Samir Kassir's Eyes, a regional press freedom watchdog, was launched in Beirut, Lebanon on 16 June. Inaugurated three years after the assassination of the An-Nahar columnist Samir Kassir, the organisation will to begin with operate in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Palestine before extending its reach beyond the Levantine.

"Our goal is to put in place an independent Arab organization that will defend and ensure the rights of journalists in the region," said journalist and writer Elias Khoury, who was a friend of Samir Kassir and is a member of the Samir Kassir Foundation, which created SK Eyes.

Khoury spent seven months on the preparations to launch the watchdog. "The first stage of the process consisted of creating a database covering the history of journalism in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine, including a record of violations of liberties and court cases against the press," he told APN.

The database also includes a register of civil associations that could later work together with the watchdog, as well as legal documents (and their loopholes) that relate to the media in the four initial countries.

SK Eyes has set as its mission to protect journalists who fall victim to oppression by offering them legal assistance and housing if needed. The organisation also plans to work on the reform of laws related to the printed press and media in general.

The watchdog will operate in the Arab world following the example of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Accordingly, RSF supported the
creation of SK Eyes by hosting a preparative seminar some months ago for the researchers and journalists who will be working for the organisation.

"The seminar was an opportunity for us to have a brainstorming and evaluate the needs of the region. The discussions, which brought together journalists and intellectuals from several countries, focused on issues such as bloggers in the Arab world, different ways of defending press freedom, and the struggle against censorship," said Khoury.

The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) is another press freedom organisation which has been solicited by the watchdog.

Concerning the protection of journalists, SK Eyes will operate through different platforms. Advertising campaigns, non-violent demonstrations, and petitions will be some of the methods employed. "The organization will put pressure on the appropriate political bodies, inform the international press freedom community of violations, and appoint lawyers to defend arrested journalists. We will also offer shelter to journalists who face physical danger," said Khoury.

"We are creating an environment which will show that the oppression of journalists will no longer go unnoticed. We are telling the Arab regimes that they cannot tyrannize the press in all their impunity, with the hope to dissuade them from acts of harassment and violence," he added.

Is it that easy to change the practices of political regimes who do not hesitate to harass or even kill journalists?

"Most importantly, we must do our duty to defend the freedom of the press. It is fundamental that we have an Arab organization to defend the rights of the media and culture in the region and that we do not continue to count on foreign organization to defend us. We must be responsible for our own causes. Certainly, the Arab regimes will not stop pressuring journalists. Press freedom comes with a free society, so if a society is not free, its journalists are not either. If the Arab world is a jungle, we must fight to stop that and introduce the rule of law," said Khoury.

Financially, SK Eyes is partially supported by the Foundation of the Future, which fights for democracy and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa.

Nabila Hamza, the president of the association, which has its headquarters in Jordan, told APN that the foundation decided to help SK Eyes "because the actions of the group fall within the field of our activities. One of our most important efforts is to ensure freedom of expression and press freedom in the Arab world," she said. "We consider the press to be an important indicator of freedom and democracy in a country. There is an urgent need to support those who fight for freedom of expression in the Arab world."

SK Eyes, which will launch its activities will start working in a month, will a staff of around ten. To start with, the work will focus on Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine.

When asked about the situation in these countries Khoury emphasized that "freedom of expression does not exist in Syria and the journalists as well as the intellectuals are imprisoned."

In Jordan, he says it is the media laws that are problematic. Indeed, the journalist are sometimes judged under the penal code and not under the publication laws.

In Lebanon, Khoury finds that there is a wide range of obstacles, ranging from how the profession is organised to the audiovisual law and the monopoly of newspaper licenses, turning the media into "instruments of propaganda and tools of advertisement for a religious community or a political party."

Indeed Lebanon does not grant any more new licenses to newspapers. To launch a publication one must reactivate an old license by buying it at a high price. "This makes it very difficult to create new titles since it costs at least 500,000 US dollars to buy and old license," explained Khoury, adding that one of the main dangers in Lebanon is " the threat of physical violence that journalists face."

Finally, in the Palestinian Territories, the challenges are multiple: political control of publications, an inexistent independent press and the Israeli repression.

Patricia Khoder