In Iraq, Journalists Are Still In Mortal Danger

A proposed law designed to protect the press may end up obstructing it because of a failure to guarantee access to information, journalists say.

The bill's highlights include tough penalties for those who attack journalists, and compensation for their victims. Its supporters say it will boost press freedom in what remains the world's most dangerous country for journalists.

Journalists admit the planned legislation addresses some of the threats they encounter in their work. But, they say, it ignores many of the obstacles.

Nearly 190 media workers have been killed in Iraq since 2003, according to New York-based watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Recently, some improvement in security has reduced the risks journalists face when going about their work. At the same time, a lowering of tensions has meant that officials are not as intimidating as they once were.

Seeking answers from officials, reporters nowadays complain not so much of fear as of frustration.

An IWPR-trained journalist based in Baghdad, who asked not to be identified, says extracting information from government departments is extremely difficult.

"Spokesmen at certain ministries have their favorite reporters and will only release information to them," he said. "If they don't like you, they won't take your calls."

The reporter says he suspects some of the bias may be sectarian, as control of key Baghdad ministries has been allocated along sectarian and ethnic lines.

He describes another Baghdad ministry which issues press releases but does not have a press office that will take questions.

"Questions will be answered by the minister alone, and he is a very busy man. He has not given anyone else in the ministry the authority to comment," he said.

Another IWPR-trained reporter in Baghdad says she recently visited a ministry to look into reports that officials had used forged qualifications to apply for jobs.

"I wanted to find out why there was no mechanism for checking the authenticity of the certificates," she said. "A manager told me he had nothing to say. He could neither clarify nor confirm anything."

"I tried several times but had no luck. They shut the door in my face."

Journalists say the proposed Iraqi Journalists Protection Law will not overcome such obstacles because it doesn't give them a clear right to information. The bill does, however, grant the government the right to withhold information if it is deemed not to be "in the public interest" or if it "threatens national security".

Similar rules also exist in western democracies. But critics of the proposed press law say the Iraqi authorities are more likely to abuse these provisions to block access to sensitive or potentially embarrassing information.

"The media are dealing with Iraqi officials, not Europeans. Democracy was imported to this country and is almost non-existent in the culture here," Wathiq al-Chalabi, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Al-Mowqif, said.

"Journalists have always had a hard time because officials avoid giving details and only issue general statements," he said. "Now the [proposed] law is legitimizing this culture."

Chalabi says Iraqi journalists find it particularly difficult to cover major corruption or murder cases because government officials are reluctant to be interviewed or otherwise assist them with their inquiries.

"Government offices treat all journalists as dangerous," he said.

Munshid al-Assadi, a presenter at state-run Al-Iraqiya television, says there is an "urgent need" for legislation that gives Iraqi journalists better access to information.

"Officials have yet to learn how to deal with journalists in a democracy," he said.