Muhammad Al-Feilly, a Professor with Kuwait University’s law faculty, issued the warning during a workshop concerning the proposed amendments to the press and publication laws held at the Graduates’ Society headquarters in Bneid Al-Gar on Tuesday evening. "The less state control is practiced over the media, the easier it will be for the government to use the protection of its own legislations against any objections from other countries over anything said in the media," said Al-Feily, while discussing the possible implications of the recently proposed amendments being passed into law.
The workshop, entitled "Questions for discussion about the suggested amendments to the labor law,’ was attended by representatives of Kuwait’s media outlets and NGOs. The discussions about the law were divided into two major sections. The first part saw discussion of the possible reasons for suggesting amendments, while the second examined the possible implications of implementing this law.
Al-Feily began the discussion by suggesting a number of possible explanations for the proposal of the amendments.
First, the government lacks the ability to regulate this amount of freedom of expression. Second, the government is justifying it’s failure in handling the crisis over Al-Soor TV channel by suggesting the [existing] legislation itself is insufficient. Thirdly, and finally, the government could have triggered the whole issue in order to benefit from the reaction and implement censorship on the local media." Saud Al-Enizi of the Graduates’ Society said that all the world’s governments are by their nature against freedoms.
When the constitution was written, it made an exception to the rule; it took more authority from the government and gave it to the people, but that does not mean that government is not authoritarian by nature," he asserted. Al-Enizi noted that this characteristic of governments is global, citing the "Patriot Act" implemented in the US after 9/11 attacks as an example of this. "[Governments] always wait for the right moment to take a strike at liberties," he explained.
Amer Al-Tamimi, the deputy head of the Kuwaiti Society for Human Rights said that the real problem does not lie in the proposed legislation. "The real problem is that there are people in the elected authority supporting this, even though they were elected to defend freedoms," he said. Al-Tamimi added that the amendments rely on a number of values which oppose social freedom and don’t meet the Kuwaiti constitution’s principles.
Among the other issues discussed by the attendees was the government’s intention to implement censorship over blogging in the country, which they called a "regressive action." Speakers also criticized the proposed amendments to the audio-visual law, which would see TV talk shows censored prior to broadcasting.
All those who attended the workshop agreed that the media should not be blamed for the sectarian tensions in the country. "Many of the TV channels that speak in provocative way are either financed by the government, or [individuals] close to the government," asserted Al-Feily, adding, "This is something we need to take into consideration.
