In 1988...

After a military coup in Iraq in 1963, all political groups and parties were banned along with their press organs, except for the Ba’ath Party.

Information is tightly controlled. Nothing appears in the print or broadcast media that is in any way critical of prevailing policy or the leadership.

There is nothing in the Iraqi Constitution which specifically affirms the freedom of the press… The 1968 Press Code lists a wide range of forbidden subjects that the censor shall not allow to be published. These include: any criticism of the President, of members of the Revolutionary Command Council.

The Penal Code provides for life imprisonment, confiscation of property or the death penalty for insulting the President of the Republic or those who are acting on his behalf… From 1970 until 1981, no foreign publications were permitted in the country.

The State has undertaken a complete reorganisation of the intellectual and cultural life of the country. Artists must belong to the State-controlled Artists’ Union and their work is dictated by the Committee of the Union … In 1980, the State dissolved all cultural and literacy federations and societies and replaced them with a ‘General Federation of the Literate and Writers’. It has been reported that many former members of dissolved organisations have been forced to join the Federation and those who have refused to work under the supervision of the Federation have been persecuted, jailed or assassinated. Read more...

In 2008...

Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, then occupied by the UK during World War I, then declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration, Iraq became a sovereign State in 1932. A republic was proclaimed in 1958. The President of the republic was overthrown in a coup by the Ba’ath Party in 1968, which remained in power until the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Following the invasion, the US authorities established the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to govern Iraq. Government authority was transferred to the Iraqi Interim Government in June 2004 and a Constitution was approved by referendum and a permanent government elected in October 2005. The political framework of Iraq is a developing parliamentary democracy composed of 18 governorates, with a semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government established in the north.

Five years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the human rights situation in Iraq is devastating and the country is one of the most dangerous places in the world with hundreds of Iraqi civilians killed every month. The country is characterised by spiralling violence, absence of security, a growing trend of religious extremism and a climate of impunity. Since early 2006, violence has intensified and become more sectarian. According to a 2008 Amnesty International report, over four million people are displaced, two million of them refugees in Syria and Jordan. According to a January 2008 survey by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Iraq’s Health Ministry, 151,000 people were killed between March 2003 and June 2006. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), some 34,452 people were killed during 2006, with thousands injured.

Legal and Regulatory Framework

The legal and regulatory framework for freedom of expression is predominantly composed of Ba’ath-era laws. These are highly restrictive of free expression and include a wide range of crimes such as broad-ranging insult and defamation offences, publication of false news, and public order and national security offences, as well as extensive State secrecy laws. Strict licensing and registration requirements for the media and an effective State monopoly of the media were in place until 2003.

By virtue of Article 126 of the 2005 Constitution, all pre-existing laws remain in force unless specifically annulled by Parliament. Some laws relating to freedom of expression have been considered to be no longer effective, although they have not been specifically annulled. However, many of the Ba’ath-era laws on the media have continued to be enforced, particularly the criminal defamation provisions, the restrictions on access to information, and repressive licensing and registration requirements for the media.

In addition, the CPA promulgated a number of Orders which restricted the operations of the media and a number of these remain in force. Finally, the current government has maintained tight restrictions on the media in pursuit of its security agenda.

After the transfer of sovereignty to Iraq in June 2004, the Communication and Media Commission (CMC) of Iraq was created to serve as media regulator similar to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or the UK’s Office of Communication (Ofcom). The CMC is a body designed as an independent regulatory authority for Iraqi communication industries, including television (both satellite and terrestrial), radio, telecommunications, and wireless communications such as the Internet. According to the 2005 Constitution, the CMC is a financially and administratively independent institution that is ‘attached’ to Parliament but framed to ensure that it cannot be controlled by a government body, such as the Ministry of Information. As of 2007, the CMC continued to operate under the auspices of CPA Order 65, which established the regulatory body and outlined its functions and responsibilities. It is hoped that domestic Iraqi legislation will soon be enacted to give a permanent statutory basis for CMC operations. A draft legislative proposal prepared by the CMC to replace CPA Order 65 was tabled before Parliament in 2006 but it did not progress. Further draft legislation will need to be re-tabled in the near future.

Political Expression

In the past few years constitutional developments and parliamentary elections have constituted important political milestones in the country’s transition to democracy. Since the US-led invasion in 2003 Iraqis have participated in two national political elections and one referendum in order to approve the new Constitution. The political structure is characterised by a plurality of parties that operate under the Constitution approved on October 2005: legislative authority is vested in two bodies, the Council of Representatives and the Council of Union.

However, the violence and climate of impunity that prevail in the country hinder any true forms of political expression. Members of Parliament, political opponents, human rights and women’s rights advocates, judges, academics, artists, media workers and activists of all types are targeted, kidnapped, tortured and killed for their work or because of their political affiliation. Hundreds have been forced to leave the country.

The majority of political parties and groups are formed along ethnic and religious lines and they are increasingly perceived as militias playing a negative role and contributing to violence rather than decreasing tension.

‘Members of Parliament, political opponents, human rights and women’s rights advocates, judges, academics, artists, media workers and activists of all types are targeted, kidnapped, tortured and killed for their work or because of their political affiliation.’

A number of restrictions on political expression exist, including protection for public figures and symbols through criminal defamation laws, and there have been a number of prosecutions in respect of independent and critical reporting in the media. In addition, the ability of the media to report freely often depends on the factions to which journalists are affiliated. Journalists affiliated to the more powerful parties are offered protection and are free to criticise rival politicians and parties belonging to other ethno-sectarian groups. Independent journalists and media bold enough to criticise Iraqi politicians are often intimidated by the militias affiliated to the targeted policy maker.

Political expression is also influenced by the highly partisan nature of Iraq’s media. Ethno-sectarian ‘media empires’ have emerged and are a pervasive element in Iraq’s Fourth Estate. These media empires have coalesced around ethno-political groups in Iraq who have print, radio and television communications at their disposal. Ethnic factions among the Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens, and religious-sectarian factions among the Sunni, Shi’a and Christian communities, all have their own means of communicating to their constituencies in Iraq and to the Iraqi diaspora abroad. As a result, parties in power as well as opposition parties have their own ‘mouthpieces’ to communicate their political platforms during election campaigns.

News Media

Following the demise of the Ba’ath government in 2003, there was a massive expansion of privately owned media outlets, as Iraqis of all political, ethnic and religious persuasions sought to freely express their views, seizing the opportunity that had been denied them for decades.

As a result, there is a wide range of media in both the print and broadcast sectors, including a number of satellite television stations broadcasting from inside and outside Iraq. These media predominantly exist in the form of commercial or public service broadcasting or print media. In respect of broadcasting, media outlets are predominantly commercial or public service broadcasting – community broadcasting appears not to have been able to develop in the current economic conditions.

The Iraqi Media Network (IMN) was established in 2004 by CPA Order 66 as the country’s public service media network. It comprises Al Iraqiya, the national public service television broadcaster, Radio Iraq, the national radio broadcaster, and Al Sabaah, the national public newspaper. It also includes a network of regional television and radio broadcasters.

‘Following the demise of the Ba’ath government in 2003, there was a massive expansion of privately owned media outlets, as Iraqis of all political, ethnic and religious persuasions sought to freely express their views’

At present, there are no reliable statistics of audiences in Iraq. A comprehensive audience research study determining how age, location and income affect media consumption is not available. What can be observed, however, is a high demand for news and information in both the print and broadcast media. In respect of the broadcast media, there is an emphasis on receiving news information and entertainment from satellite television channels – Iraqi, Arab and international. Satellite dishes were banned during the Ba’ath Party era and this source of news and information has become popular in the last few years.

The Iraqi media are pluralistic in that they serve as outlets for all of Iraq’s ethno-sectarian communities. However, media ownership is highly concentrated in the sense that many media outlets are controlled by political or religious interests. Ethnic and sectarian political groups have formed powerful media empires, including print and broadcast media which operate in Iraq and internationally.

For example, among the Arab Shi’a parties, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the largest party in Parliament, owns Al-‘Adala (Justice) daily newspaper, Al-Ghadir radio station and Al-Furat (The Euphrates) satellite channel. The Da’wa Party, the second most powerful Shi’a group, owns Al-Da’wa (The Call) daily newspaper, Al-Masar radio station and Al-Masar television channel. The Sadr Trend, led by the cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, owns the Ishraqat al-Sadr daily newspaper, Al-Hawza al-Natiqa (The Active Hawza) weekly newspaper, and Al-Salam radio and television stations. Media owned by rival Arab Sunni groups include the Iraqi Islamic Party’s Dar al-Salam (House of Peace) newspaper and radio station, and the Baghdad Satellite Channel.

Ethnic-based media include the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP’s) Khabat daily newspaper in Kurdish, Al-Ta’akhi (Brotherhood) daily newspaper in Arabic and the Kurdistan Satellite Channel. The KDP’s partner and sometimes rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), circulates Al-Ittihad (The Union) daily newspaper in Arabic, Kurdistan Nuwe daily newspaper in Kurdish, and owns the KurdSat satellite channel. The Iraqi Turkmen Front, representing Iraqi Turkmen, owns Turkmenelli (The Turkmen Nation) daily newspaper, radio and television stations, much of which is in the Turkish language. The Assyrian Democratic Movement made up of the ethnic Assyrian Christian community owns the Bahra al-Diya (The Light) newspaper and the Ashur (Assyria) terrestrial Arabic television station in Sulaymaniyya and Mosul.

New Technologies

Figures on Internet use and mobile phone access are often unreliable. Internet availability in private homes and universities is minimal in the centre and south of the country. Most Iraqis access e-mail and the World Wide Web at the Internet cafes that proliferated across the country after the 2003 war. Internet access in the Kurdish Regional Government areas is more widely available in homes and universities, with the University of Sulaymaniyya having a campus-wide wireless network. Mobile phones are widely available in Iraq and are often considered a necessity due to the unreliability of land lines.

Repression of Media Workers

The overall situation in which Iraq’s media operates continues to be dire. The very poor security and human rights situation has had a tremendous impact on the Iraqi media, and there have been ongoing indications in 2006 and 2007 that the government is not taking appropriate measures to provide protection, or indeed to abstain from imposing highly oppressive censorship on the media. Journalists are not only killed while covering Iraq’s continuing violence, but often they are deliberately targeted by politicians, parties and militias who have been criticised in the media.

Throughout 2007, journalists and media workers remained among the most vulnerable groups in Iraq. The conditions under which they operate are by far the worst and deadliest in the world for their profession. While violence from insurgents posed the greatest threat to journalists, in 2006 Iraqi journalists reported that the US military and Iraqi security forces continued to endanger them and inhibit their work.

Journalists and media workers also face the very real prospect of other forms of attack and harassment in their day to day work. According to the Iraqi group The Journalists Freedom Observatory (JFO), as of March 2008, 274 journalists had been killed since the beginning of the war in 2003. Reporters Without Borders reported in its 2007 annual report that 47 journalists and nine media workers had been killed in 2007. Many journalists have also been forced to flee the country after receiving threats or following assassination attempts.

These attacks, and the general deterioration in security, severely affect the ability of the media to do their job and report on matters of public interest. In some parts of Iraq, the media have been brought to a virtual standstill by the continuing violence and lack of protection. For example, the UNAMI published a report from Ba’quba in 2007 describing the situation as so critical that media reporting was no longer possible unless carried out in total secrecy, and saying that satellite television channels from Diyala Governorate had to close their operations there. Protecting Iraqi journalists has proved difficult as it involves security organisations not necessarily involved with media, and Iraq’s security forces are often too busy protecting themselves. Independent journalists, without protection from militias or parties, have often become the victims in Iraq’s ethno-sectarian conflict. Refusing to comply with pressures from competing political factions to portray a party in a positive or negative light still results in significant dangers.

Media Censorship

A strict system of prior censorship was in operation during the regime of Saddam Hussein. All news agencies and broadcast media were State-owned and tightly controlled, and the predominant purpose of the media was to relay State propaganda. The Iraqi media were dominated by the Ba’ath elite and often served as a means of ideologically Ba’athifying Iraqi society. Prominent State-owned newspapers included Al-Thawra (The Revolution) and Al-Babil (Babylon). Terrestrial television was State-owned and the government launched the Iraqi Satellite Channel in 1998, although Iraqis inside the country were not allowed to watch it. A strict Penal Code was in place that punished journalists in a form of post censorship, particularly if they insulted President Saddam Hussein. After the 2003 war, these provisions of the Penal Code were still in effect, with the exclusion of the clause about insulting Saddam Hussein.

While prior censorship is no longer formally in existence, there is clear self-censorship within the media, with journalists avoiding reporting on issues that could lead to their harassment, intimidation, injury or death. On a positive note, however, subjects that are traditionally considered taboo in the Middle East, such as government corruption, poverty and unemployment, have begun to receive some attention in the Iraqi media.

Art Censorship

‘according to the Iraqi Artists Association, nearly 80 per cent of all Iraqi singers have fled the country and at least 75 singers have been killed since the US-led invasion in 2003.’

After the war, Iraq suffered from a flight of artists, painters, actors and musicians who were targeted by Islamist extremists. It appears that singers were particularly targeted: according to the Iraqi Artists Association, nearly 80 per cent of all Iraqi singers have fled the country and at least 75 singers have been killed since the US-led invasion in 2003. In September 2006, a group of religious enforcers in Baghdad banned ‘music-filled parties’ and all types of singing. In March 2007, it was reported that it was no longer safe to sell music in central and southern Iraq. American pop music is wholly prohibited, and even certain Arabic songs are deemed to be too Western by some religious extremists. Some artists have been subjected to harassment and persecution for insulting one of the political factions.

In terms of coverage of art through the media, some Iraqi channels feature entertainment programmes (either locally produced or imported), particularly comedy, music and drama. Self-censorship does exist in that entertainers and shows will not depict material offensive to Islam or Iraqi values, or that would exacerbate the ethno-sectarian conflict. An entertainment programme would be loath to humiliate a sectarian or ethnic group in Iraq, although news programmes have done this in the past. Passive censorship exists in terms of protecting the safety of artists.

Censorship of Particular Groups

Coverage of issues relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are usually considered taboo in the Middle East. They are considered heretical due to Islam’s forbidding of homosexuality. While it remains to be seen if the CMC will censor coverage or depictions of LGBT people in the media, it is likely that self-censorship will continue because of conservative sensitivities.

The current situation in Iraq has severely worsened women’s rights, as well as human rights in general, in almost all areas including personal freedom, education, employment, political participation and personal status matters.

Women are still effectively absent from decision-making despite their participation in the Iraqi Parliament. The Parliament today is divided into sectarian blocs and women parliamentarians and other Members of Parliament who may voice concern over women’s rights ultimately vote with their political bloc.

There are many concerns related to women and the media in Iraq. Women are often portrayed as weak, emotional, ignorant and narrow minded, and presented in their traditional roles solely as mothers, wives and sisters. Mass media include few programmes on women, and those that do fail to address adequately issues of main concern to women.

The spiralling violence and the growing trend of religious conservatism have trapped women and girls at home. Fewer children go to school and illiteracy and unemployment are on the rise. Some practices, previously unknown in Iraq, have emerged, such as segregation between men and women in public institutions and places, and the imposition of a dress code. These have severe implications for women, including on their freedom of expression and freedom of movement. At least 133 women were killed in Basra by religious extremists in 2007 because of how they dressed, their mutilated bodies dumped and bearing notes warning against ‘violating Islamic teachings’, according to a security report released early this year by local authorities.80 Since the beginning of the war, women activists have received threats demanding that they stop work or face death. Women journalists have been targeted by Islamist groups for challenging traditional gender roles. Many have lost their lives or have been forced to flee the country.