ERBIL: KURDISTAN REGIONAL PRESIDENT MASOUD BARZANI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000193 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/PPD E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2018 TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPAO IZ SUBJECT: ERBIL: KURDISTAN REGIONAL PRESIDENT MASOUD BARZANI REJECTS PRESS LAW Classified By: Classified By Jess Baily, Regional Coordinator for reaso ns 1.4 (b) and (d). This is an Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team Message ¶1. (C) Summary. In response to extensive criticism by NGOs (both local and international) and local journalists, Kurdistan Regional President Masoud Barzani rejected the Press Law bill passed by the Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) on December 11. He returned the bill on January 15 to the KNA for revision. The drafting of the bill and its tortuous path through the KNA to the presidency reflect political leaders' uneasiness with critical articles in the growing independent press in the region. Even mild criticism can provoke strong reactions from party and government officials. The bill passed by the KNA neither strongly defended freedom of speech and information, nor instituted draconian restrictions. It did, however, contain several vague prohibitions and hefty fines for libel that could have been used to limit press freedom. Equally troubling was the lack of transparency in its movement through the KNA. By forcing its reconsideration in the KNA, opponents of the draft Press Law achieved at least a temporary victory for press freedom and transparent legislative processes in the Kurdistan Region. End Summary. Party-Controlled and Independent Media in the KRG -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Most of the media within the Kurdistan Region is controlled by one of the two major political parties: the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) or the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). However, a number of independent and semi-independent media outlets, particularly in (PUK controlled) Sulaimaniyah, provide critical coverage of government and party corruption. Print circulation numbers and opinion polls conducted by the American Democratic Foundation (funded by USAID,s Iraq Civil Society program) and Kurdistan Youth Competency (a local NGO) indicate that semi-independent radio (Radio Nawa); newspaper (Hawlati); and magazine (Lvin) media are the most popular. Although print media reaches important opinion leaders, television remains the main source of information for most people in the region. All Kurdish-language television stations are directly owned or otherwise controlled by political parties or senior KRG 
officials. Opinion surveys indicate that the most popular terrestrial television station is operated by the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU),rather than one of the two larger parties. Although none of these media are entirely independent, all provide critical reporting of corruption, government mismanagement and human rights abuses. The popularity of these sources indicates popular interest in this critical reporting. ¶3. (C) Official and unofficial constraints restrict reporting about sensitive topics. Self-censorship is rampant, particularly in the party press. Libel remains a criminal offense in the region, as in the rest of Iraq. In early November, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) completed a two-week assessment of the region and noted that "journalists have expressed concern about a rising number of physical attacks on the press, the arbitrary detentions of reporters by security forces, and the use of courts to harass journalists." Journalists can be arrested on defamation charges. For example, Hawlati reporter Rebaz Ahmad was briefly arrested in July 2007 for defaming Halabja Municipality Engineer Kawa Ali in an article alleging that parkland was illegally allocated for a residence in Halabja. Even indirect criticism of PUK or KDP leaders can cost journalists their jobs. Stran Abdulla was forced to resign as editor of Aso for publishing a commentary speculating on KDP leadership succession after Masoud Barzani. In December, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani ordered the closure of the weekly magazine Bizaw. The Editor in Chief told RRT officers that the magazine was closed for critical reporting regarding Iraqi President (and PUK General Secretary) Jalal Talabani's trip to Egypt. (Note and comment: Aso receives most of its funding from the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, while Bizaw received financial support from the KRG Prime Minister's Office; they are not truly independent organizations. The aforementioned punitive actions reflected both parties' desire to avoid criticizing the other as part of their strategic alliance.) Most recently, both Iraqi President Talabani and KRG President Barzani have announced that they will sue American Enterprise Institute scholar Michael Rubin under a Saddam-era law. They claim Rubin defamed them in an article alleging nepotism and corruption in the KRG. They have also sued Hawlati for printing Rubin,s article. BAGHDAD 00000193 002 OF 003 New Press Law,s Tortuous Route in KNA -------------- ¶4. (U) The Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) announced in March 2007 its intention to make passage of a new Press Law a top priority. The law, according to the KNA Legal Committee Chair, was to be drafted to protect the freedom of speech and independence of journalists, while holding journalists to high ethical standards. The Kurdistan Journalists, Syndicate, which is controlled by the KDP, provided input to the KNA's Legal Committee and Cultural Committee - the two committees responsible for drafting the legislation. Early drafts created a registration (not licensing) procedure for media outlets, prohibited the arrest of journalists for their work, allowed journalists to maintain confidential sources, required public authorities to disclose more information, set labor standards for members of the press, and established a code of ethics for journalists. ¶5. (SBU) The bill languished over the summer months, and then rumors began that the Journalists' Syndicate was working with the KNA committee to revise earlier drafts without making them public. Concerns were raised that the newest version of the draft law contained a number of troubling clauses. In its November assessment, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) compared the bill favorably to harsher media laws that are prevalent in the Middle East, but cited a number of vague prohibitions against news that "disturbs security, spreads fear, or causes harm to people," that "encourages terrorism and sows hatred," that runs counter to "public morals," or that is "untrue." CPJ noted that these provisions were open to abuse and that the fines for violating these prohibitions could effectively close independent media. An analysis prepared by Albany Associates, a consulting firm, for UNESCO, also cited a long list of concerns with the draft legislation, including conflicts with the Iraqi constitution over regulation of broadcast media, and creation of a High Media Council potentially subject to political control. ¶6. (C) Despite these concerns, no draft of the legislation was formally released before the KNA addressed the issue. After a week of debate on the first four articles, a fifteen-article press bill was quickly passed by the KNA on December 11. Several MPs representing the PUK either voted against the bill or walked out. The Secretary General of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) claimed that some of his deputies were duped into voting for a final version they had never seen. In the end, the bill which passed closely resembled a draft that the RRT had seen in the spring, and omitted most of the provisions that had concerned Albany Associates. Most notably, the bill which passed made no mention of broadcast journalists, leading the Director of Zagros TV, Niyaz Lajani, to ridicule the legislation and the lawmakers for failing to properly consult with journalists. The bill did contain a number of vague prohibitions against publishing items that "encourage terrorism and create hatred," insult religious beliefs, or "any item related to the private life of an individual - even if true - if this insults him." Press Law Legislation Heavily Criticized -------------- ¶7. (U) Independent journalists in the Kurdistan region and some PUK politicians immediately condemned the newly passed bill. These protests were joined by international (CPJ) and national (Journalistic Freedoms Observatory) organizations, and eventually the Journalists, Syndicate asked President Barzani to reject it. Critics of the bill have cited a newly added provision that permits newspapers to be closed and substantially increased fines for vaguely defined infractions. Critics are also concerned about a newly added requirement that editors belong to the Journalists, Syndicate. According to Hawlati, the legislation includes elastic expressions such as "public systems and traditions" and "security," which are subject to different interpretations. "If the law is not amended, we will close Hawlati ourselves," the newspaper wrote on its editorial page. Kwestan Muhammed, leader of the PUK in the assembly, told the newspaper Rozhnama that democracy and freedom had regressed several years with the bill. The Chairman of the KNA's Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Committee Arez Abdullah (PUK) told Rozhnama that he would also ask President Barzani to reject the law. Asos Hardi, editor-in-chief of Awene newspaper, told Aso newspaper that the legislation,s passage was the "death of press freedom." Hardi said previous press laws were better because those laws did not provide for the closure of newspapers. Hardi also noted that the bill paves the way for journalists to be prosecuted BAGHDAD 00000193 003 OF 003 according to the terrorism law. On December 14, journalists demonstrated in both Erbil and Sulaimaniyah to protest the press law legislation and to call on President Barzani to reject it. ¶8. (C) KNA Secretary Fursat Ahmed defended the law to RRT Rule of Law Specialist, explaining that the only penalties for infractions under the new press law are fines - journalists could be imprisoned only under other laws (e.g. the Anti-Terrorism law of 2006). Ahmed also stressed the need to balance journalists' demands for freedom against the demands of more conservative elements of society (clerics) to protect public morality. Other members of the KNA have admitted that the purpose of the law is not so much to promote press freedom as to prevent misinformation, libel, and slander against government and party officials. KNA Speaker Adnan Mufti stressed to RRTOff the need to reign in "immature" media which often engages in spreading rumors. If at First You Don't Succeed -------------- ¶9. (U) Before the official text of the press bill was available, KRG President Barzani announced that he would reject it and send it back to the KNA for amendment. Barzani said, "Kurds have sacrificed their lives for freedom, and I fully support the media's right to criticize the government. I reject any law that is against journalists' fundamental rights. But criticism should be constructive and there needs to be a balance between the freedom of expression and restricting harmful defamation of individuals." Barzani returned the bill to the KNA on January 15. The KNA has announced that their committees will revise the bill and call an extraordinary session to debate it. Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) The controversy surrounding the regional press law reveals fundamental weaknesses in the KRG's support for civil liberties and in the KNA's legislative processes. The independent media in the region is relatively new and not always highly professional. Nonetheless, even as they profess to uphold democratic freedoms, many KRG leaders have become accustomed to party-controlled media; they remain sensitive to criticism - even if based on rumor. As critics of the bill noted, vaguely worded prohibitions against harming public morals, undermining security, or insulting an individual's private life are subject to abuse by the government. The lack of transparency in the drafting and passage of the bill only exacerbated public doubt about the KRG's true motives. President Barzani's decision to reject the bill was a positive step that reflected his toleration - at least for now - of the critical views of local and international civil society organizations and independent media outlets. There is no guarantee, however, that the KNA will make fundamental changes to the draft legislation. In the end, the real test of press freedom will come not only in the Press Law's final text, but in the way that it is implemented and enforced. The recent threats to sue Hawlati for publishing an article by AEI,s Michael Rubin show that ingrained habits die hard. CROCKER