On the Freedom of the Press in Saudi Arabia
Daoud Shirian Al-Hayat - 13/09/07//
The press in Saudi Arabia is today experiencing growing freedom, as it has freed itself to a great extent of many political and social constraints and begun to play its role as a popular authority in monitoring the institutions of society through sharp and bold criticism at times. However, local newspapers have received benefits - distinguishing them in some cases from their counterparts in other Arab countries - that might see a reversal, due to the lack of a clear judicial relationship between newspapers and the institutions and individuals making up society.
Thus, from time to time, the press sector in Saudi Arabia encounters measures that harm this important political achievement and create the impression that everything being said about the growing freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia is unsupported by reality. Also, due to this absence of a clear judicial relationship, sometimes prior or after-the-fact censorship is imposed on newspapers. Sometimes they are seized, closed or suspended by administrative decisions that are not based on a judicial verdict, even though these newspapers do not contain items that harm national security, public order or morals. In return, the newspapers carry out their role with freedom, unregulated by publications laws of the type seen in other countries of the world. Items and articles that lack accuracy and objectivity, and sometimes contain absolutely untrue information, are published, exposing the interests of institutions, officials and individuals to harm without judicial verdicts having been issued reflecting the scope of the damage and preserving the material and moral rights of others.
It is true that the publishing and publications system in Saudi Arabia has seen developments in recent years. Along with this improvement has been a consecration of the concept of institutional work in the press. The Association of Saudi Arabian Journalists was established and has not differed in its role and meaning from its counterparts in other states. Moreover, the newspapers themselves have seen a qualitative leap in their management, professionalism and dealing with the publishing industry and readers. However, these achievements continue to lack an independent judicial acknowledgment of their existence.
The Ministry of Information has tried to find a solution to this problem, by forming the "Press Violations Committee" to look into disputes that arise between newspapers and institutions and individuals in society. The committee is made up of four members representing four government bodies - the Ministries of Information, the Interior, Commerce and Justice, and is affiliated with the deputy minister of information. However, this committee has become, in a certain way, part of the system of censorship that the ministry is trying to impose on newspapers, and journalists are trying to end this. Thus, we find little cooperation with this committee in the newspapers, while any measure taken by this committee will reflect negatively on the image of freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia. It is not an independent committee and its members are not judges who are specialized in this domain.
Certainly, the growing freedom being experienced by the Saudi press today reflects the political will that welcomes their existence and their development. However, this political won't be effective without a clear judicial relationship protecting this orientation. Setting up independent courts to deal with disputes that arise between newspapers and society's institutions and individuals will guarantee protection for the rights of institutions and individuals from infringements by newspapers, while ensuring that the image of the political regime is not distorted.
The issuing of a judicial verdict against a writer or newspaper will not be a piece of news that harms the image of the political regime. Every day, the media is full of news about judicial verdicts against newspapers and journalists in many parts of the world, but no one is talking about the role of the political regime, as is the case today in Saudi Arabia, in which a routine news item in one country into a huge thing, and becomes an occasion to return to spreading the classic, unjust image of Saudi Arabia, its regime and its laws, and without coming after a judicial verdict issued by an independent court.
Meanwhile, establishing independent courts to regulate the relationship between newspapers and society will help in the development of the content and professionalism of newspapers. Newspapers will not publish articles or items without confirming their accuracy; they'll be aware of the legal consequences if they act as slackly as they do today and will rely on lawyers to review the topics that are particularly sensitive. Perhaps those who follow the Arab press that has appeared in European states are aware that the clear legal relationship between newspapers and society has an impact on their professionalism, the soundness of the written language, and the caution exercised in publishing news, investigations, or articles dealing with the lives of people and the work of financial and commercial institutions, without this affecting their freedom.
Certainly, the Saudi press has taken the path over the last 70 years in which freedom of expression has flourished. However, these periods did not last long, due to the lack of accumulated experience and legal protection. The freedom the press in Saudi Arabia is seeing today is a candidate for the same fate, unless it is crowned by an independent judicial system, which will protect it and protect people from its exploitation.
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