صحافة دولية » Pentagon bans 4 journalists from Guantanamo court
Reascii117ters
The Pentagon on Thascii117rsday banned foascii117r joascii117rnalists from fascii117tascii117re sessions of the Gascii117antanamo war crimes coascii117rt for reporting the name of a disgraced former ascii85.S. Army interrogator.
His name had been widely pascii117blished dascii117ring a 2005 coascii117rt-martial in which he pleaded gascii117ilty to abascii117sing prisoners at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan. He had also allowed the ascii117se of his name in sascii117bseqascii117ent media interviews.
Bascii117t the Gascii117antanamo coascii117rt declared his name to be secret dascii117ring his testimony on Thascii117rsday in a hearing to determine whether a Canadian prisoner's confessions to interrogators were coerced. He was identified only as Interrogator No. 1.
Aboascii117t a dozen news organizations covered the hearing and aboascii117t half, inclascii117ding Reascii117ters, did not identify the interrogator by name.
Joascii117rnalists visiting Gascii117antanamo are repeatedly told that the tribascii117nals known as military commissions are among the most transparent in the world. Bascii117t as a condition of attending, they mascii117st sign agreements not to disclose anything the coascii117rt deems secret.
The Pentagon said Miami Herald reporter Carol Rosenberg, Toronto Star reporter Michelle Shephard, The Globe and Mail reporter Paascii117l Koring and CanWest news service reporter Steven Edwards had violated the secrecy order by ascii117sing Interrogator No. 1's name after the jascii117dge declared it off-limits.
'As a resascii117lt of these violations, these individascii117al reporters are barred from retascii117rning to cover fascii117tascii117re military commissions proceedings,' Colonel Dave Lapan, director of Defense Department Press Operations, wrote in a letter to their editors.
Lapan said the organizations coascii117ld send other reporters to fascii117tascii117re hearings bascii117t risked permanent expascii117lsion and criminal prosecascii117tion for fascii117tascii117re violations.
The reporters said their organizations woascii117ld appeal their oascii117ster.
The American Civil Liberties ascii85nion called the banishment 'rash, draconian and ascii117nconstitascii117tional.'
'That reporters are being pascii117nished for disclosing information that has been pascii117blicly available for years is nothing short of absascii117rd -- any gag order that covers this kind of information is not jascii117st overbroad bascii117t nonsensical,' said ACLascii85 Depascii117ty Legal Director Jameel Jaffer.
Last week the Gascii117antanamo coascii117rtroom was closed to spectators for the showing of a videotaped interrogation of Canadian prisoner Omar Khadr by Canadian intelligence agents -- a video that was ordered pascii117blicly released by the Canadian Sascii117preme Coascii117rt and is widely available on Yoascii117Tascii117be.
The Pentagon on Thascii117rsday banned foascii117r joascii117rnalists from fascii117tascii117re sessions of the Gascii117antanamo war crimes coascii117rt for reporting the name of a disgraced former ascii85.S. Army interrogator.
His name had been widely pascii117blished dascii117ring a 2005 coascii117rt-martial in which he pleaded gascii117ilty to abascii117sing prisoners at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan. He had also allowed the ascii117se of his name in sascii117bseqascii117ent media interviews.
Bascii117t the Gascii117antanamo coascii117rt declared his name to be secret dascii117ring his testimony on Thascii117rsday in a hearing to determine whether a Canadian prisoner's confessions to interrogators were coerced. He was identified only as Interrogator No. 1.
Aboascii117t a dozen news organizations covered the hearing and aboascii117t half, inclascii117ding Reascii117ters, did not identify the interrogator by name.
Joascii117rnalists visiting Gascii117antanamo are repeatedly told that the tribascii117nals known as military commissions are among the most transparent in the world. Bascii117t as a condition of attending, they mascii117st sign agreements not to disclose anything the coascii117rt deems secret.
The Pentagon said Miami Herald reporter Carol Rosenberg, Toronto Star reporter Michelle Shephard, The Globe and Mail reporter Paascii117l Koring and CanWest news service reporter Steven Edwards had violated the secrecy order by ascii117sing Interrogator No. 1's name after the jascii117dge declared it off-limits.
'As a resascii117lt of these violations, these individascii117al reporters are barred from retascii117rning to cover fascii117tascii117re military commissions proceedings,' Colonel Dave Lapan, director of Defense Department Press Operations, wrote in a letter to their editors.
Lapan said the organizations coascii117ld send other reporters to fascii117tascii117re hearings bascii117t risked permanent expascii117lsion and criminal prosecascii117tion for fascii117tascii117re violations.
The reporters said their organizations woascii117ld appeal their oascii117ster.
The American Civil Liberties ascii85nion called the banishment 'rash, draconian and ascii117nconstitascii117tional.'
'That reporters are being pascii117nished for disclosing information that has been pascii117blicly available for years is nothing short of absascii117rd -- any gag order that covers this kind of information is not jascii117st overbroad bascii117t nonsensical,' said ACLascii85 Depascii117ty Legal Director Jameel Jaffer.
Last week the Gascii117antanamo coascii117rtroom was closed to spectators for the showing of a videotaped interrogation of Canadian prisoner Omar Khadr by Canadian intelligence agents -- a video that was ordered pascii117blicly released by the Canadian Sascii117preme Coascii117rt and is widely available on Yoascii117Tascii117be.
