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Happening only in Egypt
Press Syndicate refuse to accept membership!
Cairo on March 19, 2008.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said today that the difficult situation faced by journalists of Al-Badeel independent daily newspaper in Egypt, that the Egyptian Press Syndicate is denying them the access to its membership, despite their professionalism and their fulfilling all the conditions of membership, strongly highlights the difficult circumstances experienced by thousands of journalists in Egypt especially the younger ones and highlights on the nature of the role of trade unions in Egypt.
Although the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate's refusal of the admission of 42 journalists from the independent "Al-Badeel" newspaper, is actually a part of the repression suffered by this newspaper since it was trying to get a license of issuing at the beginning of 2007, that they even had begun to release only at the beginning of last July, yet the decision to refuse admitting "Al-badeel's" Journalists to membership of the Syndicate had reopened the serious debate on the role of The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate and the membership requirements, the right of journalists to belong to union that is to defend and protect their interests, particularly in a State known for violations of the freedom of the press and expression, such as Egypt.
Despite the fact that about one third of the members of the Council of Journalists Syndicate (which is composed of 12 member in addition to the head of the Syndicate) had declared their solidarity with the "Al-Badeel's" journalists, as the legal conditions for them are fulfilled (according to the law), yet the remaining members of the Council are refusing on the basis of the unfair and non logical conditions posed by the statute, such as the condition that necessitates the passage of one year after the issuance of the newspaper, while the law does not provide such a condition for membership.
Although Al-Badeel's 42 journalists are in a sit-in (on shifts) inside the headquarters of the Press Syndicate has entered its third week by now, as they began their sit-in, demanding the acceptance of their membership in the Syndicate, on the sixth of March, yet, the head of the Syndicate ignored journalists demands and even refused to meet with them. This simply enhance the allegations of Al-Badeel's Journalists that the refusal of admission is part of settling accounts with Al-Badeel independent newspaper as all its journalists (who are members) supported the rival candidate in the elections of the Journalists Syndicate last November.
The crisis triggered by Al-Badeel's journalists through their claiming to belong to the Syndicate is in fact a small part of the difficult conditions of many journalists in Egypt, particularly in the independent and political parties' newspapers who have been deprived of access to the membership of the Syndicate despite of their journalistic professionalism and contractual work with the newspapers they are working with and the huge amount of materials published for them and their bad need for affiliation to a union to defend them and protect their interests. These same conditions are suffered by many journalists in newspapers such as Al-Ghad, Al-Alam Al-Youm, and Nahdet Masr.
Gamal Eid, lawyer and director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said: "This is a strange and abnormal situation. In every country in the world, Syndicates & Unions welcome and accept the annexation of new members, so as to defend their interests against the owners of newspapers and protect them from violations that might be exerted against them. However in Egypt, where the owners of newspapers and Editors-in-Chief are urging the Syndicate to accept the membership of journalists, yet their calls fall on deaf ears. "
The Arabic Network is calling on The Council of Journalists Syndicate to open its doors to journalists who are willing to join its membership, and to amend the rules of procedures so as to be consistent with the basics of union work such as expansion of accepting the membership and working on defending journalists and protect their interests, rather than adding more restrictions on accepting membership, which would deprive journalists of their right to membership of a union that defends and protects them.
Background on journalists and their syndicate in Egypt:
- The number of members of the Syndicate in Egypt is about 5100 journalists.
- Thousands of young journalists who are representing the backbone of hundreds of newspapers in Egypt, are deprived of the membership of the Syndicate for procedural reasons relating to the rules of procedures which is not consistent with the law.
- The Syndicate is posing many restrictions on the membership of the union, and the law prohibits the right of trade union pluralism.
- Hundreds of journalists are fulfilling all the membership requirements "namely, university graduates, Egyptian nationals, not owners or shareholder in the ownership of a newspaper and to have a journalistic activity". Despite the availability of these requirements in Al-Badeel's journalists, as well as a contractual work with the newspaper and that they meet all other procedural conditions, the enrolment committee of Syndicate refuses to accept them and is postponing "to consider their membership next July."
- Security bodies and Public Prosecution refuse to recognize a journalist unless if they have a membership card of the Press Syndicate.
- Supreme Council of the Press, controlled by the Egyptian government, controls in every respect all the affairs of licensing newspapers and determining the quotas of papers allowed to the newspapers as well as evaluation of journalistic performance, while the "one & only" Press Syndicate is in control only of accepting new membership.
- Several members of the Council of the Journalists Syndicate during the Council elections committed themselves to end & solve the problem of membership of the new journalists, yet these promises were never implemented.
More information:
Annual Report on Freedom of opinion and expression in Egypt in 2007
http://www.openarab.net/en/reports
Aggravation of the phenomenon of nonunion journalists and the denial of membership of the Journalists
http://openarab.net/en/reports/opinion/opinion3.shtml
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