IHEC - Media Center

Independent and pluralistic media is essential to the conduct of democratic elections. A free and fair election is not only about casting a vote in proper conditions, but also about having adequate information about parties, policies, candidates and the election process itself so that voters can make an informed choice. A democratic election with no media freedom would be a contradiction in terms.

Media in Iraq is regulated by the Communication and Media Commission, a constitutional body established by CPA Order 65. IHEC, in consultation with the CMC, has produced regulations governing the media during the election period which stipulates the role that the CMC, the IHEC and the judiciary play in regulating the media. The regulation also outlines the special responsibility of the Iraqi Media Network, which was established by CPA Order 66 as the national Public Service Broadcaster. As a publicly-funded entity, IMN should make airtime available to the electoral commission free of charge and ensure adequate representation of all candidates, regardless of the size of the political entity.

Self-regulation is, however, at the heart of media freedom and IHEC has supported the CMC in producing its 2008 Code of Conduct for the Media during Elections.

Central to the guarantee in practice of freedom of expression is access to information, the principle that public bodies hold information not for themselves but on behalf of the public. As such, this information must be accessible to members of the public in the absence of an overriding public interest in secrecy. IHEC has published a Freedom of Information policy which explains what information is available to the public domain.

Media is free to cover the elections as any other member of civil society. However security concerns mean that the right for media to access electoral offices with electronic broadcasting equipment has to be curtailed. This is a question of balancing the right to media freedoms with the right to life and the right to vote in safety,

Certain polling centres will be accessible to accredited media on the day of the election. These polling centres have been selected by IHEC in consultation with security forces and the CMC and take into consideration the fact that those centres of interest to the public (and therefore the media) will also be those in politically sensitive areas.

Media accreditation also gives access to IHEC electoral events such as press conferences. Accredited media are expected to abide by the CMC Code of Conduct as well as by the IHEC regulations. Failure to do so will result in a withdrawal of accreditation as well as referral to the CMC for civil offences and to the judiciary for more serious violations of CPA Order 14, which regulates hate speech and incitement to violence.

Media resources:

Factsheet for journalists
Accreditation procedures
CMC Code of Conduct for the Media during Elections
CPA Order 14
CMC publication on incitement to violence

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