Charge Or Release AP Photog Held By Military, IAPA Demands

By: Mark Fitzgerald The U.S. government should either charge Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein or release him from the military prison in Iraq, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) insisted Tuesday.

In a resolution adopted at the concluding day of its annual General Assembly in Miami, IAPA said the government ?should offer him an opportunity to defend himself, and provide the public with the information the military claims links him to insurgent activities.?

Hussein has been held without charges since April 2006. In its ?country report? on the United States, the association noted that while Hussein has been accused of taking photos in Iraq that were ?synchronized? with an insurgent bombing, an AP examination of 900 of his photos showed ?no indication he was at the scene before the explosions took place.?

News organizations should also be permitted, to the extent possible under U.S. law, to cover hearings or tribunals of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, IAPA said.

In its resolution, IAPA also urged Congress to pass, and President George Bush to sign, the Open Government Act that would impose penalties on government agencies that fail to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests.

IAPA also condemned the federal judge who in August ordered five journalists to identify the sources who told them that former government scientist Steven Hatfill was a suspect in the string of anthrax attacks in 2001.

Hatfill is suing Washington Post reporter Allan Lengel; former USA Today reporter Tony Loci; Newsweek writers Michael Isikofff and Daniel Klaidman; and James Stewart of CBS News.

IAPA said the order violates the Chapultepec Declaration, a statement on freedom of expression created by IAPA and signed by many hemispheric leaders including President Bush. ?No journalist may be forced to reveal his or her sources of information,?
Principle 3 of the document reads in part.