HRW urges gov't to amend parts of new media law

PAPER TRAIL: Human Rights Watch has called for amendments to the UAE government's proposed new media law. (Getty Images)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged the UAE to clarify and amend parts of its pending media law, which the government is hoping will help develop a free media in the country.

The New York based group said that although the pending law is a significant improvement over the existing one, steep fines for journalists who breach it means it will fall short of the government’s stated goal to rid the media of self censorship.

“I think it undermines that reform mentality,” said Samer Muscati, a researcher at the MENA division of HRW.

“This is why we are trying to encourage [the government] to analyse the law again, to see how it will affect journalists.”

Under the new law, anyone who “disparages” senior government personnel or members of the royal family may be fined up to AED5 million ($1.36 million).

Article 33 of the law penalises anyone who “disseminates misleading news to the public in such a way that it may harm the national economy” by as much as AED500,000.

HRW noted that a number of provisions in the law represent significant improvements, such as the removal of criminal penalties and the protection of journalists’ sources.

But Muscati said it remains unclear whether a journalist could be sent to jail for failing to pay a fine.

The Federal National Council (FNC) passed the draft law in January, and the bill now awaits cabinet and presidential approval.

HRW said it is hopeful that the legislature will take its recommendations into account and revise the pending law.

In a statement carried by state news agency WAM, the National Media Council (NMC), the country’s media regulator, said that HRW’s criticism did not represent a fair assessment of the law.

Article 32 of the draft law states that fines can be imposed as penalties on those who are deemed to insult “the person” of the head of state or other senior federal government officials, and not the way in which they perform their duties, it said.

“Within the context of the system of government and the value system on the United Arab Emirates, personal attacks on senior officials, relating to their personal status, beliefs or behaviour, are considered to be unacceptable, even if such personal attacks, or ‘insults to the person’, are permissible in other countries,” the regulator said.

“The NMC makes no apology for drawing a distinction between personal insults and professional forms of criticism.”

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