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ARTICLE 19 urges National Assembly to respect free expression in new media law

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 30 March 2007 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Afghanistan: ARTICLE 19 urges National Assembly to respect freedom of expression in new media law

On 27 February 2007, Toby Mendel, Law and Asia Programmes Director at ARTICLE 19, addressed the Religious and Cultural Affairs Commission of the Afghan National Assembly on the development of a draft Media Law. At this meeting, Mr Mendel presented key freedom of expression principles to guide the development of a new media law in this emerging democracy.

In his comments to the Religious and Cultural Affairs Commission, Mr Mendel urged restraint and tolerance rather than more regulation, even in the face of rising criticism of public officials and sometimes irresponsible journalism.

While the draft media law does provide protection for a number of key media rights, it fails to conform to international standards in key areas. The following changes are crucial to ensuring that the legal framework fosters an independent, vibrant, pluralistic media in the country:

- Regulation of the media should be performed by the Media Affairs' Commission (MAC) rather than the Minister of Information and Communication, and the independence of the Commission should be substantially enhanced.
- Radio-Television Afghanistan should be moved out of the Ministry and established as an independent public service broadcaster, under the supervision of an independent board.
- Onerous registration/authorisation requirements should be removed from the law.
- The vague, overbroad content restrictions should be removed from the law and, instead, the MAC should be tasked with drawing up a code of conduct in close consultation with interested stakeholders.
- The provisions on the right to information, while welcome, should be substantially expanded to provide for a full right to information system.

Toby Mendel's presentation can be downloaded at: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/conferences/afghanistan-media-presentation.pdf

ARTICLE 19 is an independent human rights organisation that works globally to protect and promote the right to freedom of expression. It takes its name from Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees free speech.