LOS ANGELES - May 27 - PEN USA’s First Amendment Action Committee is deeply alarmed by the recent allegations made by Reuters and NBC staff members regarding their detention and mistreatment in Iraq. Three Iraqis working for Reuters and one Iraqi journalist working for NBC have reported that they were subjected to beatings, religious and sexual taunts, and other forms of humiliation during their detention by U.S. military personnel.

The four Iraqis working for Reuters and NBC were detained together January 2nd after covering the downing of an American helicopter in Falluja. They were held for three days at Forward Operating Base Volturno, then at Forward Operating Base St Merea, both U.S. military camps near Falluja. On January 5th, they were released without charge.

The three Iraqis working for Reuters—Baghdad-based cameraman Salem Ureibi, Falluja-based freelance television journalist Ahmad Mohammad Hussein al-Badrani, and driver Sattar Jabar al-Badrani—told the news group of their treatment following their release in January. For many months, they failed to publicize their ordeal because of its humiliating nature. They decided to make the allegations public only after U.S. investigators deemed there was no evidence of their abuse and after similar allegations were made regarding detainee abuse at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. "When I saw the Abu Ghraib photographs, I wept," Ureibi said. "I saw they had suffered like we had."

Two of the three Reuter’s staff reported that U.S. soldiers forced them to insert a finger into their anuses and then lick it. They were also forced to put shoes inside their mouths—an act particularly humiliating for Muslims. Ureibi, who spoke and understood English better than the rest of the detainees, claimed that U.S. soldiers told the detainees that they wanted to have sex with them—he feared he would be raped.

All three Reuter’s staffers reported that they were forced to make demeaning gestures while U.S. soldiers jeered, laughed, and took photographs. They were also subjected to threats that they would be transferred to Guantanamo Bay, where U.S. soldiers told them that bags would be placed over their heads, they would be deprived of sleep and food, and that they would be beaten and left in “stress positions” for long periods of time.

NBC cited that its Iraqi correspondent was also beaten and mistreated. Ali Muhammed Hussein Ali al-Badrani reported that a hood was placed over his head for hours, he was forced to perform strenuous exercises, he was prevented from sleeping, and that he was repeatedly kicked and struck by U.S. soldiers.

This week, U.S. military authorities explicitly stated that the case was closed. A U.S. military investigation concluded that there was no evidence of abuse—a report was issued stressing this conclusion. The commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, wrote in a letter to Reuters that he was confident that the investigation was “thorough and objective,” and that its findings were sound. Lawrence Di Rita, Pentagon chief spokesman, told Reuters on Tuesday: "The commander in Iraq reviewed the investigation in this matter and was persuaded that it was thorough and appropriate. Should there be new information provided sufficient to cause reconsideration of these particular allegations, such information would be reviewed and acted upon as appropriate."

Reuters Global Managing Editor David Schlesinger and NBC Vice President Bill Wheatley are continuing to demand a reopening of investigations and have both put pressure on the Pentagon to present the findings of the military inquiry, but thus far, they have been rebuffed. Schlesinger has demanded a more thorough investigation, citing that the military inquiry was “woefully inadequate.” The Army has relied on sworn testimony from the soldiers that were implicated—the reporters have yet to be interviewed by U.S. authorities. Schlesinger said: "The military's conclusion of its investigation without even interviewing the alleged victims, along with other inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the report, speaks volumes about the seriousness with which the U.S. government is taking this issue." Despite the U.S. military’s assertion that the case is closed, Reuters is standing by the accusations made by its staff.

The PEN USA First Amendment Action Committee deplores the abuse of these Iraqi citizens, and fears that the detention and subsequent ill-treatment of media personnel in Iraq is an indication of the U.S. military’s lack of respect for the freedom of the press. Members of the media should not be subjected to random detentions for coverage of events in Iraq—and they should certainly not be subjected to wanton acts of violence, humiliation, and intimidation by members of the United States military. Harassing and abusing the media in a transitional state is no way of bringing about democracy, and it reflects poorly on our government’s commitment to the freedom of the press worldwide.

Stephen F Rohde, a First Amendment lawyer and Vice President of PEN's Domestic Freedom to Write Committee, said that "there is no greater threat to freedom of the press than when the government's power is at its zenith in time of war and the government tries to muscle or intimidate journalists. The only hope for a democracy at such times is a free press reporting what it sees and hears without government censorship so that back home the rest of us can make informed life-and-death decisions about the future course of our nation."

As a member of International PEN’s Writers in Prison committee, PEN USA works to secure the release and to support the families of writers of conscience around the world. PEN USA’s First Amendment Action Committee, the fastest growing committee at PEN USA, works to support freedom of speech and to protect the First Amendment in the United States.

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