DRAFT PRESS LAW FALLS SHORT OF UAE JOURNALISTS' ASSOCIATION

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001125 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO AE SUBJECT: DRAFT PRESS LAW FALLS SHORT OF UAE JOURNALISTS' ASSOCIATION RECOMMENDATIONS REFTEL: ABU DHABI 1068 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Participants at the annual Ramadan majlis of the UAE Journalist Association (UAEJA) focused on revisions to the press law currently under discussion within the Federal National Council (FNC) and expressed dismay that the revisions do not adequately reflect UAEJA recommendations and would not significantly improve upon the existing 1980 law. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Discussion at the annual Ramadan majlis of the UAE Journalist Association (UAEJA) focused on the press law currently under discussion within the Federal National Council (FNC). The broad consensus was that the UAE Government generally supports press freedom, certainly in comparison to the rest of the region. Speakers uniformly praised the declaration from Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid banning imprisonment as a punishment for press law infractions. Various participants recounted personal accounts of official intervention to protect journalists. ¶3. (U) Not all, however, was positive. Participants expressed dismay that the legal revisions do not adequately reflect UAEJA recommendations and would not significantly improve upon the existing 1980 law. Muhammad Yousuf, Chairman of the UAEJA, expressed dismay that the new proposed press law (as revised by the National Media Council (NMC) and presented to the FNC) appears to be no different than the existing 1980 law. It is, he suggested, even worse and does nothing to improve the situation of UAE media "at all". Yousuf explained that in 2004 the UAE Government and the NMC asked the UAEJA to participate in the effort to modernize the press law by proposing amendments to the existing law. The JA spent two years (2004-06) studying prevailing laws in other nations including Europe, Arab nations and the U.S., culminating in a proposal to the NMC for changes to the existing law. The NMC-drafted proposal to the FNC, however, does not reflect those recommendations, and, according to Yousuf, falls far short of the hopes of the UAEJA. ¶4. (U) Gulf News Editor Abdulhamid Ahmad described the new law as "extremely bad" and "worse than the old law". Rather than taking the approach that anything not expressly forbidden is permitted, the new law is based on restricting press freedom except where specifically allowed. Ahmad suggested that the new law would not give journalists freedom, but would in fact add "more pressures and restrictions" that would make journalists' lives "unbearable". He complained that the law fails to define either the press or freedom of speech, and does not offer a vision that would improve the current media environment, one that, in his view, squelches creativity. Other than the decision by Sheikh Mohammed to ban imprisonment of journalists, there has been no progress, he argued. ¶5. (U) Ahmad wondered aloud why the UAE -- so advanced in legislation, infrastructure and innovation in so many fields -- lags when it comes to media legislation and standards. He noted the UAE's reliance on Western (i.e. European and American) advisers in many fields, including technical and educational fields, but then asked why, when it comes to the issue of media standards, the UAE relies on Egyptian and Jordanian advisors? He suggested there is a "missing link", i.e. a break in communication (also readable as an impediment to clear, direct communication) between leadership and working level officials that must be addressed. He called for the law to be revised in consultation among legal experts, journalists, the UAEJA and NMC officials. ¶6. (U) Various participants called on the UAEJA to meet with the FNC and appeal directly to UAE leadership to instruct the NMC to redraft the law before final adoption. Some advocated including bloggers under the umbrella, noting a past incident where the owner of "Majan", a blog in Ras Al-Khaimah, was jailed for several days and fined for information carried on his site. He was later released, but only when Sheikh Mohammed banned journalists' imprisonment. ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: The revised draft may not be quite as bleak as the participants depict, but it is a step back from the UAEJA's recommendations. Numerous fines for infractions remain, and the tilt from "permitted unless prohibited" to "prohibited unless permitted" is a serious concern. A UAEJA appeal directly to leadership could set up an interesting struggle between advocates of greater modernity and press freedom, and guardians of measured discourse, with the UAE's prized image of modernity and openness -- and a considerable amount of regional and international media business and revenue -- in the balance. END COMMENT. OLSON