Melville House Books

A Reuters report says that “Iraq’s Ministry of Culture has revived regulations forbidding the import of some books, prompting critics to accuse it of restoring Saddam-era censorship.” Publishers are being required to submit lists of titles for approval based on rules outlined in a law dating from the Saddam Hussein era.

Deputy Culture Minister Taher al-Humoud said that the current ban “was on books glorifying violent jihad and martyrdom, which are typically imported from neighboring countries,” according to Reuters. “All books are allowed except those that incite sectarian grudges,” he said.

Yet groups advocating for freedom of the press are unhappy with the move. The Iraqi Society to Defend the Freedom of the Press, for one, has released a statement saying that “imposing such censorship is a termination of the freedom of expression and thought acquired after April 9, 2003.” The date refers to the fall of Hussein.

According to Reuters, “Iraq’s 2005 constitution enshrines freedom of press and publication unless they ‘violate public order or morality’.”

Under Saddam, Iraq was heavily censored. (Though Saddam himself managed to publish several pulp novels to great acclaim from Baathist reviewers — you can glimpse a sample here of his bestselling novel Zabiba and the King.)

Reuters states that Al-Humoud “pointed to a case a year and a half ago which prompted the ministry to begin applying the rule anew. In that instance, authorities at Baghdad international airport blocked the entry of a book entitled The Lover — referring not to romantic love but love of jihad.”

Reuters also notes, “Iraqi media is dominated by party-backed publications and there is little investigative journalism. More than 100 journalists have been killed since 2003, and self-censorship is more common than government censorship.”

Valerie Merians is the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.