Friday, November 26, 2004
Marrakech Express Heads for Tunis – By Steven Lang
MARRAKECH - Freedom of expression and the rights of the media have come out as big winners at a three-day conference in Marrakech on the role of African and Arab media in the information society. Drafts for a Marrakech Declaration and a Plan of Action both stress the importance of allowing journalists to carry out their duties without interference from national governments.
The documents prominently re-affirm Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights saying that, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression” and they implicitly recognize that many governments only pay lip service to such freedoms. The Marrakech Declaration says that it is now time to move from the “promise of Article 19 to its universal implementation”.
The Marrakech energy devoted to championing press freedom stems from a new commitment in the kingdom of Morocco to show that it has entered the third millennium fully committed to democratic values. Mohammed Nabil Benabdallah, minister of information of the host country, actively participated in the conference that has leaned heavily toward giving the media as much freedom as possible.
Benabdallah’s own ministry co-organised the conference which he formally opened, closed and where he personally assisted the committee drafting the final documents. This very visible commitment to media independence runs counter to the tendency in many of the neighbouring Arab states where governments retain tight controls over print and electronic media.
King Mohammed VI, still young and relatively new at his job, is gradually opening his country to democratic values. On December 10, Human Rights day, a special human rights commission will begin hearings into human rights abuses committed in recent years. The Moroccan Equity and Reconciliation Commission, modeled on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, will not prosecute members of the security forces provided they are truthful about abuses they had committed.
Early next year, Morocco will for the first time issue licences for independent radio stations.
Media in the Information Society
Many non-governmental organisations felt that the media was not properly represented at the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Geneva in December 2003. Some government delegations insisted that as the information society is a purely technical phenomenon - human rights and media concerns should not even have been debated.
For this reason, it was decided to hold a conference in Marrakech to debate what the role of the media in African and Arab states should be, and to raise awareness of media concerns in the second phase of WSIS in Tunis in 2005.
Delegates at the Marrakech conference argued for the protection of the role of the media because it has a vital role to play in the information society. They agreed that media contributes to the information society in three broad categories.
Firstly as a user of sophisticated electronic equipment, media drives the development of new technologies. In the broadcast industry, new generation digital audio and digital video systems routinely replace existing systems. Digital recorders are becoming smaller and more powerful every year thus requiring journalists to constantly learn news sets of skills.
Secondly, as one of the principal suppliers of content for the internet, the media has to be considered as key player in the information society. Without the information supplied by journalists the information society would be a contradiction in terms. The Marrakech conference recognized that it is not possible to separate content from technology, therefore the WSIS should acknowledge information providers as key role players.
Finally, through its influence on public opinion, the media plays a critical role in raising awareness of human rights abuses and corruption. By drawing attention to such abuses, the media has a role to play in the protection of human rights.
Internet Governance
Extensive debates on internet governance at the Marrakech meeting did not deal with the most critical question on this subject – namely ‘who should manage the internet?’ This thorny issue was so contentious at the first phase of WSIS that Kofi Anan, the UN Secretary General was asked to create a special working group on the topic. The group has been instructed to present a set of recommendations on internet governance to the next WSIS preparatory meeting.
Currently, the Internet Corporation on Assigned Names and Numbers, (ICANN) administers the internet – a function that many developing countries would prefer to have transferred to a UN agency – possibly the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Most industrialised countries would rather see ICANN continue in its present form.
While the Marrakech forum spoke out unequivocally about not allowing concerns of internet governance such as spam, hacking and other types of cybercrime to open the door for heavy handed regulation of the internet, no real attempt was made to decide on who should be responsible for managing the internet.
The Marrakech Declaration and Plan of Action will be presented to the preparatory meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society with the expectation that its recommendations influence the outcome of the final summit in Tunis.
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MARRAKECH - Freedom of expression and the rights of the media have come out as big winners at a three-day conference in Marrakech on the role of African and Arab media in the information society. Drafts for a Marrakech Declaration and a Plan of Action both stress the importance of allowing journalists to carry out their duties without interference from national governments.
The documents prominently re-affirm Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights saying that, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression” and they implicitly recognize that many governments only pay lip service to such freedoms. The Marrakech Declaration says that it is now time to move from the “promise of Article 19 to its universal implementation”.
The Marrakech energy devoted to championing press freedom stems from a new commitment in the kingdom of Morocco to show that it has entered the third millennium fully committed to democratic values. Mohammed Nabil Benabdallah, minister of information of the host country, actively participated in the conference that has leaned heavily toward giving the media as much freedom as possible.
Benabdallah’s own ministry co-organised the conference which he formally opened, closed and where he personally assisted the committee drafting the final documents. This very visible commitment to media independence runs counter to the tendency in many of the neighbouring Arab states where governments retain tight controls over print and electronic media.
King Mohammed VI, still young and relatively new at his job, is gradually opening his country to democratic values. On December 10, Human Rights day, a special human rights commission will begin hearings into human rights abuses committed in recent years. The Moroccan Equity and Reconciliation Commission, modeled on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, will not prosecute members of the security forces provided they are truthful about abuses they had committed.
Early next year, Morocco will for the first time issue licences for independent radio stations.
Media in the Information Society
Many non-governmental organisations felt that the media was not properly represented at the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Geneva in December 2003. Some government delegations insisted that as the information society is a purely technical phenomenon - human rights and media concerns should not even have been debated.
For this reason, it was decided to hold a conference in Marrakech to debate what the role of the media in African and Arab states should be, and to raise awareness of media concerns in the second phase of WSIS in Tunis in 2005.
Delegates at the Marrakech conference argued for the protection of the role of the media because it has a vital role to play in the information society. They agreed that media contributes to the information society in three broad categories.
Firstly as a user of sophisticated electronic equipment, media drives the development of new technologies. In the broadcast industry, new generation digital audio and digital video systems routinely replace existing systems. Digital recorders are becoming smaller and more powerful every year thus requiring journalists to constantly learn news sets of skills.
Secondly, as one of the principal suppliers of content for the internet, the media has to be considered as key player in the information society. Without the information supplied by journalists the information society would be a contradiction in terms. The Marrakech conference recognized that it is not possible to separate content from technology, therefore the WSIS should acknowledge information providers as key role players.
Finally, through its influence on public opinion, the media plays a critical role in raising awareness of human rights abuses and corruption. By drawing attention to such abuses, the media has a role to play in the protection of human rights.
Internet Governance
Extensive debates on internet governance at the Marrakech meeting did not deal with the most critical question on this subject – namely ‘who should manage the internet?’ This thorny issue was so contentious at the first phase of WSIS that Kofi Anan, the UN Secretary General was asked to create a special working group on the topic. The group has been instructed to present a set of recommendations on internet governance to the next WSIS preparatory meeting.
Currently, the Internet Corporation on Assigned Names and Numbers, (ICANN) administers the internet – a function that many developing countries would prefer to have transferred to a UN agency – possibly the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Most industrialised countries would rather see ICANN continue in its present form.
While the Marrakech forum spoke out unequivocally about not allowing concerns of internet governance such as spam, hacking and other types of cybercrime to open the door for heavy handed regulation of the internet, no real attempt was made to decide on who should be responsible for managing the internet.
The Marrakech Declaration and Plan of Action will be presented to the preparatory meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society with the expectation that its recommendations influence the outcome of the final summit in Tunis.
