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From the IFEX "COMMUNIQUE" # 6-50                23 December 1997


LEBANESE GOVERNMENT CENSORS INDEPENDENT BROADCASTERS

The Lebanese government has been pressuring independent television
stations to censor their content, reports the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ). On 11 December 1997, the government pressured
the private TV station Murr TV (MTV) to cancel a live interview
with exiled former army commander Gen. Michel Aoun, scheduled to be
aired on 14 December. The station's decision followed a meeting
with Information Minister Bassem Sabaa, in which he reportedly
"asked" MTV to refrain from broadcasting political programs that
threaten "national safety," adding that the Aoun interview could
cause harm to "public order and national reconciliation." The
decision arose on 10 December out of a meeting of the Central
Security Council (CSC), when Interior Minister Michel al-Murr
stated the government "will not allow unrestrained political views
to be voiced during televised interviews which include attacks on
officials and the public." The Minister said the government would
"no longer allow television to be a place for some people to voice
whatever they feel like talking about, especially as it might
influence public opinion." CPJ says newspaper reports indicate "the
CSC plans to initiate formal censorship of broadcast programming
that is deemed immoral or politically controversial."

"Government pressure against the broadcast media appears to stem
from a series of interviews with exiled opposition figures and
controversial personalities that have been broadcast by Lebanese TV
stations in recent weeks," comments CPJ. On 11 November, state
prosecutors began an investigation into Lebanese Broadcast
Corporation International (LBCI) after the station aired an
interview with Roger Tamraz, an exiled Lebanese financier convicted
in absentia "for allegedly collaborating with Israel." LBCI
chairman Pierre Daher and talk show host Marcel Ghanem were also
summoned for questioning by a judge, but the case was eventually
dismissed.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch/Middle East entitled
"Lebanon: Restrictions on Broadcasting - In Whose Interest?",
published in April 1997, broadcasters have been under attack
through restrictive laws enacted in this decade. Diverse private
broadcasters thrived during years of unregulated airwaves until the
broadcasting law was enacted in 1994. Although the law ended "the
state's legal monopoly of the airwaves," Human Rights Watch says,
it also created a licensing process which gave the government
control over who had the right to broadcast legally. The licensing
process caused public controversy, which was emphasized in
September 1996 when the state awarded licenses to four TV stations
linked to the government. Since then, Human Rights Watch says,
things have not improved. Combined with restrictions on
broadcasting content, Human Rights Watch says the licensing process
provides "persuasive evidence that the government's intention is to
restrict media pluralism and curtail free expression." [See IFEX
"Communique" #5-38 for background.]

For a full copy of the report, contact the Human Rights Watch
Publications department at 485 Fifth Ave., New York NY 10017-6104,
U.S.A. (Address changing at the end of December 1997,) tel:+1 212
972 8400, fax:+1 212 972 0905, e-mail: mingesp@hrw.org; or 1522 K
Street, N.W., Washington D.C. 20005 United States, tel: +1 202 371
6592, fax: +1 202 371 0124. Internet: http://www.hrw.org/.

** ** **

The IFEX "Communique" is published weekly in English, French and
Spanish by the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX)
Clearing House. The facility is operated by the Canadian Committee
to Protect Journalists (CCPJ) in partnership with the member
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515 7879, e-mail: communique@ifex.org. The "Communique" can be
viewed on the IFEX Internet Service at:
http://www.ifex.org/communique. "Communique" Editor: Kristina
Stockwood. Subscriptions are available free or through voluntary
donation by e-mail and surface mail. The views expressed in the
"Communique" are the responsibility of the sources to which they
are attributed.

___________________________________________________
Bruce Girard             Agencia Informativa Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
http://www.web.net/amarc/pulsar.html
Fono/Fax: +593-2-501 180 o 551 674
Fax en Montreal, Canada: +1-514-221-2009
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