On September 22, the Kurdistan parliament ratified Kurdistan Press Law No.35; the culmination of an intense advocacy campaign led by IREX. At the request of the Iraq Parliament’s Culture and Media Committee, IREX worked with three other advisors – Judge Hadi Azeez Ali, a member of the Supreme Court in Iraq; Hussein Al-Sahi, a well-respected journalist, and Hasan Kareem A’ti, a lawyer and human rights activist – to form an advisory committee to provide recommendations on the draft law. The final version of the law includes several amendments proposed by IREX and endorsed by the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate.
The press law specifically prohibits the imprisonment of journalists as well as the closure or suspension of newspapers, both key demands of local journalists who fought against prior drafts of the legislation that they claimed were too restrictive. The press law is the first of its kind after the fall of Saddam’s regime and replaces Ba’ath-era codes. It also eliminates some of the more controversial provisions of earlier versions of the law, such as punishing journalists and publications for vague violations, including producing articles deemed to jeopardize “national security” or oppose “common values.” Past versions also allowed for reporters and editors to be imprisoned and prohibited journalists from covering numerous subjects deemed to be off limits. While there remain certain aspects of the law that are of concern, overall it is vastly improved from earlier versions that were passed by the parliament.
This campaign is part of IREX’s larger project, the Support for Independent Media in Iraq (SIMI) [6] program, which supports Iraqi media outlets, journalists, media managers, and free-press advocates in their efforts to build a sustainable and professional media system as they struggle against the hardships of operating in Iraq. The project is supported by a grant from the US Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
