Darouza was shot dead by Israeli troops for covering the truth

By Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Cairo Staff

CAIRO, April 23 (IslamOnline.net) – The Arab Union of Journalists hailed on Thursday, April 24, the Jordan's scrapping of a controversial amendment to the kingdom's press law that imposed heavy penalties for a range of violations, calling on other Arab countries to follow suit.

"The Union hails the Jordanian decision as a positive step worth of recommendation in the Arab country," the Union said in a statement of the modifications added to the article 150 of the Penal Code.

Article 150 of the Jordanian penal code was amended as part of a package of counter-terrorism laws introduced following the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

The amendment, introduced by royal decree following the dissolution of parliament in June 2001, was revoked by the government during a weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, April 21.

"The move should act as incentive to push Arab governments that had earlier moved hard to impose penalties that allow imprisoning journalists for the content of their publications to follow suit," the AUJ chief Salaheddin Hafez said.

The amendment, adopted in October 2001, allowed for the "permanent or temporary closure" of publications that carry "false or libelous information that can undermine national unity or the country's reputation".

Publications carrying articles that incite "crimes, strikes, illegal public assemblies or undermining public order" were also subject to punishment.

The modified article provided for prison terms of one to three years for any attempt to tarnish the reputation of the royal couple or the crown prince, as well as sanctions for the publication in the media or on the Internet of pictures "that undermine the king's dignity" or that attribute "false statements" to him.

The Jordanian Journalists' Union also welcomed the amendment, but hoped the government's decision "will be followed by more steps to bolster the freedom of the press which we consider to be the real guarantee of the consolidation of security and stability in Jordan."

"Repressive"

The AUJ statement served notice of the "harsh practices" followed in some of other Arab countries, citing the hunger strikes of some journalists in Egypt and Jordan in protest at acts that "do not agree with the spirit of the age, rules of democracy, freedom of speech or the safety guarantees for journalists".

Hafez pressed that the Union's freedom committee would launch a campaign against such "repressive measures and freedom-restricting."

In Egypt, two journalists were hospitalized after they staged a hunger strike in support of a colleague arrested by security forces reportedly for playing an active role in recent demonstrations against the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Hisham Fouad, of the opposition daily Al-Arabi, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) he began the strike three days ago to focus attention on the case of Ibrahim al-Sahari, reportedly arrested on March 12 for the second time in two months.

Ayman Makram, who worked with Sahari at the economic daily Al-Aalam Al-Yom, has joined the action in an attempt to get his colleague freed.

The Egyptian Human Rights Organization voiced concern over the deteriorating health conditions of the journalists, and called for the release of Sahari.

"investigation should be also opened into reported torture of the Egyptian anti-war demonstrators arrested by police here," the organization said in a statement.

Rights group Amnesty International voiced concern over the safety of four Egyptian anti-war activists, including Sahari, detained by state security forces.

"Their exact whereabouts are unconfirmed, but they are reportedly being held incommunicado at the State Security Intelligence (SSI) headquarters at Lazoghly Square, where all four were reportedly subjected to torture or ill-treatment," the group said in a statement on Thursday, April 17.

During the U.S.-led aggression against Iraq, Egypt was scene to some of the most vociferous anti-war demonstrations in the Middle East with most being sanctioned by the government and confined to the interiors of mosques, universities or stadiums.

But the country's emergency laws, in force almost continuously since 1967, ban public protests.

The Arab Union of Journalists vowed on Sunday, April 20, to take measures against the U.S. occupation forces in Iraq and the Israeli occupation army in Palestinian areas for targeting Arab journalists.

It referred to the death of Palestinian cameraman by Israeli gunfire Saturday, April 19, morning as he was filming clashes in the northern West Bank although he was dressed in a journalist jacket.

Darwoza was the ninth journalist killed since the start of the Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli occupation in September 2000. Hundreds of journalists were also injured in similar attacks.