Freedom of expression: the status of the matter
Food for thought: Role of civil society in defending freedom of expression / Relations of exchange and contamination among media and civil society, associative and community media and political activism / Role of activists in denouncing any repression related to freedom of expression and in promoting a culture of social critique.
Objective of this dialogue: Letting the importance of debating and creating a culture of free expression emerge, as well as the importance of promoting media-activism in the national and Mediterranean context.
Summary by Gianluca Solera, COSPE (moderator).
Participants: Mohamed Leghtas, Morocco, activist and editor, member of FMAS (Forum des Alternatives Maroc) and coordinator of El-Jossour, an Internet portal for the civil society of Maghreb and Mashreq; Cecilia dalla Negra, Italian journalist and vice-director of Osservatorio Iraq, Medioriente e Nordafrica, an on-line journal covering news from Iraq, the Middle east and North Africa, formerly assistant to Luisa Morgantini, Vice-president of the European Parliament; Savino Paparella, Italy, actor and theatre director, winner of the “Festival Teatrale di Resistenza 2015 – Premio Museo Cervi per la Memoria”, with the play “Al forester”.
Several issues have been dealt with during the debate, in particular : the role of civil society in defending freedom of expression; relations of exchange and mutual contamination between media and civil society, citizens’ and community media and political activism; the role of activists in denouncing any repression related to freedom of expression and in promoting a culture of social critique.
Mohamed Leghtas introduces this topic starting from the situation in Maghreb and Mashreq, where revolutions and protests in 2011 generated hope in the reinforcement of public freedoms and in the consolidation of press freedom and freedom of expression. The new Moroccan Constitution, adopted after the protests, guarantees freedom of expression (art.28) and right to access information (art.27), while Moroccan government is examining three framework laws on Press Code, National Press Council and Statute for Professional Journalists. Nevertheless, freedom of expression still undergoes many attacks (persecution of journalists, fines, etc.). For this reason, FMAs and its programme el-Jossour have created a network of observers who monitor freedom of expression in the country, in the framework of the project called «Shaping the MENA coalition on freedom of expression». 47 cases of violation have been registered in the first report of the project, concerning the situation in 2015 (www.marsadhouriyat.org)[1].
Cecilia Dalla Negra, as a journalist, is maybe the most active guest in reporting cases of violation related to freedom of expression in the Mediterranean region. She is constantly in touch with journalists, representatives of civil society and activists coming from the Middle East and North Africa, thanks to Osservatorio Iraq, Medioriente e Nordafrica. She admits that attacks to freedom of expression have increased in those areas. She believes that monitoring and denouncing are essential tools for defending this kind of freedom, especially in a context where phenomena of political restauration or involution have hit free voices and reduced spaces for social and political dialogue after the so-called “Arab spring”. Monitoring and denouncing can only work through collaboration between independent journalists and activist communities on the two shores, as Europe risks to overshadow human rights in its relations with Mediterranean countries. This collaboration has to build upon transnational information tools and investigative journalism; Cecilia is already working on it.
Savino Paparella has explained how he uses theatre as a tool for raising awareness of people towards the development of an independent social consciousness. Parma, his adoptive city, has a long history of resistance to homogenisation and subjugation: in August 1922 trade unions and social forces revolted against fascist violence and the State’s indifference towards the political violence; the city was firstly assaulted by fascist groups, then by the army. Those days are called “The days of Parma” and they are celebrated every year through the “Anti-fascist Barricades Festival”; Paparella contributed to this festival with his plays. This example shows that cultivating memory of rebellion against tyranny is an extremely important tool in order to monitor freedom of expression. Art is able to connect different realities, overcome regime censorship and spread political ideas and messages which would be otherwise considered destabilizing in a repressive political and institutional context, and would be therefore persecuted.
[1] Cases of violations are divided into five categories: violations committed by single persons (9 cases); persecution and judiciary intimidation (10 cases); violations committed by security forces (10 cases); impossibility of working (3 cases); different cases (15). The complete report is available on the website.
