before the government starts to seize the magazine's assets, and he is rumored to be contemplating exile.
To my mind, crushing an independent press is not the best way for the Moroccan government to counter the threat of impending Islamic radicalization. In the end, education, literacy, and the free exchange of ideas is going to be the best bulwark against fundamentalism of any stripe. One is reminded of Thomas More's comment in Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, that if you cut down all of the laws to get at the devil, then in the end there will be nothing between the devil and you. Then again, More was ultimately no favorite of the King.
Reporters sans fronti鑽es - Morocco
Reporters Without Borders on the Nichane sentence.
Laila Lalami | Nichane: Update
Laila Lalami weighs in on the Nichane judgment, which despite being less than the penalty sought, she characterizes as a "Sword of Damocles" over the journalists' heads. One misstep, and they could be subject to jail time. As a strategy by the palace for dealing with Islamists, she deems it a failure, a strategy more likely to encourage them than not.
The Morocco Report: Nichane Journalists Given Three Year Suspended Sentence
Morocco Report appears to break the news in the English blogosphere of the sentencing of the Nichane journalists:
Nichane editor Driss Ksikes and journalist Sanae Al-Aji were each handed a three year suspended sentence today for having published an article considered "defamation to Islam."In addition to the suspended sentence, the magazine was banned for two months and fined 80,000 Moroccan dirhams (about $9,320 USD).
Although the sentence is lighter than that sought by the prosecutor, it is a grim portent for freedom of the press when journalists are prosecuted for reprinting popular jokes.
See also Larbi (French) and the usual brisk commentary. As one commentator points out, the real battle now is to change the press law, which dictates imprisonment over expressions of opinion.
Update: Eatbees and View from Fez have further analysis; Morocco Report says that a change in the press law may be in the offing.
Nadia's Blog (French) has a scathing description of the opening of the trial of the magazine NIchane for offending public morals by reprinting popular jokes. Nadia reports that the presiding judge played a role more reminiscent of a parent scolding children than a magistrate upholding the law. Not only does her account evoke the bias in the proceeding, but it also suggests that the majesty of the law has been forsaken for popular prejudice and political games. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand what is going on in the Nichane affair, and brava to Nadia for her courage in reporting it!
His Excellency Aziz Mekouar
Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco
1601 21st Street, NW
Washington DC 20009, USA
Tel No : (202) 462-7979 Fax No : (202) 265-0161
Americans disappointed in Morocco's recent actions toward Nichane and Le Journal Hebdomadaire may want to drop a note to Morocco's Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Aziz Mekouar. It goes without saying that the most persuasive letter is one that is respectful of the Ambassador and the government and calmly reasoned.
Freedom of the press is a value that Americans cherish and respect in others, and one that they would like to see observed by their longtime friends in Morocco. Moreover, freedom of the press supports a healthy and stable civic society and serves to counteract extremism of every kind. Freedom of the press is not a threat to Islam, which can and will be vigorously defended in the press by Muslims and others. For these reasons, we ask that Morocco reconsider its recent actions limiting freedom of the press through the prosecution of Nichane and Le Journal Hebdomadaire.
Eatbees has a timely but grim reflection on the likely sentence awaiting Nichane journalists Sanaa El Aji and Driss Ksikes for having the temerity to publish some popular jokes that happened to mention God and the Prophet.
Eatbees also poses the following very insightful conundrum: The monarchy appears to be taking harsh measures against Nichane in order to preempt popular Islamist sentiment. The Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD), however, like all legal parties in Morocco, is subordinate to the king. So why do the monarchy and the political classes seem to be so panicked over the possibility of a PJD electoral victory? (Not that I think this would be a good thing, but thwarting it might be worse.)
A better approach, it would seem, would be to uphold the freedom of the press and basic civil liberties and allow the citizenry to vote freely for whom they prefer. A naive policy in the short run perhaps, but a wiser one in the long term.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports bad news all around for the Moroccan press. First, CPJ states that staff members at banned magazine Nichane have received death threats:
Benchemsi told CPJ that staff at Nichane had received death threats via phone and e-mail since the government made the charges against the publication. He said that the religious jokes involved God, angels and prophets as characters, but did not make fun of them. He added that Nichane staff did not write any of the jokes.
Second, CPJ also reports that Le Journal Hebdomadaire may close as a result of an unprecedented 3 million dirham damages award for alleged defamation in reporting on the Western Sahara. CPJ stated that Belgian journalist Claude Moniquet sued after Le Journal reported that his think tank's report on the Western Sahara was "guided by" the Moroccan government. Le Journal was denied the opportunity to introduce expert witnesses who would have testified that a report on the Western Sahara by Moniquet's think tank closely paralleled the government's position.
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Blank Post is a protest against the suppression of blogs by the Tunisian government. Bloggers are asked to participate by posting a blank post and nothing else for 24 hours on December 25, 2006. |
Merci a Mon Massir pour le lien.
Le Monde.fr : Maroc: Diffusion interdite d'un hebdomadaire pour atteinte à l'islam
The Palace Crackdown
Le Monde reports that the Moroccan government has taken a step away from free speech by confiscating an issue of the magazine Nichane ("Straight") for having the temerity to print jokes about "religion, sex, and politics." Most particularly, the Palace deemed the publication to have launched an "attack against Islam" and to have published writings contrary to "public morale and morals." The royal prosecutor has launched an investigation into the publisher and the journalist Sanaa Al Aji.
The American Contrast
Regardless of what idiots like Newt Gingrich believe, the First Amendment is the essential linchpin of American Democracy. Central to the First Amendment are the ideas that the government will not restrict freedom of expression and that the government will not support one religion over another. Obviously, I have not seen the jokes in question, but even if they were of the most extreme and inflammatory sort, they could be published in America without prior restraint. (Even in this dark age, jokes in print are unlikely to be considered "incitement" outside of First Amendment protection.) In this sense, unlike so many others, alas, America is a beacon to the world, and Morocco will not be a true democracy until it adopts similar principles. After all that Islam has survived, it will survive a few jokes.
The Erosion of the American Example
Of course, in the Age of Bush, nothing is straightforward. Now that prosecutors are subpoenaing journalists in the Plame affair, threatening them with prosecution in the AIPAC scandal, and otherwise making noises about prosecuting journalists if they are in receipt of "state secrets, the bloom may be off the First Amendment rose even in America.
Interview With Condoleezza Rice - washingtonpost.com
Condoleezza Rice may be whistling past the graveyard, but she has encouraging words for reform and liberalization in Morocco.
But I think if you go to the Forum for the Future and you see these non-governmental organizations gathered together and being able to sit across the table from the most conservative Arab states like Saudi Arabia all the way out to reforming states like the states of the Gulf and Jordan, it's quite an achievement and I can list the achievements: they have women voting in Kuwait, the beginning of municipal elections in Saudi Arabia; but also if you look at places like Bahrain and Oman and Morocco and Jordan, the reform agenda is alive and well. And what will we say to those people who have staked their future on reform and democracy if somehow this word disappears from American foreign policy? And so to me this is at the core.
I actually agree that the United States should support democracy. I do not think we can do this through secret government, intimidation of the press, invasions, torture, clandestine imprisonments, suspension of habeas corpus, military show trials, and removing jurisdiction from courts. In addition, given the stark realities of the situation in Iraq, which Rice largely seems to play down, it seems hard to believe that the administration of which she is a part will somehow experience a revelation and begin to provide wise leadership on the Israeli-Palestinian issue or even on reform in Morocco.
Yale Daily News - Anti-Muslim posters shatter cultural illusions
Yale junior Altaf Saadi reacts to caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad on the Yale Campus.
But the feelings of safety and comfort evaded me on the morning of Nov. 15, when, walking out of class, I was greeted by a hurried collage of blatantly racist, bigoted caricatures of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It seemed, in those two seconds in which my mind went from the conjugation of the subjunctive in Espanol to the absolute shock of realizing that the tidal wave of anti-Muslim sentiment had hit home, that I was alone in a campus of thousands. Was this really happening? At Yale? Do I really live among and attend classes with students who think this? That a place as forward thinking as Yale would harbor such inconspicuously racist attitudes was appalling to me.
Saadi criticizes the posters not only for misrepresenting the Prophet, but also for their anonymous posting. In a refreshing reaction to the posting, the Muslim Students Association, which Saadi says stressses openness and inclusiveness on compus, is sponsoring an open forum to discuss the posters. Clearly, Saadi recognizes the fundamental truth that the answer to offensive speech is not suppresssion or censorship but more speech. And yes, I think the Daily News should have run a picture of the offending posters so that its readings could (a) see what kind of material was being posted on their campus, and (b) judge for themselves the degree of its offensiveness.
MoorishGirl on how the Bush administration pays lip service to free speech at home, but not in Arab allies in the "war on terror."
Muslim Crowds Decry Cartoons, Violent Retort
Thousands of Muslims in London and other European cities rallied peacefully Saturday to condemn both published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad and the violent reactions to them.
But the Iranians are still fulminating.
THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Good article on Moroccan reaction to cartoons.
The View from Fez points to an excellent article in Salon on Moroccan reaction to the Danish cartoons: widely indignant but generally restrained.
Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: Jesus on Fox
So Fox won't portray tame images of Muhammad, but they will broadcast "Passion of the Christ II: Crucify This."
Andrew Sullivan on cartoon double standards.
Bush Shifts on Muslim Protests
A few hours earlier, at a White House ceremony with Jordan's King Abdullah, President Bush rejected the violence but not the cartoons that incited bloody protests from Afghanistan to Denmark, where the drawings first appeared. "We reject violence as a way to express discontent with what may be printed in a free press," Bush said.
Reporters sans fronti�res - Morocco
A 300-person demonstration in Casablanca expressed support for the weekly magazine TelQuel, which is threatened with extinction as a result of crippling libel judgments, widely believed to be excessive.
I have belatedly discovered that Tel Quel magazine published in February an article (fr) describing the nascent Moroccan blogging phenomenon as a sign of the liberalization of Moroccan society, but also lamenting the lack of such internationally known blogging figures as Salam Pax, who blogged the Gulf War. Rachid Jankari, who is featured in the article, has a colloquy (fr) critiquing it, as well as extensive commentary on Moroccan blogging in general.
MoorishGirl points to the likely shutdown of Tel Quel magazine as a result of a satirical article that has resulted in a massive libel judgment with a striking lack of due process. The on-line petition on behalf of the magazine translates roughly as follows:
As a result of an expedited defamation lawsuit, the president of Tel Quel Ahmed R. Benchemsi and his news chief Karim Boukhari were sentenced, without their lawyer even having a chance to speak, to two months suspended sentence in prison, and a fine of 1,050,000 DH. The two journalists have appealed.The prison sentence and exorbitant fine constitute, without doubt, a "warning" from the powers that be with respect to Tel Quel, which is being "punished" for its editorial independence. This tactic inaugurates a new method for muzzling the press: strangle it gradually by disproportionate fines, imposed through sham trials. Today Tel Quel, tomorrow the entire Moroccan free press is threatened.
The undersigned strongly denounce any attack, even indirect, on freedom of the press, and demand justice for Tel Quel in an appeal that is fair and transparent.
allAfrica.com: Morocco: Appeals Court Upholds Ten-Year Professional Ban On Journalist Ali Lmrabet
[Reporters Sans Frontières] has condemned "Morocco's resolve to silence Ali Lmrabet" after an appeals court upheld a ten-year ban on his working as a journalist. The organisation called the sentence "a cowardly move, demonstrating the limits of press freedom in Morocco."
RSF has also published an annual report on Morocco and one on the United States.
"I just heard that Ali Lamrabet was pardoned today, along with several other journalists. I would have preferred for the courts to rectify his situation rather than the king, but at this point I'm too thrilled by the news of his release to be cynical."
Editor Ali Lmrabet Ends Hunger Strike "On 23 June 2003, Ali Lmrabet ended his 47-day hunger strike. The end of his hunger strike was announced by Prince Moulay Hicham al-Alaouiwho had visited the editor that day. Ali Lmrabet had also beenvisited on 23 June by Morocco's official human rights body, the HumanRights Advisory Board."
[via AllAfrica News: Morocco]
This is a rough translation of the comments of jailed journalist Ali Mrabet, who is on a hunger strike after having been sentenced to three years in prison, from Mohcen Blog.
"I am laughing under a cloak, pardon me, a curtain: I am in a hospital bed -- .. I laugh when I remember the tone of the prosecutor when he asked that I be given the maximum sentence. 'Lmrabet should feel the full weight of the law because he has committed a crime of extreme gravity. . .' It's true. What I did was very serious. I criminally mocked our good old regime. I ridiculed in an irresponsible manner our hypocritical culture and the opportunists in our ruling class. . .
Continue reading Dying of Laughter.
Four Journalists Held for More Than 10 Days, Face Prison Terms "RSF has urged the authorities to explain why they are holding four journalists who were originally detained under ananti-terrorism law, but reportedly will now be prosecuted under thepress law and face prison terms."
[via AllAfrica News: Morocco]
The crackdown on reporters is a disturbing turn of events in a regime that has been generally credited with being more liberal than that of the current king's father, Hassan II.
Zawya.com | arab business and finance
A Moroccan appeals court on Tuesday sentenced journalist Ali Lmrabet to three years in jail and backed a previous court order shutting down his two satirical publications on charges of insulting the king, judicial sources said.
Lmrabet, who has been on a hunger strike since May 6, was originally sentenced to a four-year prison term almost a month ago for insulting King Mohammed VI and offending the monarchy and Morocco's territorial integrity.
Committee to Protect Journalists Delegation Meets With Ambassador
AllAfrica News: Morocco: "A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) met withMoroccan ambassador to the United States, Aziz Mekouar, inWashington, D.C., today to express its deep concern about the recent imprisonment of two Moroccan editors and to call for their immediate release."
allAfrica.com -- Morocco: Committee to Protect Journalists Delegation Meets With Ambassador
"Morocco's press is at a critical point. No matter how unsettled the government feels by criticism, it must remain true to its stated commitments to a free press," said CPJ board member Friedman. "The imprisonment of these editors seriously jeopardizes Morocco's reputation as a country that tolerates a more open press than its neighbors."
allAfrica.com -- Morocco: Newspaper Editor Held Under New Anti-Terrorism Law
RSF has protested over the detention of Mustapha Alaoui, managing editor of the Arabic-language weekly "Al Ousboue". He has been held under a new anti-terrorism law since 5 June 2003 for publishing a letter from a hitherto unknown group claiming responsibility for three of the five bombings in Casablanca on 16 May.
allAfrica.com -- Morocco: Newspaper Editor Remains Imprisoned Following Appeals Court Decision
"One would have hoped the Moroccan justice system would ease the situation and show clemency by ordering Lmrabet's provisional release," RSF Secretary-General Robert M�nard said. "Instead, its inflexibility seems to be confirming the fears of those who say that Lmrabet's imprisonment has sounded the death knell for the independent press." M�nard added, "People thought King Mohammed VI's Morocco was on the road to democracy, but they were clearly mistaken."
allAfrica.com -- Morocco: WPFC Urges Release of Publisher
Lmrabet's case, literally, adds insult to injury because he was charged with Morocco's insult laws, obsolete pieces of legislation which date back to colonial times and provide a chilling tool for public officials to shield themselves from society's scrutiny.
