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
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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