The murder of Jamal Khashoggi is not an isolated incident. It is part of a worldwide concerted effort by criminals threatened by exposure; power-hungry politicians frightened of truth and criticism and ideologues seeking to manipulate public opinion.
Khashoggi hit the headlines because he was murdered by agents of one of the world’s most oppressive regimes which is also supported by countries who claim freedom of speech as a bedrock of their system of government.
A total of 46 journalists around the world were killed in 2017. Two thirds were murder victims. More than 2,500 have been killed since 1990. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 262 journalists languished in the world’s prisons at the end of 2017. Turkey—whose president is taking the lead in condemning Saudi Arabia—leads the pack with 73 journalists behind bars.
We tend to think of freedom of speech as a product of the Age of Enlightenment. Yes and no. It was a key element in The Golden Age of Athens and was enshrined in Roman law. In common with most laws and freedoms, freedom of speech dwindled to the point of extinction in the Middle Ages. It was revived in the 17th century. Leading the way was English poet, philosopher and statesman John Milton who passionately argued for the right to seek information and ideas, receive information and ideas and impart information and ideas.
By 1689 Freedom of Speech was enshrined in the English Bill of Rights. It was the First Amendment in the US constitution along with freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition the government. Freedom of Speech was declared an inalienable right in the French Revolution’s Rights of Man. The protection of free speech can be found in almost every written constitution as well as in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and EU Law.
Freedom of speech is universally recognised as an essential prerequisite for successful democracies. For a democracy to work you need an informed electorate. For the electorate to be informed you require freedom of speech and press.
Free speech also acts as a valuable safety valve protecting political stability. If people are able to express their concerns, problem and grievances on the public stage for all to hear and consider than they are less likely to turn to violent revolution.
Finally, freedom of speech is more than a political tool. It provides essential grease for the wheels of commerce and science. The media is an important vehicle for exchanging business ideas and scientific knowledge. It is no coincidence that the countries where freedom of speech is strongest are—for the most part—the most stable and economically advanced in the world.
Freedom of speech is one of the basic liberties for which millions have fought and died.
Despite adherence to this long-held and well established basic freedom, the overall Western reaction to the Saudi regime’s murder of Jamal Khashoggi has been – at best—qualified. The reason is simple. Money. Saudi oil and Saudi cash has bought them immunity from anything but muted criticism.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs in America, Europe and elsewhere, are tied to Saudi money. The world needs Saudi oil. The West needs Saudi Arabia as a counter to the rise of Jihadist Iran and as a partner in the search to a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The murder of Khashoggi has underscored the sticky problem of principles clashing with Realpolitik.
The Bible, as usual, has an appropriate passage. Matthew, Chapter 16 verse 26 asks: “What is a man profited if he shall gain the world and lose his own soul?”
In my own book, principles win. The Saudi regime and everyone who seeks to undermine the principle of free speech are the true “Enemies of the People.”
* Tom Arms is foreign editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and author of “The Encyclopaedia of the Cold War” and “America Made in Britain". To subscribe to his email alerts on world affairs click here.
Follow @LibDemVoice on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Dundee Chess Congress 2024 #dundeewestend
GUEST POST No sign of an end to defections in local government
Monday night is Parish Council night...
Latest voting intention and leadership ratings opinion polls
Welsh Labour hospitality row
Nonconformistradical
Jenny Barnes
Mick Taylor
Mark Frankel
SteveTrevethan
5 Comments
Outstanding analysis Tom. Only point missing for freedom of speech to flourish is the rule of law, one of the pillars of democracy.
What is the point of the United Nations if it cannot deal with this sort of act? They require a global response and by majority voting with no veto. The world should be outraged and rising up against this and similar incidents. We should lead the way as a founder of these international institutions and at the forefront of free speech, the rule of law and a values based foreign policy.
Thank you Stephen, I actually wrote an accompanying piece in my email newsletter in which I accused myself of hypocrisy by saying that freedom of speech cannot be absolute. It must be within the parameters of the rule of law. Life is never simple. Politics even less so.
Of course Stephen, Tom, the Rule of Law has to be based on Just Law.
Many authoritarian states can claim to follow the Rule of Law within systems that skew things in favour of those with powerful friends or doing dirty work for the system. The same is true in democracies, one example being the US with its Presidential pardon system, another being the UK’s unwillingness to convict anyone involved in botched counter terrorism activities for anything at all, a particular example being the Jean Charles de Menezes case.
None of these are systems can be called Just.
A powerful post – and true. The Khashoggi murder was peculiarly shocking, but the others need more publicity.
Two quibbles. The Middle Ages was not just a period when most laws and freedoms dwindled. It was the period when many laws and conventions of a free society were born – Parliament, for one; Habeus Corpus; the right to trial by one’s peers; and unlike classical Greece or Rome, medieval Europe had minimal slavery. Second quibble, a point I’ve made before. Not that long ago most Latin American governments were military-backed dictatorships or juntas and the same was true of most of Africa and the Far East (outside China, a different kind of oppressive regime, and Japan, a working democracy but one imposed by conquerors). We didn’t hear much about journalists having problems in these places because everyone knew they had to toe the line or go to jail or die. There have been huge gains.