EDITORIAL
Freedom of Expression
Friday, May 27, 2005
One long-standing feature of Cayman society that many newcomers and outside
observers find quite astonishing in a place that promotes its friendliness is
the reluctance of many residents, Caymanians and expatriates alike, to express
their opinions publicly for fear of reprisals from whatever public and private
vested interests that might be offended by reasonable criticism.
Whilst this regrettable situation has unfortunately by no means been
exclusive to the 42 months during which the last government was in power, it
is fair to say that some things were done on a very public manner that would
only have served to reinforce the existing reluctance of people in these
Islands to speak up and voice their opinions.
Cayman Net News has itself been the subject of several attempts at
actual and threatened economic and legal intimidation from both the public and
private sectors for printing the truth, so we can sympathise from our own
first-hand experience with those individuals who are fearful of reprisals
should they dare to voice their opinions.
West Bay Alliance Candidate Mario Ebanks was dismissed a year and a half
ago as a Senior Manager of the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche as a
result, it was widely assumed, of letters written by him and published by the
Caymanian Compass, which were highly critical of the then Leader of Government
Business, McKeeva Bush, and of the United Democratic Party (UDP).
A few years earlier, Dr Frank McField, the Minister of Community Services,
Youth, Sport and Gender Affairs in the previous UDP administration, was
dismissed reportedly from his job with Government for also writing a letter to
the Caymanian Compass that did not sit well with the Government of the day.
This alone should have meant that the UDP administration would have made a
point of promoting freedom of expression but instead they took far greater
public efforts to suppress it where considered necessary, notwithstanding the
past confrontation of one of their own ministers with such intolerance.
It has always been the policy of Cayman Net News not to publish
letters to the editor without including the name of the writer. However, in
some instances, correspondence that is clearly responsible and rational
commentary deserve publication even though the writer may wish to remain
anonymous because of fear for his or her personal and/or financial well-being.
For a time, we therefore relaxed our policy against anonymous publication
in our online forum, where contributions could be made anonymously and, in
addition to being published online, also appeared in the print edition of the
newspaper.
Nevertheless, merely providing a forum for the expression of valid
criticism does not cure the underlying problem – that of intimidation and
possible retribution – resulting in the suppression of the individual’s right
of full and free expression.
One of the election promises made by the new People’s Progressive Movement
(PPM) administration is to promote far greater transparency and openness in
government and, in keeping with this spirit of freedom of information, we want
to encourage the exercise of freedom of expression in the Cayman Islands.
However, we cannot do this alone. Cayman Net News has always taken a
public stand for the freedom of the press, which is part and parcel of the
overall freedom of expression we are supposed to enjoy, but we now need our
readers to stand along with us if we are to make a difference in this respect.
We have said on many previous occasions that there is a limit to what we as
a newspaper can accomplish in bringing about far-reaching changes but together
with our readers we can make a difference.
As we have said so many times, we are determined to remove the fear that
has existed in the Cayman Islands for far too long. Therefore, in the interest
of openness and transparency, we will no longer accept anonymous submissions
and we request that all submissions include a name for publication, regardless
of content.
So please, for the sake of freedom of expression work with us to bring
about this necessary change, because as we have proved – change is good!
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