U.S. Jails Iraqi Photographer a Year With No Charge

Jeremy Gerard writes in Bloomberg, U.S. Jails Iraqi Photographer a Year With No Charge.

"Each time I report on a journalist imprisoned for committing journalism, a few readers call me a hypocrite for not turning the spotlight on my own country. Here is one case nobody should ignore.

Ibrahim Jassam, 31, is an Iraqi freelance photographer. Since Sept. 2, 2008, when U.S. soldiers seized him at his home near Baghdad, he has been held without charge in American military prisons. He’s currently at Camp Bucca, in the southern part of the country, according to Lt. Col. Patricia Johnson, a U.S. Marine Corps spokeswoman in Iraq. Jassam is a security threat, Johnson said, ‘as the result of his activity with an insurgent organization.’

No details of that alleged activity were offered. Journalists often make contact with opposition forces in the course of their work. Last November, the Central Criminal Court of Iraq ruled that Jassam is not a security threat and asked the Americans to release him. The American response has been to politely ignore the court and keep the photographer in prison as his first anniversary in jail approaches."

Jassam will be release by the end of year due to an agreement with the Iraqi government about all detainees. Also, any new detainees must have a valid warrant or detention order.

"“The point is that there’s a pattern here,” Simon said. “There are a dozen or so cases in which journalists have been held, allegations have been made and then they’ve been released. If they were a threat, why were they released?"

Obama, fix this.