In much of the Middle East, journalists' work is systematically hindered. The situation has enormous consequences for these societies at large: The free expression of political thought is impossible for most people.
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In his final column, which was published posthumously, journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was reportedly murdered inside the Saudi embassy in Turkey, made a grim diagnosis: Most of the people living in Arab countries are either uninformed, or misinformed, on political events worldwide.
Khashoggi saw only one plausible explanation for this ignorance: "They are unable to adequately address, much less publicly discuss, matters that affect the region and their day-to-day lives," wrote Khashoggi in his last essay published in the Washington Post. "A state-run narrative dominates the public psyche, and while many do not believe it, a large majority of the population falls victim to this false narrative."
The statistics prove Khashoggi right. In the 2018 World Ranking of Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which includes 180 countries, all nations of the Arab world land towards the bottom of the list.
The greatest relative freedom of the press is in Tunisia, ranked number 97, followed next by Lebanon at 100. Well down the list are Iraq and Egypt, ranked 160 and 161 respectively, followed by Saudi Arabia at 169. The media are even less free in war-torn Syria, coming in at 177.
In authoritarian or dictatorially governed states such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia there is, for the most part, a monopoly of opinion, Christian Mihr, managing director of RSF, told DW.
"Of course, this monopoly is maintained by the respective rulers — President al-Sisi in Egypt and the royal house in Saudi Arabia. Above all, both regimes have but one goal: To stifle political discourse and keep society as apolitical as possible".
Brutal measures against journalists
When the regimes clamp down, they do so with all their might. One example is that of freelance photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, known as Shawkan, who spent five years in detention in Egypt.
His offense: In August 2013, he reported on the clashes between the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian security forces in which around 1,000 demonstrators were killed. Shawkan was arrested despite the fact that he had only documented what happened, and had not actively taken part in the post-coup unrest.
For more than five years he was held in various Egyptian prisons, repeatedly subject to physical violence. "Five policemen beat me over and over with a belt, and with their fists," was the description Shawkan gave to Amnesty International on his conditions while still in prison. "And when I went down, they did not stop."
There are currently 27 journalists in detention in Egypt, as well as four media workers and five bloggers and citizen journalists. Some of the accusations made against them remain dubious, such as "defamation" and publication of "false" information. According to RSF, in Saudi Arabia, four journalists and nine bloggers are currently in detention.
Mihr warns that the assault on freedom of expression not only threatens political discourse in the Arab world but also "leads to more corruption. If one compares the Press Freedom Index from RSF with the Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International, there is a clear correlation. Where freedom of expression is curtailed, corruption flourishes. Where it grows, corruption decreases."
Co-responsibility of the West?
In his last essay, Khashoggi indirectly blamed Western states for the gloomy state of human rights and press freedom in the Middle East. The West’s reactions to human rights violations are no longer met with the sharp criticism that they once were in the past. The late journalist said that the lack of vehement condemnation encourages the authoritarian rulers in the region to continue their harsh offensive against the media.
Egyptian columnist Fahmi Huwaidi views the situation in a similar light: Many Western journalists are now devoting themselves to the decline of democratic values in Europe and the US. The redirection of their focus also affects the Middle East, Huwaidi told DW. "If the institutions in the West were to remain strong, this would then bolster those in the Arab world."
The impact of this is made all the more dramatic because the forces of political freedoms in the West are now on the defensive, not least because of the threat of jihadist terrorism. "Internationally, there is a political atmosphere that accommodates the counterrevolutions of the Arab regimes. Leaders have, of course, recognized this very quickly and are exploiting it for their own purposes," said Huwaidi.
Huwaidi points out that journalists in the Arab world have lived almost completely without protection. "All that remains in the region is the fight for freedom of the press. But this is a battle for which the parties are paying a very high price. All those involved must be absolutely aware of this."
The Khashoggi case: a new beginning?
The uprisings of 2011, known as the Arab Spring, suffered a massive setback, according to media outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, which is affiliated with Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera.
Nevertheless, the regimes in the region could not absolutely stifle the surge toward freedom. "Some governments in the Arab world do not appear to have learned the lesson. They believe that a few more formal reforms or that the policies of intimidation utilized so far have been sufficient in silencing citizens. They still seem convinced that money and corruption can buy a kind of virtual stability, and with this, they can extinguish all hope of serious change," says Mihr. However, that this calculated gamble will ultimately prove to be successful is not a given.
The Khashoggi scandal could have the destabilizing potential to do just that, believes Mihr: "I have the impression that the savage murder of Khashoggi has been a wake-up call for the Arab world. Up until now, Saudi Arabia has exercised little caution with its violations of human rights. But the brutality of this incident is something particularly striking." However, one does not want to be too optimistic, warns the RSF director. "But I have the impression that this case will have more of an impact than usual."
Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Official Saudi statements on the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi have changed several times since he disappeared at the Istanbul consulate on October 2. DW traces the most important events in this intricate case.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Martin
Vanishes into thin air
October 2: Prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to obtain an official document for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He never emerged from the building, prompting Cengiz, who waited outside, to raise the alarm.
Image: Reuters TV
Confusion over whereabouts
October 3: Turkish and Saudi officials came up with conflicting reports on Khashoggi's whereabouts. Riyadh said the journalist had left the mission shortly after his work was done. But Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the journalist was still in the consulate.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/V. Mayo
Murder claims
October 6: Turkish officials said they believed the journalist was likely killed inside the Saudi consulate. The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi wrote, cited unnamed sources to report that Turkish investigators believe a 15-member team "came from Saudi Arabia" to kill the man.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Jamali
Ankara seeks proof
October 8: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Saudi Arabia to prove that Khashoggi left its consulate in Istanbul. Turkey also sought permission to search the mission premises. US President Donald Trump voiced concern about the journalist's disappearance.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/T. Kovacs
'Davos in the Desert' hit
October 12: British billionaire Richard Branson halted talks over a $1 billion Saudi investment in his Virgin group's space ventures, citing Khashoggi's case. He also pulled out of an investment conference in Riyadh dubbed the "Davos in the Desert." His move was followed by Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon and a host of other business leaders.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Search operation
October 15: Turkish investigators searched the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The search lasted more than eight hours and investigators removed samples from the building, including soil from the consulate garden and a metal door, one official said.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Death after fistfight
October 19: Saudi Arabia finally admitted that Khashoggi died at the consulate. The kingdom's public prosecutor said preliminary investigations showed the journalist was killed in a "fistfight." He added that 18 people had been detained. A Saudi Foreign Ministry official said the country is "investigating the regrettable and painful incident."
Image: Getty Images/C. McGrath
'Grave mistake'
October 21: Saudi Arabia provided yet another account of what happened to Khashoggi. The kingdom's foreign minister admitted the journalist was killed in a "rogue operation," calling it a "huge and grave mistake," but insisted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had not been aware of the murder. Riyadh said it had no idea where Khashoggi's body was.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Owen
Germany halts arms sales
October 21: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would put arms exports to Saudi Arabia on hold for the time being, given the unexplained circumstances of Khashoggi's death. Germany is the fourth largest exporter of weapons to Saudi Arabia after the United States, Britain and France.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Strangled to death, dissolved in acid
October 31: The Turkish prosecutor concluded that Khashoggi was strangled to death soon after entering the consulate, and was then dismembered. Another Turkish official later claimed the body was dissolved in acid. Turkish President Erdogan said the order to murder the journalist came from "the highest levels" of Saudi Arabia's government.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. E. Yildirim
Grilled at the UN
November 5: Saudi Arabia told the United Nations it would prosecute those responsible for Khashoggi's murder. This came as the United States and dozens of other countries raised the journalist's death before the UN Human Rights Council and called for a transparent investigation.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Coffrini
Fiancee in mourning
November 8: Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, wrote on Twitter that she was "unable to express her sorrow" upon learning that the journalist's body was dissolved with chemicals. "Are these killers and those behind it human beings?" she tweeted.
Image: Reuters/Haberturk
Turkey shares audio recordings
November 10: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reveals that officials from Saudi Arabia, the US, Germany, France and Britain have listened to audio recordings related to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Presidential Press Service
Symbolic funeral prayers
November 16: A symbolic funeral prayer for Khashoggi is held in the courtyard of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul. Yasin Aktay, advisor to President Erdogan, speaks at the service.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi-owned villas searched
November 26: Turkish forensic police bring the investigation to the Turkish province of Yalova, where sniffer dogs and drones search two Saudi-owned villas in the village Samanli.
Image: Reuters/O . Orsal
100 days since killing
January 10: Amnesty International Turkey members demonstrate outside the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul, marking 100 day since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. One woman holds up a street sign which reads "Jamal Khashoggi Street". The organization has called for an international investigation into the case.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi murder trial begins
January 3: The Khashoggi trial begins in Saudi Arabia, where state prosecutors say they will seek the death sentence for five of the eleven suspects. A request for the gathered evidence has been send to Turkish authorities. A date for the second hearing has not yet been set.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/Depo Photos
UN inquiry team in Turkey
January 28: Agnes Callamard, who is leading the UN probe into the handling of the Khashoggi case, arrives in Ankara where she meets with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The human rights expect will stay in the country for the rest of the week to speak with prosecutors and others involved in the case.