HRW's Letter to Chamber of Deputies speaker Sa'd Hayel Srour

The Honorable Sa'd Hayel Srour
Speaker
Chamber of Deputies
Amman, Jordan

Your Excellency:

Human Rights Watch is writing to you today concerning the draft press and publications law that the government presented to the Chamber of Deputies last week. Our organization is deeply concerned about provisions of the draft law that compromise significantly the internationally recognized right to freedom of expression, including press freedom and academic freedom, that Jordan, as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), is bound to uphold.

Modern technology has ushered in a new era in which the free exchange of information on an instantaneous and global basis is increasingly the norm. Against the backdrop of this worldwide trend, the draft press and publications law is an unfortunate step backward for Jordan. It represents an unreasonable and unwarranted attempt by the state to limit access to information and to control the content of what is written and read in the Kingdom.
Human Rights Watch

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The draft law is an extremely significant piece of legislation because its provisions apply to anything that is printed -- from Jordanian and foreign books, newspapers, and other periodicals to material published by research institutes, public opinion polling centers, and translation houses. If the draft law is enacted without substantial revision, we believe that it will limit severely the right of Jordanians to obtain and disseminate a diversity of information. The draft law grants vast powers to the press and publications department of the ministry of information to interfere with the right of journalists, writers, scholars, researchers, editors, and publishers to impart news, opinions, analysis and other information to the public. Modern technology has ushered in a new era in which the free exchange of information on an instantaneous and global basis is increasingly the norm. Against the backdrop of this worldwide trend, the draft press and publications law is an unfortunate step backward for Jordan. In our view, it represents an unreasonable and unwarranted attempt by the state to limit access to information and to control the content of what is written and read in the Kingdom.

Article 3 of the draft law affirms that freedom of expression "is guaranteed for every Jordanian who has the right to express his/her opinion freely, verbally, by writing, photographing, drawing and other means of expression." Despite this commendable

guarantee, the draft law contains troubling provisions that prohibit categorically the publication of any type of information on a staggering range of vaguely worded topics. These include any written or pictorial information that:

• "contradicts" the principles of freedom and national responsibility, human rights, and the values of the Arab Islamic Nation (Article 5).
• "disparages" the King or the Royal Family (Article 42).
• is "related to" the Jordanian armed forces or security forces "unless permission is otherwise obtained from the related authority or an official government spokesman" (Article 42).
• contains false information or rumors that "harm the common good or the nation's security departments or their employees without sufficient evidence" (Article 42).
• sows dissension, or foments hatred within society (Article 42).
• "instigates" strikes, sit-ins, or public gatherings (Article 42).
• "shakes confidence" in the national currency (Article 42).
• involves "degradation," "libel," or "slander" of the heads of Arab, Islamic or friendly states (Article 42).
• "promotes" perversion or "results in" corruption of morals (Article 42).

Additional vague language also appears in Article 48 and Article 49 of the draft law. Article 48 requires the director of the press and publications department to file a lawsuit in cases where printed material "harms a ministry, or one of its departments, or official institution, or infringes on the authority of the state or public morals." Article 49 stipulates that the director must file an urgent lawsuit in the court of first instance "if the publication prints material that harms national security or interest or infringes upon the Constitution." In such an instance, the director may ask the court to suspend the publication within twenty-four hours, until a final ruling is issued by the court.

Article 19(3) of the ICCPR allows restriction of expression only in limited circumstances, namely in the interest of "respect of the rights or reputations of others" or "the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals." Such restrictions must be "provided by law" and be "necessary." These exceptions are narrowly framed, and the burden of demonstrating their validity rests with the state. The content bans in the draft law appear designed to impose a regime of self-censorship on the press and others publications, and to prevent journalists and authors from writing about a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues. The broadly formulated and sweeping language of the bans is left unexplained, and thus invites arbitrary interpretation by authorities. It wrongly places the burden on

writers, editors and publishers to guess what is meant by these ambiguous terms or face punitive sanctions that include steep monetary fines, suspension, confiscation, or possible closure. The internationally recognized norms of free expression require that the state justify any content ban by showing that restrictions are necessary to achieve a specific and legitimate purpose within one of the enumerated exceptions.

Human Rights Watch is also concerned about other provisions of the draft law:

Bans on information about crimes, official investigations, and court proceedings.

The draft law also denies citizens the right to information about various activities of the judicial system unless the release of such information is specifically authorized by authorities. Article 44 prohibits the publication of "any information related to an ongoing investigation, court case or crime committed in the Kingdom unless permission is obtained from the General Prosecutor," and bans the publication of the minutes of court proceedings "before a final ruling is issued unless permission from the court is obtained."

These proposed articles allow judicial authorities to restrict the press from reporting news to the public about ongoing legal proceedings. Article 14(1) of the ICCPR permits exclusion of the public and press "from all or part of a trial for reasons of morals, public order (ordre public) or national security in a democratic society, or when the interest of the private lives of the Parties so requires, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice." But the draft law reverses the logic of this international standard by making the banning of information the rule and disclosure the exception.

Steep financial penalties and suspension of publications for violations of content bans.

Violations of the content bans specified in Article 42 and Article 44 of the law trigger fines ranging from a minimum of 15,000 Jordanian dinars ($21,037) to a maximum of 25,000 dinars ($35,062). The violations also "will result in the suspension of the publication by court order" (Article 53). The law stipulates that the minister of information is empowered to reverse the suspension once the fines have been paid "in accordance with guarantees and conditions that the minister requests." Such guarantees and conditions are not further specified in the law. If a publication violates a content ban again within a three-year period, financial penalties will be imposed as well as suspension of the publication by a court for a period of three months to one year. Any publication that violates a content ban three times within a five-year period faces revocation of its publishing license by a court.

These formidable penalties clearly will have the intended deterrent effect, and force many journalists, editors and publishers to engage in self-censorship so as not to risk substantial fines, suspended operations, or closure.

Pre-publication censorship and the power to ban the printing of books in Jordan.

The draft law grants to the executive branch of government the right to vet the contents of any book prior to its licensing and printing in Jordan, and to prohibit the printing of any book that contains material in violation of the press and publications law (Article 40). Because the content bans in the draft law are so vaguely worded and thus subject to subjective interpretation, the director of the press and publications department and his staff are de facto empowered to censor books on a wide range of subjects and prevent writers from communicating their ideas to the public.

Power to prohibit the distribution of foreign publications in Jordan.

The draft law empowers the press and publications department to refuse the distribution in Jordan of any foreign publication that is judged to contain material that violates the press and publications law (Article 36). Given the broad scope of prohibited subjects set forth in the draft law, this measure provides the state with the legal grounds to ban books, newspapers and other publications virtually at will. The law makes an exception for foreign publications imported by government agencies, universities, and scientific research centers, but requires that prior permission be obtained from the director of the press and publications department, and that such publications "be located at special places for the use of scientific research" (Article 38). Blanket restrictions on the circulation of publications invariably infringe on the right of access to information for most individuals.

Unwarranted restrictions on the management of all nongovernmental entities involved in the dissemination of information.

Article 18 of the draft law grants to the state the power to determine the qualifications for responsible directors of publishing houses, study and research centers, polling centers, translation offices, and printing and distribution companies. It states, for example, that such directors must be of Jordanian nationality and must have professional qualifications and experience pursuant to regulations issued by the minister of information. Article 46 prohibits study, research and polling centers, and their employees, from "receiving any financial assistance or support from any non-Jordanian party." It empowers the director of the press and publications department to close any institution for three to six months for violating this provision, and to apply fines ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 dinars ($42,075 to $70,125).

With respect to newspapers and other periodical publications, the law restricts ownership to Jordanian nationals (Article 25). It bars any financial support "from foreign parties or other countries" (Article 24), and mandates fines of 30,000 to 50,000 dinars for violations (Article 53). The law states that responsible editors of newspapers must be Jordanian nationals and have at least ten years experience in journalism (Article 27). The draft law also requires that the editor-in-chief of any foreign news agency in Jordan must be a Jordanian journalist (Article 11).

Restrictions on the right to disseminate and receive information from institutions of civil society.

The draft law also appears to open the door for possible restrictions on the publication of news and information generated by political parties, professional associations, and other independent nongovernmental organizations in Jordan, including cultural and social societies. Article 6 states that these entities have the right "to express their opinions, thoughts and achievements in their different domains of activities." It leaves unclear, however, whether such groups will continue to enjoy the right to have their views reported to the public in areas which appear not to be directly related to their specific domains of activity, such as positions and statements of professional associations on issues related to domestic and foreign policy.

Human Rights Watch respectfully urges that members of the Chamber of Deputies revise or cancel provisions of the draft press and publications law that constitute unreasonable interference with the

internationally protected right to freedom of expression. We further urge deputies to ensure that any restriction on the exercise of freedom of expression is specific and narrowly defined, and to cancel the broadly worded content bans in Article 5, Article 42 and Article 44 of the draft law. We also recommend the revision of other articles in the law, specifically those noted in this letter, that would have the effect, intended or otherwise, of reducing the diversity of information in newspapers, books and other publications in Jordan, and imposing a daunting regime of censorship on journalists, scholars, writers, editors, and publishers.

We thank you in advance for your consideration of these important matters.

Sincerely,

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Honorable Members of the Chamber of Deputies