Melhem: The government will protect press freedoms and no journalist will be arrested

 

Ramallah - (19/4/2019) - Palestinian government spokesman Ibrahim Melhem confirmed that the Palestinian government headed by Dr. Mohammad Ashtia will make every effort to make the media environment in Palestine more open and free and to stop any violation of press freedoms, Pledging that the  government no t will not  arrest journalists on   the basis of opinion.

 

This came during a meeting to discuss the "Index of Press Freedom and Means of Utilization of its Outputs" yesterday. The meeting organized by the Department of Diplomacy and Public Policy in the PLO and the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA).

The meeting was attended by members of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Dr. Faisal Arnaki, Undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of Information Yousef Al-Mahmoud, Director General of the MADA center Moussa Rimawi, researcher Majid  Arori, and number of representatives of official and civil institutions. The session was moderated by Director General of Public Policies Samia wazwaz.

 

Dr. Ashrawi opened the meeting by talking about the role of respect for rights and freedoms in strengthening the Palestinian self in front of the Israeli occupation, and the need to strengthen it as part of the consolidation of democratic practice in Palestine.

 

She referred to a set of laws proposals that had been prepared in previous years and is still awaiting approval, Such as the right to access to information law, and the law of the Supreme Council of Information, explaining that the Prime Minister Dr. Mohamed Ashtia expressed readiness during a meeting with him to receive all these laws drafts that have been worked on.

 

From his side Rimawi praised the positive trends shown by the government of Dr. Ashtia in the field of protection of freedoms and rights, pointing out that the freedom of the press index in Palestine prepared by MADA  reflects objectively the reality as it is, and called on all government and private bodies to benefit from the results and the recommendations of the Index.

 

He also pointed to the British campain  to defend media freedoms and stressed its importance, especially in the time of media freedoms deterioration in many parts of the world, and the need for decisions and policies that protect  the freedom of media in the conference , which will be held( by UK and Canada) next July.  

 

In the same context Melhem said: "The index reflects  this trend in the government, and this government will guard liberties for those present and absent." Adding that "the government will commit to spread the atmosphere of freedom between journalists and help journalists to obtain information and keep the confidentiality of their sources”.

 

He also added by saying: "I promise you that we will do everything we can to get to a better level. We do have violations, but we will work to ensure that we do not have any violations, and we promise that no journalist will be arrested based on his or her expression or opinion”.

 

"We promise you to safeguard the press to play its role as a fourth and dissuasive authority for the government when it deviates from the right way and for the press to pursue any violation committed by the government, so we correct our mistakes”, he further added.

 

Mr. Al-Arouri presented a summary of the research sample and the work methodology used in developing the index to reach a scientific objective that reflects the reality accurately and scientifically. He reviewed the main findings of the Freedom of the Press Index, which was based on eight axes covering various aspects related to freedom of the press.

 

Mr. Al-Arouri also pointed out that Palestine (as indicated by the index of freedom of the press) is located "halfway" or in a "sensitive and embarrassing", stressing the need to take measures based on the findings of the index in various axes to improve the existing situation, especially in areas that caused the decline of the index of freedom of the press in Palestine.

 

For his part, undersecretary of the Ministry of Information, Mr. Youssef Al-Mahmoud, on the directions of the Palestinian government, and the constant pursuit of development on the performance of media, pointing to discussions previously held on the form of government media sought for and the Ministry's keenness to protect media freedoms and broadcast.

 

Mrs. Hala Tannous of UNESCO office in Ramallah called on the Palestinian government to officially adopt the index, noting that the previous government had reached understandings with the Journalists Syndicate to protect media freedoms, but that did not translate on the ground.

 

Mr. Isam Bakr called on the Palestinian None governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) to initiate a serious dialogue between the government and civil society organizations and to harmonize Palestinian legislation with the agreements to which Palestine has acceded to.

 

Mr. Omar Rahhal, director general of the Shams Center, said that it is necessary to ban attacks on journalists and citizens and to inform the Palestinian public of the findings of some investigation committees that were formed to consider such violations and the measures taken against them.