Maat center observes with great worry the
Kuwaiti Ministry of Information decision-through Al Raee newspaper- to
prevent the circulation of three Egyptian newspapers which are Al Waafd,
Al Gomhoia, Al Masaa, inside Kuwaiti territories after these newspapers
criticized torture events against Egyptians by Kuwaiti police men.
The center notice that the
unjustified campaign lunched by Al Wataan Kuwaiti newspaper and its
writer Foaad Al Hashem against the Egyptian government and accusing it
of torturing its citizens, ignored mentioning a real crime occurred in
Kuwaiti territories against Egyptians without any condemnation of the
Kuwaiti newspapers and writer in spite of the repetition of such crimes
against Egyptians, as we witnessed events of “Khetan “some years ago.
The center regards the
decision to prevent Egyptian newspapers’ circulation, which do not carry
but reaction with (words), to what was published in Al Wataan newspaper
and others is a violation of freedom of opinion and expression. In this
situation the great deference between this freedoms margin in Egypt and
its counterpart in some Arabic states, which raise its systems to the
status of a god or put a wall of warrantee around it against any attempt
to confront its policies, are clear. The huge difference may be clear
between the two official situations in the two neighbors, while we see
the Egyptian government’s situation is a mature one regarding newspapers
criticized it harshly, although its bodies has the ability to tack a
strict situation and preventing its circulation.
As the center repeats its
condemnation to the decision of preventing the circulation of the
Egyptian newspapers in Kuwait, it calls upon the Kuwaiti Ministry of
Information to review its decisions. The center also calls upon the
Kuwaiti government to keep the relation between neighbors by keeping
rights and dignity of Egyptians in its territories. The center also
calls upon the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to activate the role of its
embassies and consulates to protect their citizens abroad and to keep
their rights against any violations...It may be able to compensate what
it missed in this concern.
