The Moroccan Communication Minister Mustapha Khalfi banned two French weeklies in 2012, which sparked outrage from the Human Rights Watch. A February publication of Le Nouvel Observateur was banned because it contained pictured representations of God. Khalfi also banned an issue of Le Pèlerin because it had pictures that depicted the Prophet Muhammed. Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, argued against the ban saying “This ban violates the right of Moroccans to read – or not to read – publications of their choosing, only months after they approved a new constitution that is supposed to guarantee freedom of expression and press freedom.”
Morocco’s new constitution states, “Press freedom is guaranteed and cannot be restricted by any form of prior censorship.” It does however, also gives the communication minister the power to ban publications that inflict harm to Islamic religion, territorial integrity or respect due to the king. In the Le Nouvel Observateur case there was an image taken from an animated film showing a woman talking to God who is shown as a man with a white beard. With Le Pèlerin the publication reproduced Turkish and Persian paintings from the 16th and 18th centuries depicting Muhammad with his face hidden. Khalfi, who is a member of the Islamist Party of Justice and Development, justified his banning of the French weeklies by saying that in both cases the pictures go against an Untied Nations decision that prohibits inflicting harm on religious beliefs. However, Human Rights Watch feels that this is a misinterpretation of the international law governing freedom of expression, which doesn’t allow governments to restrict speech merely because it may offend members of a faith.
I agree with Human Rights Watch that it was wrong for Khalfi to ban the French publications. I felt that in both instances the publications were not intentionally trying to offend any religious members and were just showing replications of other people’s work. In regards to the Muhammad depiction I feel that since his face was hidden it is still respectful to the Muslim community. I also feel that it is wrong that the Moroccan government gave the communication minister the power to ban whatever he feels is inappropriate since he can pretty much censor whatever he feels like. I believe that giving this much power to one person is unwise and can lead to suppression of free speech like in the two cases talked about.
Posted by Tyler Ainge
Source: http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/10/morocco-weeklies-censored-depicting-god-muhammad