Bahrain is at a crossroads.This small island state of
less that 700 sq km has seen significant progress in
respect for human rights, including press freedom,
since Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa took over
as emir on his father’s death in 1999, but a lot
remains to be done. At the same time, the regional
environment is fraught.The war in Iraq and the
heightened violence between Shiites and Sunnis
have had an impact on the emirate, which became
a kingdom in 2001. Saudi Arabia, which allows
Bahrain to pump oil from a field yielding around
140,000 barrels a day, is a powerful neighbour that
could prove touchy.And the demographic balance
between the state’s two largest communities, the
majority Shiites and the minority Sunnis, who are
in power, leads to tension.
Bahrain is at a crossroads.This small island state of
less that 700 sq km has seen significant progress in
respect for human rights, including press freedom,
since Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa took over
as emir on his father’s death in 1999, but a lot
remains to be done. At the same time, the regional
environment is fraught.The war in Iraq and the
heightened violence between Shiites and Sunnis
have had an impact on the emirate, which became
a kingdom in 2001. Saudi Arabia, which allows
Bahrain to pump oil from a field yielding around
140,000 barrels a day, is a powerful neighbour that
could prove touchy.And the demographic balance
between the state’s two largest communities, the
majority Shiites and the minority Sunnis, who are
in power, leads to tension.
A Reporters Without Borders delegation visited
Bahrain from 9 to 13 February after the authorities
voiced concern about the country’s fall in the
organisation’s annual press freedom index. The
delegation was able to meet with everyone it wanted
to see, including government officials, opposition
politicians, members of both houses of parliament,
journalists and civil society representatives.
The delegation saw the progress that has been
made in respect for free expression – no journalist
has been imprisoned since 1999 – but it also
heard the concerns expressed by many journalists.
Seven years after Bahrainis voted massively (by
more than 98 per cent) for a National Action
Charter, a vast programme of social and political
reforms meant to “establish the bases of a true
democracy,” several independent journalists and
NGO representatives spoke to Reporters
Without Borders of their disappointment, referring
to a “honeymoon that had ended.”
The situation is also contradictory for the media
themselves. There are six privately-owned dailies,
several of which are critical of the government, but
the state maintains its monopoly of broadcasting.
The adoption of a press and publications law in
October 2002 was a step forward, although journalists
were disappointed that it did not take
account of all their recommendations. The
Internet has taken off but many sites are banned –
some because they are pornographic but others
for political reasons.
In another paradox, the Reporters Without
Borders delegation found that the source of obstacles
in the path of progress towards a freer
society is not necessarily to be found in the legislature’s
upper house, known as the Consultative
Council, whose 40 members are appointed by the
king, but in the elected lower house, the Chamber
of Deputies, which is largely controlled by religious
groups.
Plans are under way to amend the press law, under
which journalists can still be imprisoned, and to
open up broadcasting to the private sector.When
Reporters Without Borders met the attorney
general, he supported the idea that any censorship
of the Internet should be a matter for the courts
rather than the government, as things now stand.
These were all signs that the situation is not
blocked. But it is up to the authorities to turn the
promises into reality.
Long-awaited law
Bahraini journalists were surprised and somewhat
embittered by the adoption of the Press and
Publications Act – Law No. 47 – in October 2002
as it did not take account of their recommendations.
It included many restrictions on journalists,
who are not allowed to question the official religion,
Islam, the head of state or the monarchy.And
they are exposed to the possibility of sentences
ranging from six months to five years in prison for
“inciting division, sectarianism and violence and
attacking national unity.” Foreign heads of state
and parliaments are also protected by the press
law. The regime makes its harder for its media to
criticize developments in neighbouring countries
to avoid upsetting key economic partners.
Journalists regard this law as a violation of the
principles of the National Action Charter they
supported a year earlier. No fewer than 18 press
offences are punishable under this law, and are
defined in terms that allow a very broad interpretation.
“This law does not give our work the necessary
guarantees,” journalist Sawsan Al-Shaer told
Reporters Without Borders.“As well as providing
for prison sentences, the law allows recourse to
criminal law and any other law to prosecute journalists,”
she said. “What is the point of drafting a
special law for our profession if the judges can use
other laws to convict journalists.” After the law
took effect, the authorities agree to create a committee
including journalists, representatives of the
Bahrain Journalists Association and information
ministry representatives in order to recommend
amendments to the law.Al-Shaer, who was a member
of the committee, said she did not know what
had become of the recommendations.
King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa has on several
occasions expressed a desire to decriminalize
press offences. What the king says does not have
the force of law but it has reined in prosecutors.
Attorney general Ali Fadhul Al Buainain said most
of the complaints against journalists were brought
by private individuals. And most cases are settled
out of court. A total of 47 complaints were
1 Bahrain :
Turning promises into reality
brought before the prosecutor’s office in 2007.
“We have very strong ties with the Journalists
Association,” he told Reporters Without
Borders. “When a complaint is filed against a
journalist, we notify the association’s liaison
officers, who then have two weeks to try to
find a solution.” He added that he thought
“attacking religion and the king” should continue
to be punishable by imprisonment.
The government submitted some amendments
to Law No. 47 to the Chamber of Deputies in
2004, but they still have not been examined.
Decriminalization is among them, but prison
sentences for press offences are maintained for
second and subsequent offences. The ministry
suggests that the broadcast media should be
included in the current press law.The proposed
reform envisages keeping prior censorship for
foreign publications, based on the Kuwaiti and
Jordanian models.
The Consultative Council has meanwhile submitted
two draft laws to the information ministry,
the most recent one in May 2007. But
Consultative Council deputy vice-president
Jamal Fakhro said: “There is no desire on the
part of the government or the deputies to
attach any importance to this bill.The Chamber
of Deputies is controlled by religious groups
who want to keep prison sentences. If the law
on the criminalization of press offences did not
exist, they would have invented it.” Ebrahim
Mohammed Bashemi, a member of the
Consultative Council and editor of the daily Al-
Waqt (Time), said the bill would decriminalize
press offences and keep fines. It would also protect
the confidentiality of sources, ensure
access to official information and end criminal
responsibility for publishers.
When Reporters Without Borders met the
new information minister, Jehad bin Hassan
Bukamal, he insisted that he intended to press
ahead with the proposed reform of the press
law that is currently with the cabinet.“We hope
to submit the amendments to parliament in the
course of the next two months,” he said. “But
how is the state at fault if the king and government
want to amend the law but the deputies
are opposed?”
Latifa Mohammed Al-Qaud, a deputy who represents
a coalition of independent parties, and
Ebrahim Mohammed Bosandal, a deputy from
the Salafist movement Al-Assala, told Reporters
Without Borders they did not oppose the
decriminalization of press offences but Bosandal
insisted that prison sentences would have to be
kept for any “insult to religion.”
Self-censorship and
broadcasting monopoly
The Bahraini journalists that Reporters Without
Borders met continue to be sceptical about the
timetable and content of reforms. Some do not
hesitate to talk of a “reduction in freedoms” since
2001, the year that the National Action Charter
was adopted. Few of them hope for a complete
decriminalization of press offences. And even if
they recognise that they can be a bit more outspoken
that their colleagues in other countries in
the region, they say the state has other means than
the law to put pressure on the media.
As in neighbouring countries, Bahrain’s media
owners and journalists censor themselves heavily.
Mansoor Al-Jamri, the editor of Al-Wasat, a daily
that supports the Shiite political movement Al-
Wifaq, said the number of complaints brought
against the media by the state would be much
greater if journalists did not avoid certain subjects.
The most recent example was the media’s very
restrained coverage of demonstrations that shook
the country in December and left one person
dead. “There were further clashes between the
security forces and the dead man’s relatives on the
day of the burial,” Ahmed Al-Aradi of Al-Waqt told
Reporters Without Borders. “Many people were
wounded and several photographers, including
myself, provided our newspapers with photos. But
the next day, I did not see any of the photos in the
newspapers.”
The state maintains a monopoly on broadcasting
despite the interest that several media owners
have shown in getting broadcast licences. Foreign
satellite TV stations such as Al-Jazeera and Al-
Arabiya are the public’s main source of political
news.The information minister says he is ready to
open up broadcasting to the private sector after
first establishing a legislative framework for the
new industry. He voiced concern that these new
media could be “manipulated at the expense of
social peace.”
The prime minister’s cultural affairs adviser,
Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Mutawa, said care was needed.
“When I ran the information ministry, I envisaged
granting a licence for a privately-owned TV
station but I changed my mind when I realised that
this Islamist station would be financed by a foreign
country,” he said, adding, “but the king has no
objection to opening up broadcasting.” This fear
that the broadcast media could be manipulated is
shared by deputy Latifa Mohammed Al-Qaud. So
far, the Bahraini authorities have only allowed a
few international radio stations – Radio Sawa, BBC
and RMC-MO – to broadcast on FM frequencies.
Bahraini journalists complain of the difficulty of
2 Bahrain :
Turning promises into reality
getting access to official information. The census
office, for example, refuses to provide them with
social and economic statistics. Tension between
the Shiite and Sunni communities underlies the
lack of transparency on the part of the government,
which is accused of carrying out a policy of
naturalising Sunni Arabs in order to bring about a
proportional increase in the size of the Sunni community.
A report by a British adviser to the government,
Salah Al-Bandar, about alleged secret plans
to marginalise the Shiite community before the
2006 legislative elections caused a great stir.
Shortly thereafter, the judicial authorities banned
publication of any of the information in the report.
An Internet censorship bureau
The Internet then replaced the traditional media
in disseminating information about this alleged
conspiracy, called “Bandargate.” Journalists with
privately-owned dailies told Reporters Without
Borders that they turned to the Internet to
publish the articles they wrote that were censored
by their editors. Several sites were blocked by the
information ministry’s censorship bureau.
The ministry says the censorship bureau does not
touch political or human rights websites and that
only porn sites, sites that incite violence or sectarian
hatred, or sites used for recruitment by terrorist
groups are subject to administrative censorship
orders. But Reporters Without Borders identified
22 discussion forums and political websites
in October 2007 that had been censored by the
information ministry.
The site operated by the Bahrain Centre for
Human Rights (www.bahrainrights.org) has not
been accessible since October 2006. BCHR vicepresident
Nabeel Rajab said this censorship was
linked to their Bandargate coverage and their statements
on other sensitive issues such as conditions
for immigrant workers in Bahrain. Asked
about this, the information ministry said the
BCHR’s site was closed down because the organisation
had “lost its licence.” The website of the
Egypt-based Arabic Network for Human Rights
Information, which posts the BCHR’s releases, is
also inaccessible in Bahrain. Rajab estimates that
access to around 500 websites and blogs is currently
blocked.
The Consultative Council supports the adoption
of an Internet law. Fakhro, its first deputy vice-president,
says Internet users are not really free to
post what they want online. “Right now, many
websites are closed, some of them porn sites,
others political or opinion sites,” he said. “We
think there should be an Internet law, but in the
meantime we urge everyone to be responsible.We
do not accept administrative censorship.”
Conclusions and
recommendations
The coming parliamentary debate on the reform
of the press law will be decisive for Bahrain’s journalists.
If the amendments are adopted, Bahrain
will become the second country in the Gulf, after
Kuwait, to decriminalize press offences.
It seems that other legislative reforms are also
essential to limit the abuses to which journalists
and website editors are exposed in Bahrain.
Using judges specialised in press cases and familiar
with the way journalists work would help to
ensure appropriate and fair sentences. Similarly,
the courts, and not an information ministry official,
should be in charge of regulating the
Internet. Reporters Without Borders suggested
this during its meeting with the attorney general,
who supported the idea. Finally, the new information
law must guarantee better access to government
information and protect the confidentiality
of journalists’ sources.
An improvement in the press freedom situation
in Bahrain requires not only concrete legislative
progress but also an end to the state’s monopoly
of broadcasting and an end to censorship of news
websites. The adoption of a code of journalism
ethics and the creation of a self-regulatory body
to ensure that it is respected would be useful
accompaniments to the decriminalization of
press offences and the opening-up of broadcasting.