GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman (CNS) -- The chair of the Human Rights Commission has said that the local Prohibited Publications Order continues to set a dangerous precedent for censorship and government should focus on encouraging reading not banning literature.
In a statement to mark World Banned Books Week, which celebrates freedom of expression, James Austin-Smith pointed out that the censorship of publications without explanation or justification is contrary to the Bill of Rights, and in a world where material is readily available online, banning a selection of publications is futile.
The order, which bans certain books and publications in Cayman, is a disparate collection of works, from socialist periodicals to books about the occult to Madonna’s famous art coffee-table book, Sex.
The banning of literature considered seditious or offensive has always been controversial and Austin-Smith said it was “disproportionate and irrational” as “restrictions on allowing persons to participate fully in their religion or personal expression are unconstitutional and can open government up to liability”.
He said that instead of banning books, government should focus on improving literacy (which the Ministry of Education has indicated is a concern) to encourage critical thinking and an engaged and well-informed society.
“Freedom of expression under Cayman’s Bill of Rights includes ‘freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference’; the censorship of publications, in this case without any explanation or apparent justification, is quite contrary to those rights,” Austin-Smith warned. “Equally, in a world where materials more explicit in nature and articulating a vast range of political and religious views are readily available on the internet, the banning of this small selection of materials is not only hard to comprehend but, ultimately, utterly futile.”
The local prohibited list includes over 130 items that are not allowed to be brought into the islands, though many of them are now out of print. There are also bans on all publications from specific publishers that are no longer in business. The ban largely covers political materials from the US, the former USSR, Canada, the UK, North Korea and China, but the list includes some that are religious in nature, including publications from the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, a sect of Rastafarianism, and certain pornographic publications and books dealing with the occult and magic.
There are no local authors on the list and no local publications are banned but the Human Rights Commission said the order continues to set a “dangerous precedent for censorship of cultural, political and religious expression”, and urged government to rethink is approach to censorship.