Elimination of Any Reference to Censorship in the Egyptian Constitution. Article 48 of the (currently suspended) Egyptian Constitution expressly permits the direct government censorship of news media when the country is in a state of emergency law (which was the case for Mubarak’s entire thirty-year reign). “In a state of emergency or in time of war, a limited censorship may be imposed on…mass media in matters related to public safety or purposes of national security.” Of course, under martial law or in times of war, journalistic scrutiny is even more important. Constitutions need press freedom guarantees, not exceptions.
Certainly, Egyptian journalists are aware of these needed improvements, and I’m not writing this column as a reminder to them. It’s just that much of the world went about its business during the thirty years Mubarak brutalized journalists. Egypt finally has the world’s attention, and anyone anywhere with any say needs to lend their voice so that Egyptians may always freely raise theirs.
Excellent article: well put and sorely needed.
Indeed, rights do not come from government, nor from govt-inked parchment.
Licensing, in any industry, serves mostly as a monopolizing device; so bravo for putting this at the top of your list of needed changes.
And yes, privatize. Or, rather, allow competition. Put the formerly regime-owned assets up for auction, or employ whatever are the least state-corrupted methods of transferring the loot back into private (non-state) hands.
Granted, all this may be the stuff of pipe dreams, in light of what history has shown about trusting any govt to relinquish power and control. Still, the current case in point, it is always worth pushing for freedom and independence from monopolized violence (e.g., govt).
Regards,
#1 Posted by Dan A., CJR on Wed 16 Feb 2011 at 06:45 PM
You got it all wrong. The western media wants to portray this as the work of the middle class Obama kids, twitterers and facebookers, all singing about "democracy". As anyone who knows Egypt at all, what will happen will be an epic clash between the Brotherhood and the Mubarek forces. The naivite is utterly mamazing
#2 Posted by Tali Paka, CJR on Thu 17 Feb 2011 at 11:11 AM
"At Clinton Speech: Veteran Bloodied, Bruised
and Arrested for Standing Silently":
justiceonline.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5553&news_iv_ctrl=1003/
"As Hillary Touts Free Speech, Police Brutalize Ray McGovern":
antiwar.com/blog/2011/02/17/as-hillary-touts-free-expression-police-brutalize-ray-mcgovern/
"Ray McGovern Discusses Brutal Arrest at Secretary Clinton's Internet Freedom Speech":
opednews.com/articles/Ray-McGovern-Assaulted-Bl-by-Rob-Kall-110217-781.html
#3 Posted by Dan A., CJR on Thu 17 Feb 2011 at 05:21 PM