Bilal Hussein
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Bilal Hussein is an Associated Press photojournalist based in Fallujah, Iraq.
On September 17, 2006, it was reported that Hussein has being imprisoned by the United States military since April 2006 without publically known charges or hearing because of "imperative reasons of security" under United Nations resolutions.[1] Hussein was taken into U.S. custody on April 12, 2006 from the Iraqi city of Ramadi and has since been held without charge.[1][2]
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[edit] Background
Hussein was a shopkeeper who sold cell phones and computers in Fallujah, when he was hired by the AP as a general helper because of his local knowledge, in what is described as a typical path for locally hired staff in the middle of a conflict.[1] According to Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography, in 2004, as the situation in Fallujah worsened, Hussein was given training in photography and camera equipment and hired in September 2004 as a freelancer, paid on a per-picture basis.[1] During Operation Phantom Fury, Hussein's family left, but he stayed behind[3], "able to photograph not only the results of the attacks on Fallujah, [but] also able to photograph members of the insurgency on occasion," according to Lyon.[1] After fleeing, he arrived in Baghdad, sans camera, (which the AP replaced)[1] and then went Ramadi since early 2005.[2]
One of his photographs was part of a package of 20 Associated Press photographs that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography.[1] His was an image of four insurgents in Fallujah firing a mortar and small arms during the U.S.-led offensive in the city in November 2004.[1]
[edit] Imprisonment
[edit] Military statements
The military said that Hussein was found with two insurgents, including Hamid Hamad Motib, an alleged leader of al-Qaida forces in Iraq.[1] According to a May 7, 2006 e-mail from U.S. Army Major General Jack Gardner, "He has close relationships with persons known to be responsible for kidnappings, smuggling, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and other attacks on coalition forces."[1] Gardner continued, "The information available establishes that he has relationships with insurgents and is afforded access to insurgent activities outside the normal scope afforded to journalists conducting legitimate activities."[1]
According to his Iraqi lawyer, Badie Arief Izzat, Hussein is innocent, and believes he is being unfairly targetted because of photographs he has taken.[1]
[edit] Associated Press response
Tom Curley, AP president and chief executive said that "Bilal Hussein has been held in violation of Iraqi law and in disregard to the Geneva Conventions. He must be charged under the Iraqi system or released immediately."[2] The AP has contacted military leaders in Iraq and the Pentagon, and later the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, to try to get more information about the allegations and to have the case transferred to the Iraqi criminal justice system.[1] According to Curley, the Associated Press had been working quietly until now, but since the US military showed no sign of changing their stance, they considered it best to make the imprisonment public.[1]
Kathleen Carroll, AP's executive editor, argued that simply because Hussein was found with insurgents, he isn't necessary one of them.[1] "Journalists have always had relationships with people that others might find unsavory," she said. "We're not in this to choose sides, we're to report what's going on from all sides."[1]
Other AP executives said that their review of Hussein's work did not find anything to indicate inappropriate contact with insurgents, and any evidence against him should be brought to the Iraqi criminal justice system.[1] Out of the 420 of Hussein's photographs that the AP reviewed, Lyon said that only 37 photos show insurgents or people who could be insurgents; "The vast majority of the 420 images show the aftermath or the results of the conflict - blown up houses, wounded people, dead people, street scenes."[1]
AP executives also claim the military has not provided any concrete evidence to back up the vague allegations they have raised about him.[1] AP International Editor John Daniszewski said that the AP was told that Hussein was involved with the kidnapping of two Arab journalists in Ramadi, but the AP tracked down the journalists, who said that Hussein in fact had helped them after they were released by their captors without money or a vehicle.[1] The two journalists says that they had never been contacted by multinational forces for their account.[1] Scott Horton, a lawyer in New York hired by the AP to work on Hussein's case, said that the military has also provided contradictory accounts of whether Hussein himself was targeted or simply caught up in a broader sweep.[1]
The New York-based Committee to protect journalists said it has documented seven cases in 2005, like Hussein, of Iraqi journalists detained by US forces without charge since the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[2]
Hussein has been also a target for conservative critics on the Internet, who raised questions about his images months before he was detained. One blogger, Michelle Malkin, wrote about him on the day of his arrest, citing an "anonymous military source in Iraq."[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Tanner, Robert. "U.S. holds AP photographer in Iraq 5 mos", Associated Press, 2006-09-17. Retrieved on 2006-10-30.
- ^ a b c d "AP: U.S. forces holding photographer in Iraq", Associated Press, 2006-09-17. Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
- ^ "AP Photographer Tells of Flight From Besieged City of Fallujah", Associated Press, 2004-11-14. Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
- ^ Malkin, Michelle (2006-04-12). WHERE IS BILAL HUSSEIN?. MichelleMalkin.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
[edit] External Links
- "AP seeks action on detained photographer." Becky Bohrer, Associated Press, October 27, 2006, accessed via Yahoo News on October 30, 2006.
- "Pentagon defends its detention of Associated Press photographer." The Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, September 18, 2006, accessed on October 30, 2006.
- "Pentagon rebuffs AP inquiry on detained photographer. The Associated Press, First Amendment Center, October 17, 2006, accessed on October 30, 2006.
