(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: Review of Iraq’s Constitution should strengthen freedom of expression protection One of the first orders of business of Iraq’s newly elected parliament is to review the new Constitution. As part of a deal to gain all-party support, the Constitution adopted in October 2005 includes […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:
Review of Iraq’s Constitution should strengthen freedom of expression protection
One of the first orders of business of Iraq’s newly elected parliament is to review the new Constitution. As part of a deal to gain all-party support, the Constitution adopted in October 2005 includes a clause that requires that, as soon as Iraq’s first new government is formed, a parliamentary committee be formed to review the Constitution. This committee has a four-month window within which to recommend changes.
ARTICLE 19 believes that this opportunity should be taken to strengthen the protection of human rights in the new Constitution, in particular the right to freedom of expression, and to unequivocally establish the independence of both the media regulator and the national broadcaster. We therefore urge the Iraqi parliament to adopt the following amendments:
– Article 36, the freedom of expression provision, should be strengthened to explicitly prohibit any censorship or licensing of media outlets other than broadcasters;
– The right to access information held by – or under the control of – a public body should be recognised;
– Restrictions on freedom of expression and access to information should be allowed only by law and only when truly necessary to protect a legitimate aim;
-The mandate and independence of both the National Communication and Media Commission, which is the national broadcast regulator, and the Iraqi Media Network, the national broadcaster, should be protected;
– The Constitution should establish international human rights treaties ratified by Iraq as directly applicable and of a superior nature to national legislation.
ARTICLE 19’s Recommendations can be found in full on: http://www.article19.org.
The new Iraqi constitution can be found on: http://www.iraqidustour.com/english/latest-constitution.htm
