Bahrain urged to honour press freedom promises

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OVERDUE REFORMS: Bahrain’s journalists are often forced to censor themselves under veiled pressure and restrictive media laws, said Reporters Without Borders.

Bahrain must take action on its promises to allow more press freedom by putting in place long-awaited legislative reforms, according to a new report from Reporters Without Borders (RWB).

Despite having relative freedom compared to other Gulf countries, journalists in the kingdom are often forced to censor themselves under veiled pressure and restrictive laws, the report found.

No journalist has been imprisoned since March 1999, however the media still faces problems it said, following a fact-finding trip to Bahrain by the press freedom group in February.

The group met with government officials, opposition politicians, journalists and civil society representatives during a visit to the capital Manama, coinciding with the ninth anniversary of King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa’s installation as head of state.

“Government officials seem to be sincere in their desire to help the kingdom’s media to evolve, but the long awaited reforms have still not materialised,” it said in a statement.

They include reform of the Press and Publications Act, or Law No.47, which took effect in October 2002, under which 18 press offences are punishable, and are often defined in terms which allow a “very broad interpretation”, it continued.

“Reporters Without Borders urges the authorities not to postpone fulfilling their promises to allow more press freedom,” the group said, adding,

“Reform of the press law must not be abandoned for lack of political determination or because of pressure from the radical fundamentalists who form the majority in parliament.”

According to RWB, King Hamad had on several occasions expressed a desire to decriminalise press offences, a step which Kuwait is the only Gulf nation to have taken.

The group urged Bahraini authorities to go one step further and put an end to the state’s monopoly of broadcasting, and to show “more restraint” in its censorship of the Internet.

“Access to many websites is banned. It should be the job of the courts, not the government, to regulate the Internet,” it said.

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