VZCZCXRO0478
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKU #0768/01 0651550
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061550Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3324
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000768 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/P, NEA/PPD, DRL 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y ( UNCLASSIFIED ) 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KHUM KU FREEDOM AGENDA
SUBJECT: FREEDOM AGENDA: KUWAIT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASSES 
NEW PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS LAW 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 703 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 527 
     ¶C. 05 KUWAIT 5306 
     ¶D. 05 KUWAIT 5083 
     ¶E. 05 KUWAIT 3925 
 
KUWAIT 00000768  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  Kuwait's National Assembly ratified on March 6 a 
new Press and Publications law. It will now be sent to the 
Cabinet which has one month to approve or reject.  If they do 
not respond, the law will be considered to be in force.  The 
National Assembly approved amendments that the Government had 
insisted on, so it is unlikely that the Cabinet will stand in 
the way of implementation.  The Press and Publication Law 
that is currently in effect dates from 1961.  There has been 
vigorous debate about the new law, but in recent weeks a 
consensus emerged.  Many critics of the old law realized a 
perfect law would never be passed, so they began to argue in 
favor of the revised law which could then more easily be 
amended in the near future.  While enshrining in law a number 
of restrictions on what may be published, on balance the law 
will advance freedom of press in Kuwait by facilitating the 
process of obtaining media licenses and establishing 
transparancy on press red lines.  The law states that there 
will be no pre-publication censorship, i.e. the burden rests 
on publishers to stay within the law.  End Summary. 
 
Immediate Reactions: Not a Perfect Law But a Good Start 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶2.  The immediate reaction of Post's media contacts is that 
the new law will provide more freedom to the press by paving 
the way for the licensing of new dailies.  Although many have 
criticisms, there is general agreement that it is an 
improvement over the previous law.  Liberals concede that the 
increased restrictions and penalties for publications 
violating the religious clauses of the law were a necessary 
quid pro quo for other freedoms. 
 
What the New Law Says 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  The new law contains provisions about the conditions for 
obtaining a license to publish books, periodicals, or other means of 
expression, limitations on what can be published, and procedures and 
punishments for violations of the law's provisions.  It 
contains many provisions that restrict publication on 
religious and political matters, but most commentators feel 
the very fact that a new law has been enacted will afford 
greater protection to a free press. 
 
Introductory Chapter: Guarantee of Press Freedom 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4.  The law is divided into a introductory chapter and four 
main chapters. The introductory chapter begins with an 
article guaranteeing freedom of the press and of publication 
in general: "Freedom of the press and publication is 
guaranteed by the provisions of this law."  It then defines 
the terms used in the document. 
 
Chapter I: Publications 
----------------------- 
 
¶5.  The first chapter deals with publications in general. 
It states that anyone can get a license from the Ministry of 
Information to open a business relating to publication 
(bookstore, advertising agency, distribution agency, printing 
house, etc.) as long as: He is a Kuwaiti citizen, he has a 
good reputation and has not had a legal judgment for a crime 
affecting his honor, that he have a high school education (or 
university for those involved in translation, though the 
Ministry can make exceptions to this clause), and that he own 
suitable premises.  The owner must get permission from the 
Ministry to move, suspend, or change his business in any way. 
 Owners of licenses can transfer these licenses with Ministry 
approval, and as long as the transferee meets the conditions 
laid out above. 
 
¶6.  A printer must notify the Ministry in advance of any 
publications.  Non-periodic publications must have the name 
of the printer, publisher and author on the first or last 
pages.  Foreign publications may be distributed with Ministry 
approval and as long as they do not contain anything that 
violates the content restrictions from Chapter III.  The 
local distributor is held responsible for any violations 
contained in foreign publications. 
 
Chapter II: The Press (Periodicals) 
----------------------------------- 
 
 
KUWAIT 00000768  002.3 OF 003 
 
 
¶7.  The second chapter deals with the journalistic press and 
starts with the following article: "The press is not subject 
to any pre-publication censorship."  It goes on to say that 
no newspaper or magazine can be published without license 
from the Ministry, and that only journalistic companies or 
organizations may issue newspapers.  Dailies must have a 
capitalization of 250,000 Dinars (approximately $850,000). 
 
¶8.  To get a license, the applicant(s) must provide names, 
educational qualifications, dates of birth, and places of 
residence.  The applicant must state how often the periodical 
will be issued, what language it will be in, and the goals of 
the publication, whether they are political, social, 
cultural, technical, or otherwise.  The newspaper must get 
pre-approval to publish special sections.  The licensee must 
have similar qualifications to those of a printer (mentioned 
above). 
 
¶9.  The Minister has 90 days to reject or approve the license 
application.  If he does not respond, the license is 
considered denied.  Those whose applications are refused have 
60 days to appeal their case.  For those who receive the 
license, they must provide a bank guarantee or deposit of 
100,000 Dinars ($340,000) for dailies or 25,000 ($86,000) 
Dinars for less frequently issued publications.  The license 
may not be rented, sold, or otherwise relinquished without 
Ministry approval.  Licenses will be revoked if the license 
holder requests it, if publication stops for a specified 
period (3 months for dailies, 6 months for less frequent 
publications), if the licensed company is closed down for 
legal reasons such as bankruptcy, if the license-holder dies 
and no qualified heir is appointed within 6 months, or if the 
license holder loses the appropriate qualifications. 
 
¶10.  If none of these conditions are met, it takes a court 
order to revoke a license.  However, a judge can issue an 
order to stop publication for up to two weeks as a result of 
a request by the public prosecution.  This stoppage can be 
renewed while a newspaper is under investigation or on trial. 
 
¶11.  The editor-in-chief must be an educationally-qualified 
Kuwaiti over 30 years old and must actually be supervising 
the day-to-day operations of the newspaper.  He must also 
have a good reputation and not have been found guilty of a 
crime that reflects badly on his honor.  The editor-in-chief 
must investigate the accuracy and truthfulness of everything 
published in the paper.  He must also publish, free of 
charge, any response, correction or repudiation from the 
Ministry of Information or other governmental body or any 
person who was referred to by name or image in the paper, and 
the response must appear on the date specified by the 
concerned party in the same place, font, and size as the 
original article. 
 
¶12.  Foreign media representatives must be 
licensed by the Ministry. 
 
Chapter III: Banned Content and Punishments 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶13.  The third chapter deals with matters that may not be 
published: 
--  Article 19: Insulting, mocking, or defaming God, 
prophets, descendants or companions of the prophets, Islamic tenets in 
any way. 
--  Article 20: Criticism of the Amir or attributing anything 
to him without permission from his office (the "Amiri 
Diwan"). 
--  Article 21.1: Degrading the constitution; 
--  Article 21.2: Questioning the neutrality of the courts or 
public prosecution; 
--  Article 21.3: Debasing public morality and incitement to 
violating the "public system" or breaking the law even if no 
crime occurs; 
--  Article 21.4: News of secret Government communications or 
publishing information about treaties before they are made 
public; 
--  Article 21.5: Anything that would affect the value of the 
currency or economic stability, including bankruptcy notices 
of companies, without permission from the Ministry; 
--  Article 21.6: Printing anything classified by the 
government as secret, even if the information is true; 
--  Article 21.7: Slandering people, their way of life, or 
their beliefs; incitement to hate; demeaning a group in 
Kuwaiti society or revealing secrets that would hurt 
reputation, wealth, or commercial reputation; 
--  Article 21.8: Insulting the private life or 
misattributing words to a Government official in a way that 
is untrue and intended to injure that person; 
--  Article 21.9: Media campaigns designed to hurt the 
 
KUWAIT 00000768  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
relations between Kuwait and its Arab or other allies; 
--  Article 21.10: Matters that are not included in what the 
publication was originally licensed to print. 
 
¶14.  The Ministry may prevent the publication of commercial 
or other advertisements or notices according to the 
conditions laid down by Ministerial decrees. 
 
¶15.  The public prosecutor will investigate and prosecute 
violations of this law in the Court of First Instance, and 
its rulings may be appealed in the Court of Appeals.  Appeals 
to Court of Appeals rulings can be taken to the Court of 
Cassation.  The public prosecutor has three months from the 
date of publication to bring a criminal case against a 
publication license holder, while civil suits can be brought 
up to a year after the date of publication. 
 
¶16.  There will be a 500 - 1,000 KD (USD 1730 - USD 3460) 
fine for violations of Chapter One, though if the publication 
hurts the national interest or serves a foreign state or 
organization or hurts the social or political system of 
Kuwait the fine is increased to 3,000 - 10,000 Dinars (USD 
10,290 - USD 34,600), unless some other law includes a more 
severe punishment.  In all cases, the publication will be 
confiscated. 
 
¶17.  Punishments for violations of the Third Chapter include: 
-- Article 19: Prison for up to a year and/or a fine of 5,000 
- 20,000 Dinars. 
-- Article 20: 5,000 - 20,000 Dinar fine. 
-- Article 21: 3,000 - 10,000 Dinar fine. 
-- Anything in Chapter II: 1,000 - 3,000 Dinar fine. 
 
¶18.  The court can cancel the license or suspend the 
newspaper for up to a year and confiscate and destroy all 
copies and originals of the offending publication, as well as 
closing the printing press which printed the offending 
publication. 
 
¶19.  If the publication incites violent or illegal change of 
the political, social, or economic system in Kuwait, or 
embraces groups that want to destroy the basic system in 
Kuwait by illegal means, the editor-in-chief and the writer 
are punished according to Paragraph 1 of Article 29 of law 31 
of 1970. 
 
 
Chapter IV: Administrative Matters 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶20.  The Fourth Chapter extends the law to audio-visual 
materials, cancels the previous Press and Publications law, 
and makes the Minister responsible for licensing, inspecting, 
and administratively closing establishments covered under the 
law. 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
LEBARON