With reporting from
Heba Fahmy and Riham Sheble
People who take or
share photos of accident victims in Qatar could face criminal charges under a
new draft law approved by Qatar’s cabinet today that explicitly criminalizes
the practice, state media has reported.
The proposed amendment
to Law No. 11 of 2004 would punish
anyone who “captures or transmits pictures of the deceased or injured in
accidents without the consent of their representatives, through devices of any
kind.”
The notice of the draft
law, published by Qatar News Agency, does not say what
penalties convicted individuals could face.
Previously, lawyers
told Doha News that residents who post gruesome videos and photos of
car accident victims online could be penalized under Qatar’s privacy laws.
However, they conceded
that the country’s legal system does not typically prosecute individuals who tweet
or post such images on Facebook.
Speaking to Doha
News today, former Qatar justice minister Dr. Najeeb Al Nuaimi said the
provisions passed by the Cabinet today reinforce the country’s cybercrime law, which waspassed last year.
Privacy
in public
Like many countries, Qatar has drafted
legislation in recent years that aim to protect the privacy of residents
despite the ubiquity of smartphones and social media.
Several laws dating back more than a decade
already contain sweeping and loosely defined provisions.
For example, article 331 of Law No. 11 of
2004 makes it illegal to spread “news, photographs or comments related to a
person’s private life, or that of his family.” Article 291, meanwhile, makes it a
crime to “(violate) the privacy of a female.”
More recently, Qatar’s
cybercrime law attracted criticism for
prohibiting the publication of content that violates the country’s “social
values” or “general order,” among other controversial provisions.
In practice, the
application of Qatar’s privacy laws has been more measured than in some
neighboring states.
For example, earlier
this year, an Australian woman living in the UAE was jailed and deported for
sharing a photo of a car blocking two handicapped parking spots.
In the aftermath of the
highly publicized case, Al Nuaimi said the chances of a similar incident happening in Qatar is
“highly unlikely.”
Similarly, in
late 2013, Qatar’s Ministry of Interior began asking residents to
use its Metrash2 mobile phone app to safely take photos and report road rule
breakers.
In response to concerns
that violators would file legal complaints against those who reported them, a
traffic consultant said the authorities would intervene to scuttle any such
lawsuits.
However, lawyers have
noted that posting photos of dead bodies and injured victims is a separate
issue.
Such images are
considered “human and moral” defamation and go against “social and religious”
values, attorney Mohammad Al Hagri was quoted as saying earlier this year.
It’s not known when the
new legislation about sharing gruesome images will come into effect.
Proposed legislation requires the Emir’s signature before it becomes law.
Thoughts?
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