The draft Somali Media Law has been assessed by international observers as not being a sufficient first step in securing a freer media in Somalia. The Transitional Federal Parliament of the Somali Republic (TFP) approved the draft Law on 1 December 2007 after a preliminary reading.

In an analysis of the draft Law published on 14 January 2008, ARTICLE 19 identifies a number of setbacks that are interlaced into its 27 articles. It suggests that the draft Law, if implemented under its current state, would provide an overly broad and ill-defined framework that would ultimately subject all media to a series of blurred constraints.

Some positive features are woven into the draft Law. For instance, the draft Law would outlaw censorship and the media’s duty of carrying out messages for the government or the opposition. However, ARTICLE 19 still presses for the expansion of such gains and for the revision or clarification of other clauses that are not consistent to international standards.

For example, in Article 1, the objectives of the media are outlined to include, “a). Safeguarding and promoting the Islamic religion, justice, culture, democracy, solidarity and unity of the Somali state and the nation. b). Promoting the public awareness and education. c). disseminating right information and ideology.” This list of objectives implicitly leads to designating the media to report on state interests and values or what is governmentally deemed as correct, and to uphold the government perspective rather than what is actually occurring. Under the Law anything that might provoke shock would be forbidden to be made public via any branch of the media. ARTICLE 19 responded to such aspects of the law by stating such “restrictions are unduly vague, overbroad and, in some cases, simply illegitimate as restrictions on freedom of expression.”

Also in its opening article, the draft Law states that “The media is the system through which information; knowledge, speeches, data, and ideas could be disseminated to the society while utilizing visual, auditory and printed devices. Such as Newspapers, radios, televisions, press agencies, websites, speeches, films, hand drawings, books and any other printed material exhibited openly to the public.” In turn, this subjects all forms of messages from cartoons to university speeches to be under control by the vaguely defined “National Media Council” (NMC).

To quell the worry surrounding such a backwards step, ARTICLE 19 proposes that the ambit of the draft Law should be redefined to separate the mass media (broadcast and mass circulation periodical publications) from other forms of public messages. Furthermore,regulatory powers putatively vested in the NMC need to be protected from political interference. However, such steps are perhaps even too fast paced as the entire law is overshadowed with confusion of what can be said, filmed, drawn, or written by who and under what supervising body.

In reference to the NMC, ARTICLE 19 wrote, “It is not clear what the role of the NMC really is, although it would appear to have a decision-making role, given that this may be appealed against.”

Various articles in the draft Law actually indicate that the Minister of Information (MOI) would ultimately regulate media output, relations,and even be responsible for appointing members of the NMC. The MOI’s towering role in the country’s media breaches international standards in that an official government body would be responsible for such tasks as arbitrarily deciding which media can be authorised and/or registered.

Toby Mendel, Law & Asia Programmes Director of ARTICLE 19, relayed to RAP 21 that “It is difficult to predict what implementation would bring and I think that full implementation would be difficult in a country like Somalia. It would be far better from a variety of perspectives to reduce the ambiguity in the law, which will always pose at least a potential threat of abuse, and also to reduce substantially the role of officials, and particularly the Minister of Information, in overseeing implementation.”

To read the ARTICLE 19 analysis please visit: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/analy.... An English translation of the draft Media law is available at: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/laws/...