Shafaq News\ After parliament's approval of the law of the rights of journalists people working in this area have been divided into supporters and opposers  to it . The supporters  counted the law as a positive step to turn negatives into positives, while the opposers  insisted that the law is a declaration of intent and not a guarantee of journalists and their right to get information.

The Iraqi Council of Representatives voted by majority for the bill of rights for journalists during its 17^th meeting of the second legislative year, which was held on the ninth of August, led by Osama Nujaifi, President of the Council.

 

 

 

The secretary of Baghdad branch of the Union of Journalists of Kurdistan Ali Hussein Faily, views  in a speech at the symposium held by the union branch at the Hall of the Shafaq Foundation of culture and the media for the Faily Kurds, that "the law of the rights of journalists came late," pointing to "the need for coordination between the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate and the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate , and communicate with each other to solve the suffering and the problems of the press family. "
"The implementation of the Law of journalists' rights is more difficult than legislating  it ", Faily confirmed  ,calling on journalists to " achieve the consensus among themselves, and work to renew the press family day after day ."
There are two unions in Iraq, one of them is the  journalists' union belonging to the federal government and its branches which are spread in central and southern governorates of the country, and another one belonging to the Kurdistan Regional Government and its branches are spread in the region and in Baghdad and the disputed areas.

 

 

 

 

While Ismail Zayir, editor in chief of "Alsabah Aljadid" daily  , during a lecture at the symposium, views  that "Iraq is packed with patriotics and freedom fighters  such as Peshmerga and marshes rebels and strugglers inside and outside,"

"We are in a transition stage and in need for another kind of struggling far from physical courage and close to the joint mind which is accepted by the various parties. " said he .
"The law of the rights of journalists was legislated with its positives and negatives ", He added ,counting  it as "a step towards a legislative and legal establishment  to turn negatives of the law  into positives."
"The lack of coordination between the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate and the Kurdistan Syndicate of Journalists deprived us of the  opinions, suggestions and experiences that can be learned from both sides," Zayir continued, noting that "The legislation of the law came after the public pressure."
"We have not seen a real and democratic controversy among the press family in Iraq, because of  the existence institutions whose interests do not agree with the consolidation of the  bridge of the press  family," said he ,stressing that "The division of the press body did not allow  maturation of good ideas in a fruitful framework ".

 

 

 

Whereas Ziad Al-ijaily head of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, sees  during his lecture at the symposium, that "the law of the rights of journalists was legislated to guarantee the financial and material rights only,"

"journalists only think about themselves and dispersed the community thought in their quest for their rights." He  added .

"Does the press work for themselves or for society? Is the pension what occupies the press?" He wondered, explaining that "There is  a widespread international criticism against the law of the rights of journalists."

"The law is a declaration of intent and not a guarantee of journalists and their work and

their right to access  information, in addition to that  the right of access to information in the developed countries was reflected on their economies and their development and progress clearly,". He  added counting the "law of the right of access to information would eliminate many problems in the country, including corruption and terrorism. "
The seminar included several interventions by the audience who suggested the possibility of challenging  the rights of journalists law in the Federal Court, and it may be change it . They called  for not to deny the rights of journalists who died during the former regime time.
It is noteworthy that Iraqi journalists were subjected to attacks in different areas during the course of their work in covering the events of the demonstrations in the cities of the country, in protest against the deterioration of the situation of services and widespread unemployment and corruption in the government departments and institutions.

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