VZCZCXRO9690
OO RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHPW RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #1186/01 1001301
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 101301Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7396
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASH DC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY 0015
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 3934

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001186 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/FO DAS GASTRIGHT, SCA/A 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR HARRIMAN 
OSD FOR SHIVERS 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76 POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM AF
SUBJECT: WORLD WATCHING DEBATES ON THE AFGHAN MEDIA LAW 
 
REF: 06 KABUL 5700 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (U) The Media Law is slated to go for parliamentary 
debate on April 11 amid rumors over which of five drafts - 
ranging from reasonably moderate to very restrictive of media 
content and oversight  - will actually be presented and voted 
on.  When it happens, the final debate and vote will attract 
widespread national and international attention, as it comes 
in the midst of increasing reports of GOA interference, 
censorship and intimidation of the media (septel) and is 
feared by journalists as an attempt to institutionalize a 
green light for government restriction of the media.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
PARLIAMENTARY VOTE: WHICH DRAFT AND WHEN? 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The original Media Law - considered a reasonably 
moderate document - was adopted by Presidential Decree in 
2005 and thus is now subject to review by the Parliament. 
During this review process at least five different drafts of 
the Media Law have been circulated, the most conservative of 
which have included significant restrictions on media content 
(reftel).  Afghan journalists, media lobbyists, and the 
international community actively engaged the GOA - 
specifically Minister of Information Khoram, Minister of 
State for Parliamentary Affairs Farouk Wardak, Speaker of the 
Lower House Qanooni and Haji Mohammad Mohaqqeq, Chair of the 
Parliamentary Commission on Cultural and Religious Affairs 
and Higher Education - to encourage language that protects 
journalists from government reprisal and creates an 
independent regulatory framework for the media. 
 
¶3.  (U) Afghan journalists say they thought they had reached 
agreements with the GOA for a compromise on the language, but 
report they understand the most recent draft of the law 
(circulated on April 9) does not meet these agreements.  The 
latest draft is said to omit provisions to turn Radio 
Television Afghanistan into a public service broadcaster - a 
point of concern to the EU, which had allocated significant 
aid money for this project.  More troubling from the Embassy 
perspective is that the latest draft also consolidates all of 
the previously "independent" commissions designed to regulate 
public and private media and protect journalists from 
government reprisal, putting them under the ultimate 
authority of the Ministry of Information and Culture.  The 
latest draft also gives the GOA broad room to restrict media 
coverage by creating vague categories of "prohibited 
broadcasts" that violate national interests, incite public 
discord, violate the tenets of Islam, or promote any 
religions other than Islam. 
 
¶4. (U) The Media Law is slated to be discussed in Parliament 
on April 11, however there is no guarantee it will in fact be 
brought to a vote, as the proposed date has slipped countless 
times over the past two months, and there are ongoing 
negotiations on the text to be presented.  What seems clear 
is that the most restrictive draft, or one that is just 
slightly softer, are being considered.  In an April 8 meeting 
with the Embassy, Parliamentarian Salih Mohammad Registani 
predicted that one of the most conservative drafts would be 
presented and that very few MP's (10-12 MP's at most) would 
dare vote against the law, as a vote against the law is being 
couched as a vote against Islam. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
GOA'S ARGUMENT? DEPENDS ON THE AUDIENCE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) The GOA is using a variety of arguments - some of 
which appeal to the Afghan public, others to the 
 
KABUL 00001186  002 OF 002 
 
 
international community - to justify the need for wide 
oversight of the media.  First is the "anti-insurgency 
argument", reflecting the GOA's need to "manage the message" 
in the midst of a propaganda war with a media-savvy 
insurgency.  The GOA has already used this argument to 
restrict private media coverage of Taliban attacks, 
interviews with Taliban leadership, and government criticism 
(septel), arguing that such coverage makes the insurgency 
look more powerful than the central government. 
 
¶6.  (U) Second is the "we need to fight Iranian cultural 
domination" argument, whereby the GOA has highlighted Iran's 
attempts to dominate Afghan culture and turn the Afghan media 
against Western influences.  The GOA recognizes that these 
first two arguments have traction with the international 
community, and Minister of Information and Culture Khoram has 
raised these arguments with the Embassy on several occasions. 
 
 
¶7.  (U) The final argument, tailored to Parliamentarians and 
the Afghan public, maintains that a free media is un-Islamic. 
 Minister Khoram and conservative Parliamentarians, including 
Mohaqqeq point to broadcasts of Shakira and other "half-naked 
women" in Bollywood videos as evidence of this position. 
Khoram highlighted that the Taliban uses this argument to 
underscore its assertion that the government, in allowing 
such broadcasts, is itself un-Islamic. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶8.  (U) Post is sympathetic to the GOA's desire to limit the 
impact of a media-savvy insurgency as well as attempts by 
Iran and Russia to influence the Afghan media.  We are urging 
the GOA  to find the right balance between winning the 
propaganda war and fostering a free press.  Indeed, the 
Charge has underlined to Minister Khoram that a press that is 
independent and not viewed as merely a mouthpiece of the 
government is the GOA's most important tool in maintaining 
its own credibility and the confidence of the Afghan public 
amidst the current war. 
NORLAND