By Anwar Elshamy
THE chief of the Doha Centre for Media Freedom (DCMF) yesterday called on Qatar to amend its press law, while threatening to leave if the law was not amended.
Addressing a press conference to release the first annual report by the DCMF on media freedom in the Middle East and North Africa, Robert Menard, the director general of the centre, said the Qatari press law, which was issued in 1979, had never been amended in spite of a revolution in the local media scene in the country.  “Without changing the status of press freedom in Qatar, it would be impossible for the centre to criticise any other country for imposing restrictions on media freedom,” Menard said.
“I thank God that the press law is not strictly enforced, otherwise the number of you attending the press conference would have been less,” he said, adding that the centre sought to maintain its independence and credibility.
However, Menard, who was the chief of the Reporters Without Borders Organisation, claimed that he had been assured by top authorities of changes to the situation of press freedom in Qatar.
“In return I made a commitment to them to have a body in Qatar that enjoyed respect around the world,” he added.
“There should be an association to defend journalists working in Qatar. How can a journalist be asked to work while he is threatened to be deported the next day because of his work,” he asked.
He announced that the DCMF had set up a round-the-clock hotline which journalists around the world, including Qatar, can use to seek its help.
Asked about his expectations, he expressed optimism, saying that although the DCMF was funded by Qatar, “we have no restrictions about our work in the country”.
“I have been given full freedom to work. Tour the region and count the number of the countries which can allow a body to criticise the country which funds it. So far HH Sheikha Mozah gave us an opportunity and I hope things will change for the better. Otherwise it will be failure for all and I will leave,” he said.
He also called for the establishment of an association to defend journalists in Qatar, saying that the DCMF could not work as an association for them.
“There is a vacuum because of the absence of such a union of journalists. The centre cannot fill it up.”
About the practice of employers holding the passports of journalists, Menard claimed it was imposing restrictions on the freedom of journalists.
“Even if such practice is not confined to journalists, employers have no right to hold passports,” he added.
In its annual report about Qatar, the DCMF said that journalists “must tread carefully to avoid being sacked or even deported. Journalists are also vulnerable because Qatar has no association that can defend them before their employers or the authorities, since the trade unions are strictly forbidden here.”
It also called for a special court to handle media offences.
About future projects, Menard said that an independent media centre would be set up in Gaza to defend journalists in the Palestinian territory.  “It would work independently from any political factions.”
The Doha centre will also set up a press agency in Djibouti for Somali journalists whose lives are threatened in the war-torn Somalia.
“We seek to reach out to all the hotspots around the world and help journalists,” he added.
Meanwhile, the International Federation of Journalists is  planning to open a regional office in Bahrain to cover the Arab  world, Iran and Pakistan, the Bahrain Journalists’ Association said  in a statement yesterday.
It said the accord was reached during a visit to the kingdom by Brussels-based IFJ chief Aidan White.