Journalists reportedly harassed during parliamentary elections

Thuggery against media workers is merely a reflection of the general political environment in Egypt, according to Ibrahim Mansour, member of the board of the Egyptian Press Syndicate. Mansour was referring specifically to recent attacks during coverage of the ongoing parliamentary elections which started on 9 November. One recent case of harassment was directed against Heba al-Qudsy, who works for pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on 13 November. "I was taking pictures of a rally for one of the independent candidates when a group of thugs attacked me, stole my camera and hit me," said al-Qudsy. While the camera was eventually returned by a policeman, the reporter complained that her only recourse was to file a complaint at the nearest police station. "I don’t understand why the policeman didn’t arrest those who attacked me," a shaken al-Qudsy told IRIN. “If he was able to get my camera back, he should have arrested those responsible.” The Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) confirmed also condemned the attack: "We urge the authorities to see to it that the law is respected and that journalists are allowed to carry out news gathering in complete freedom and safety," an RSF statement said on 14 November. This was not the first time journalists have been intimidated while covering a political race. On 9 November, Ahmed Mansur, Cairo correspondent for Qatar-based TV satellite news station Al-Jazeera, was beaten severely by two unknown assailants. Some media experts suspect the attack was punishment for the controversial station’s coverage of vote-buying by candidates from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). "Thuggery is a tool used by the ruling party,” said Gamal Eid of the Arabic Human Rights Information Network, “either to prevent journalists from revealing the truth or to punish them for stating the facts." While few such attacks were reported during the recent presidential elections, held in September, several journalists were reportedly intimidated during a previous referendum in May that paved the way for multi-candidate presidential elections. According to reports by local and international rights organisations, reporters covering demonstrations held by the opposition “Kifaya” movement were also physically assaulted. Some female journalists were also allegedly sexually harassed by security officers. A recent report by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights stated: "These violations were committed with clear disregard for Article 6 of Press Law 96, which states that ‘journalists are independent and not under the authority of anyone.’” The report goes on to cite Article 7 of the same law, which states that “journalists’ opinions or truthful information published by him/her may not be a reason for a violation of his personal security.” No one from the ministry of interior was immediately available for comment on the allegations. Gamal Fahmy, a board member of the Egyptian Press Syndicate, opined that such violent behaviour serves to work against society as a whole. Nevertheless, he believes journalists have a responsibility to report instances of harassment. "We must make sure that such incidents are published so the perpetrators are exposed,” he said.