His Excellency Yasser Arafat
President
Palestinian National Authority
Vienna, 31 May 2000
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, strongly condemns the arrest of Mr Fatih Barqawi, news director at the state radio station, Voice of Palestine, and the suspension of the Al-Nasr television station and the Al-Manara radio station in Ramallah.
According to our sources Mr Barqawi was arrested on 28 May, apparently for broadcasting criticism of the Palestinian National Authority and its chairman during one of its news programmes. The arrest is the latest in a series of violations of freedom of expression, which includes the arrest of the Palestinian Legislative Council delegate, Mr Hassan Khureische, the latter apparently for “insulting” Your Excellency on a recent television show. Last week the television station Wattan was taken off the air for three days, its manager, Mr Omar Nazzal, was arrested. His release was only secured after intense lobbying by journalist groups.
We are informed that the stations, Al-Nasr and Al-Manara, were closed because they had broadcast proceedings of a seminar attended by individuals who had signed the “20-Statement” accusing some Palestinian National Authority officals of corruption.
IPI regards the incarceration of journalists and the suspension of media outlets as gross violations of everyone’s right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” as guaranteed by Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We urge Your Excellency to ensure that Mr Barqawi is released immediately and unconditionally. We further urge you to ensure that Al-Nasr and Al-Manara are allowed to resume broadcasting immediately and that Palestine’s journalists are allowed to carry out their profession without further harassment.
We thank you for your attention.
Johann P. Fritz
Director