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2007 Assessment

Egypt: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Egypt: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Media
Indicators		Score
5	Are media and free speech protected?	100
6	Are citizens able to form print media entities?	44
7	Are citizens able to form broadcast (radio and TV) media entities?	44
8	Can citizens freely use the Internet?	25
9	Are the media able to report on corruption?	42
10	Are the media credible sources of information?	65
11	Are journalists safe when investigating corruption?	67

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are media and free speech protected?

5a: In law, freedom of the media is guaranteed.

Score:

YES

Comments: In law, freedom of the media is guaranteed. Article 48 of Egyptian Constitution protects the freedoms of press, printing, publication and information media. Censorship and suspending or shutting down newspapers by executive decrees are also banned. Only in the state of emergency and at times of war can the government impose limited censorship on newspapers, publications and information media in matters that pertain to general safety or national security in accordance with the law.

References: The Egyptian Constitution, article 48.

Peer Review Comments: Actually, the Constitution allows freedom of opinion and expression but there are a group of laws that restrict this freedom. Last September and October, some editor-in-chiefs of independent newspapers were sentenced to prison, among thems Adel Hamouda, editor-in-chief of Al-Fagr newspaper; Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of Al-Dostoor newspaper; Wael al-Ebrashy, editor-in-chief of Soot al-Omma newspaper; and Anwar al-Hwarry editor-in-chief of Al-Wafd newspaper. Also Karim Amer, an Egyptian blogger, was accused of insulting the president and despising religions and was sentenced to four years in prison.

5b: In law, freedom of speech is guaranteed.

Score:

YES

Comments: In law, the freedom of individual speech is guaranteed and each citizen has the right to express their points of view and publish them in all available forms in accordance with the law and self-criticism and constructive criticism for the safety of the national system.

References: The Egyptian Constitution, article 47.

Are citizens able to form print media entities?

6a: In practice, the government does not create barriers to form a print media entity.

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, the government does create barriers to forming print media entities. In contradiction with the Egyptian Constitution that guarantees the freedom of all citizens and political parties of possessing and issuing newspapers, law no. 96/1995 prohibits and seizes the right of normal citizens to possess or issue newspapers. This law imposes restrictions on establishing newspapers by physical and virtual persons as it treats newspapers as joint-stock companies and cooperatives and it requires a big sum of money for persons wanting to establish joint-stock companies to issue newspapers. Law no. 13/1979 that was modified by law no. 223/1989 confirms the state monopoly of possessing radio and television stations and prohibits individuals from establishing radio and television networks unlessthey are done as joint-stock companies, for which millions of Egyptian pounds would be needed. Law no. 3/1998 made the approval of the head of the Minister's Council a condition for allowing joint-stock companies to be established.

References: The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights www.eohr.org/or/htm

6b: In law, where a print media license is necessary, there is an appeal mechanism if a license is denied or revoked.

Score:

YES

Comments: Law no. 159/1981 for organizing media joint-stock companies and modified with law no. 3/1998 allows for a formal appeals process, through the courts, in case a print media license was denied, if the joint-stock company meets the legal conditions.

References: Law no. 3/1998 for organizing media joint-stock companies

6c: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a print media license within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, citizens can obtain a print media license in different time periods. The time to get a license depends on the position and attitude of the government towards the persons trying to get the license - whether these are supporting or opposing the government. One of the prerequisites for issuing a newspaper is to get the approval of the Supreme Council of Press to the joint-stock company that is going to issue papers. The leftist "Al-Badeel" (the alternative) newspaper was delayed for a year because the Supreme Council of Press was resistant to giving the license despite the fact that all the prerequisites for establishing joint-stock companies were satisfied. Under the pressure of civil society organizations, the Supreme Council of Press gave its consent in July 2007.

References: Al-Masry Al-Yawoum (the Egyptian today) newspaper, Dec. 23, 2006

6d: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a print media license at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: According to law no. 96/1995 only organizations, joint-stock companies and cooperatives, not individuals, can obtain a print media license for a daily newspaper after depositing 1 million Egyptian pounds (US$182.540) in bank as an insurance, and 250,000 Egyptian pounds (US$45,635) for a weekly newspaper. Law no. 13/1979 for organizing radio and television networks stipulates that the media joint-stock companies wanting to launch a network or a TV channel must deposit 50 million Egyptian pounds (US$9.1 million) in bank as an insurance. This is, of course, an unreasonable, crippling precondition.

References: Law no. 96/1995 for organizing issuing newspapers, article 45. Law no. 13/1979 for organizing radio and television networks.

Are citizens able to form broadcast (radio and TV) media entities?

7a: In practice, the government does not create barriers to form a broadcast (radio and TV) media entity.

Score:

100

Comments: According to law no. 13/1979 and modified with law no. 223/1989, the state monopolizes the ownership of radio and television networks. Thus, radio and television in Egypt express the view points of the government, while other view points have no place in the Egyptian radio and television.

References: Law no. 13/1979 and modified with law no. 223/1989 for organizing radio and television networks.

7b: In law, where a broadcast (radio and TV) media license is necessary, there is an appeal mechanism if a license is denied or revoked.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to law no. 3/1998 for organizing media joint-stock companies, a formal process to appeal a denied broadcast media license is permitted. When the media joint-stock companies meet the criteria posed by the law, they can appeal the refusal of the Ministry of Information. The court can give them the license to work.

References: Law no. 3/1998 for organizing media joint-stock companies.

7c: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a broadcast (radio and TV) media license within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, joint-stock companies can obtain a broadcast (radio and TV) media license in different time periods. In practice there is no fixed period of time for obtaining a broadcast (radio and TV) media license.The time to get a license depends on the position and attitude of the government towards the persons trying to get the license - whether they supporting or opposing the government. Political parties (such as Al-Wafd) and religious groups (such as the Egyptian church) suffered a lot to obtain licenses of this kind. Political conditions, the relationship with the political regime and the focus of the channel are the main factors that determine the whole matter. For sports channels, there can be no objection. But for channels for political parties and religious groups there would so many objections, and the time period for obtaining the license would be longer.

References: Law no. 3/1998 for organizing media joint-stock companies.

7d: In practice, where necessary, citizens can obtain a broadcast (radio and TV) media license at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: Law no. 3/1998 stipulates that media joint-stock companies must deposit 50 million Egyptian pounds (US$9.1 million) in bank as insurance. This makes it very difficult for individual citizens to obtain a broadcast (radio and TV) media license. Only some political parties and businessmen can meet that condition.

References: Law no. 3/1998 for organizing media joint-stock companies; interveiws with the leaders of Al-Wafd political party; Several media reports

Can citizens freely use the Internet?

8a: In practice, the government does not prevent citizens from accessing content published online.

Score:

100

Comments: Without legal basis, the government prevents citizens from accessing the content or sites that it wants to hide from them. Government does not completely control the internet in the way it controls traditional media (radio, television and newspapers). Internet is much more freer than other information media. However, government practices have intangible control over the internet. Preventing opposition web-sites is not regular, but it is publicly discussed in Egypt. For example, the government prohibited the web-site of the "People Newspaper" representing the Labor Party and overlooked all massive criticisms. On Sept. 1, 2004, the government also prohibited the website of Akhwan Mouslmeen group (Muslim Brothers) (www.ikwanonline.com). One of the most famous prohibited web-sites was that of the Egyptian opposition to bequeathing presidency in Egypt to Gamal Moubarak, son of president Moubarak (www.egyptiantalks.org) that was launched as part of the web-site of the opposition political party: Al-Wafd. Other websites prohibited include Egypt Affairs Forum (www.masreayti.org), Save Egypt Front (www.saveegyptfront.org) in January 2006, Freedom Forums (www.horrya... ), all of which call for political reform and democratic transition and oppose bequeathing presidency in Egypt to Gamal Moubarak, son of president Moubarak. Because of their political use, Blog web-sites are among the ones fought against by the government, either by corrupting the web-site (internet detectives phenomenon) or by compelling organizers of these sites to shut them down. (The Arab Network for Human Rights Information An Obstinate Opponent- The Internet and Arab Countries, 2006, PP. 151-152.)

References: Law no. 10/2003 for organizing communications; Government statstics; Media reports; Academic studies;

The Arab Network for Human Rights Information An Obstinate Opponent- The Internet and Arab Countries, 2006, PP. 151-152.

8b: In practice, the government does not censor citizens creating content online.

Score:

100

Comments: The government censors citizens in their treatments on the internet. The government established a separate unit in the Interior Ministry under the name "The Administration for Fighting The Crimes Pertaining To Computers and World Wide Web" -known among internet users as "internet police" - to be responsible for monitoring and following the crimes resulting from technological developments making use of more advanced technological systems. Gen. Samy Bahnasawy, undersecretary and assistant of the Interior minister and director of the general administration for information and documentation to which the new administration was added, declared that "the work groups in the new administration follow internet problems on daily basis, monitor and examin all treatments, especially data and information movement to and from the external world. In case of identifying illegal actions endangering the security and stability of the state, they immediately intervene in coordination with other specific administrations". (Ibid, P. 153). That new administration has a website (www.ccd.gov.eg) of one page only that includes the telephone number and email of the administration where citizens can inform of internet activities that deserve intervention by the Interior Ministry. (Amr Khalaf, There Is No Law for Internet Crimes, Nahdat Misr newspaper, issue 627, 18/4/2006.) Since 2002, the new administration arrested many political activists and journalists. Among those were Kareem Amr who were sentenced to spend four years in prison for blogs he published on some internet sites such as www.koran903.blogspot.com. In the case of Hala Helmy Bottros, known as Hala Al-Masry, who used to publish in a blog entitled "Cops without Boundaries" www.halaelmasry.blogspot.com the government harassed her, "unknown people" beat her father, and she and her husband were arrested and signed a commitment to shut down the blog.

References: Media reports Court cases Laws organizing communications

Are the media able to report on corruption?

9a: In law, it is legal to report accurate news even if it damages the reputation of a public figure.

Score:

YES

Comments: the Egyptian Constitution and several alws guarantee the freedom of expression. Articles 46, 47, 48 and 49 are clear in securing free expression. In Egypt, there are laws that contradict the constitution that are contested as such in the Supreme Constitutional Court. Yet, there are no laws or regulations that prohibit reporting news even if it damages the reputation of a public figure, including the president of the republic. There are articles for abuse and defamation in the Criminal Law. Also in the new press law that substituted law no. 96/1995 there is an article related to insulting the president of the republic, if it is certain for the court that the news and reports are not objective or far from constructive criticism.

References: Nahdit Misr newspaper, Dec. 14-15, 2006 The Egyptian Constitution The Criminal Law The Press Law

9b: In practice, the government or media owners/distribution groups do not encourage self-censorship of corruption-related stories.

Score:

100

Comments: Governmental censorship is imposed on all information media, including newspapers, radio and television. Article 3 of the emergency law no. 162/1958 that has been in effect since President Mubarak held office in 1981 gives the president of the government, as the military governor, and his representatives the authority to give orders to censor letters, newspapers, newsletters, publications and to seize, arrest and shut down all means of expression, propaganda and advertisement. In its documentation, the Egyptian Organization of Human Rights found that all individuals and media organizations that were legally pursued were those who wrote about government corruption. Many prominent writers and intellectuals writing in opposition and independent newspapers questioned the ability of information media to make progress towards free expression considering that the constitution gives the president massive authorities, among them the ability to muzzle his opponents.

References: The Emergency Law no. 162/1958, Nahdit Misr newspaper, Dec. 14-15, 2006 The Egyptian Organization of Human Rights

9c: In practice, there is no prior government restraint (pre-publication censoring) on publishing corruption-related stories.

Score:

100

Comments: The restraints and reservations put upon newspapers in publishing corruption-related stories diminish the freedom of newspapers and all information media to disclose corruption-related issues. Although the law and constitution guarantee the right of journalists to find news and information, in practice this is hindered by tens of laws and regulations. There are several laws that restrict the freedom of news and information sharing. Among them are law no. 2/1975 concerning publishing official documents, law no. 58 and its amendments, law no. 29/1982, law no. 199/1983, law no. 97/1992, law no. 96/1995 and law no. 162/1958 ( the emergency law) that gives the president of the government, as the military governor, and his representatives the authority to prohibit publishing, censoring, arresting, seizing and shutting down newspapers. The Attorney General also has the authority to prevent publishing news on particular crimes. Recent amendments of law no. 96/1995 allows the prosecutor the authority to keep defendants in prison for extended times in case of being accused of insulting the president of the government, judiciary members or the armed force symbols.

References: Transparency, Popular Censorship, Freedom of Information And The Role of The Civil Society in Democratic Change, in the Driving Force of Political Reform, a seminar held in Ibn-Rushd Center for Development, Noc. 29-30, /2005;

Several laws.

Are the media credible sources of information?

10a: In law, print media companies are required to disclose their ownership.

Score:

YES

Comments: In law, print media companies are required to disclose their ownership. Law no. 159/1981 concerning the joint-stock media companies, amended by law no. 3/1998 require print media companies to disclose their ownership.

References: Law no. 3/1998 Law no. 159/1981

10b: In law, broadcast (radio and TV) media companies are required to disclose their ownership.

Score:

YES

Comments: In law, broadcast (radio and TV) media companies are monopolized by the government. As for joint-stock media companies, they are required to disclose their ownership.

References: Law no. 3/1998

10c: In practice, journalists and editors adhere to strict, professional practices in their reporting.

Score:

100

Comments: By the nature of their role, journalists have the ability to influence and communicate with citizens. Most journalists and editors in national, opposition or independent newspapers adhere to the journalistic charter of integrity. This charter binds journalists to practice objective and document-based criticism and to avoid subjective, purposeful criticism. The Egyptian Constitution and judgments of the Constitutional Court in several cases established the freedom of expression and emphasized the right of constructive criticism. Professional weakness of some press reports are due to obstacles and chains posed upon free information access, not to the lack of professionalism among journalists.

References: Risks of Being Exposed to Prison And Legal Pursuits: Lack or Misuse of Freedom, Al-Araby newspaper Dec. 15, 2006

10d: In practice, during the most recent election, political parties or independent candidates received fair media coverage.

Score:

100

Comments: in the last parliamentary elections, the national newspapers had clear bias for the candidates of the ruling National Democratic Party, while neglecting the independent and other political powers and parties. Independent newspapers were more neutral and fair in covering the events of the elections than the national state-owned ones, whether quantitatively or qualitatively. The Egyptian television was clearly biased in favor of the candidates of the ruling party. It was very far from offerinn balanced and objective reporting. At the time when Arab-speaking satellite channels such as Al-Jazzera, Al-Arabiya and Al-Houra disclosed several violations and transgressions including violence, organized violence, police intervention, preventing voters from entering election committees and assaults against the judges supervising the election process, the Egyptian TV was persisting in presenting a picture of a quiet, fair election process. Some other state-owned channels covered a few simple problems, but all state-owned TVs and newspapers joined forces in the attack against the Muslim Brothers group. Contrary to the goals of this coordinated attack, and perhaps because of it, the Muslim Brothers group gained the sympathy of ordinary citizens. The report by Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies found that the rates of the television coverage of the last elections were 24 percent and 76 percent for independent and party candidates, respectively, despite the fact that the independent candidates constituted 80 percent of the total candidates. The candidates of the ruling party received the majority of the information coverage in all media, 69 percent, with a wide gap separating it from the next opposition political powere: the leftist Tagamoua party (9 percent), the liberal Ghad (Tomorrow) party (6 percent) and the liberal Wafd (Delegate) party (1percent). The Arab socialist Narist party, the Labor Party and the Muslim Brothers group received no coverage at all.

References: www.cihrs.org www.egyptcrc.org/en/index/httm

10e: In practice, political parties and candidates have equitable access to state-owned media outlets.

Score:

100

Comments: The state-owned media outlets are totally biased in favor of the ruling party, presenting an ambiguous and unbalanced view of the events in the election process. Political parties and independent candidates have no access to state-owned media outlets. Even in the TV programs that are supposed to give space to all candidates to present their election programs, the state-owned TV neglected opposition and independent candidates.

References: www.hrinfa.net/egypt/cpe

Are journalists safe when investigating corruption?

11a: In practice, in the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been imprisoned.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there were no journalists imprisoned related to work covering corruption during the study period. A YES score is positive. NO: A NO score is earned if any journalist was jailed because of his/her work covering corruption during the study period. The causal relationship between the official charges and the journalist\'s work may not be explicit, however the burden of proof here is low. If it seems likely that the journalist was imprisoned due to his or her work, then the indicator is scored as a NO. Corruption is defined broadly to include any abuses of power, not just the passing of bribes.$

Comments: The journalist of Al-Jazzera channel, Howayda Taha, was preventively imprisoned while she was investigated for her videotapes showing torture in Egyptian police stations. The journalists Ibraheem Isa and Saher Zaki from Al-Dostour (Constitution) newspaper and Wael El-Ibrashy from Sout Al-Uma (Nation's Voice) newspaper were prosecuted for several charges, including insulting the president of the republic and defaming officials. They were sent to prison for periods ranging from one to three years. The public opinion and human rights organizations succeeded in reducing their punishment to forfeiture.

References: Alwafd newspaper, Jan. 14, 2007 Nahdit Misr newspaper, Oct. 14, 2006

Peer Review Comments: A first-level ruling was given against some editor-in-chiefs of independent newspapers. They paid high fines (which they could not afford) in order to delay enforcement of the ruling until their case could be seen by the highest-level court, which hasn't made its ruling as of yet.

11b: In practice, in the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been physically harmed.

Score:

YES

Comments: In practice, over the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been physically harmed.

References: MEDIA REPORTS INTERVIEWS WITH CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS

Peer Review Comments: Some journalists were harassed by the police during the demonstrations held against the ruling regime and also during labor strikes.

11c: In practice, in the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been killed.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there were no documented cases of journalists being killed because of their work covering corruption-related issues during the study period. A YES score is positive. NO: A NO score is earned if there were any documented cases where a journalist was killed in relation to his or her work covering corruption-related issues in the study period. The relationship between a mysterious death and an individual\'s work may not be clear, however the burden of proof here is low. If it is a reasonable guess that a person was killed in relation to his or her work on corruption issues, then the indicator is scored as a NO. Corruption is defined broadly to include any abuses of power, not just the passing of bribes.$

Comments: In practice, in the past year, no journalists investigating corruption have been killed.

References: The archives of state-owned, opposition and independent papers.