A new Arab League charter on satellite broadcasting adopted this month amounts to a "crude assault on free speech" that Arab governments should publicly reject, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
Arab governments, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, adopted a satellite broadcasting charter on February 12 that will entrench state control over broadcasts and curtail political expression on the airwaves over a region of some 300 million people.
"Egypt and Saudi Arabia should be ashamed for sponsoring a proposal that would extend repression of free speech to airwaves across the region," said Joe Stork, the US-based rights group's director for the Middle East and North Africa.
The Arab charter bans airing material seen as undermining "social peace, national unity, public order and general propriety", as well as criticising religions or defaming political, national or religious leaders. "Many Arab states routinely use this language of 'state interests' and 'national sovereignty' as an excuse to imprison journalists and intimidate critics," Stork said in a statement.
According to the charter, a host government can suspend or revoke the broadcasting licence of a broadcaster that violates the rules. Human Rights Watch said only Qatar and Lebanon had publicly opposed the document. Qatar-based satellite channel Al Jazeera, seen as the most popular network in the Arab world, has said the charter would hinder independent reporting.
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