Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographer Arrested In Iraq

by redjade Thu Apr 10, 2008 08:12

AP photographer granted Iraqi amnesty
Apr 09, 2008 14:09 EST
An Iraqi judicial committee has dismissed terrorism-related allegations against Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein and ordered him released nearly two years after he was detained by the U.S. military.

Hussein, 36, remained in custody at Camp Cropper, a U.S. detention facility near Baghdad's airport.

A decision by a four-judge panel said Hussein's case falls under a new amnesty law. It ordered Iraqi courts to "cease legal proceedings" and ruled that Hussein should be "immediately" released unless other accusations are pending.

[....]

U.S. military authorities have said a U.N. Security Council mandate allows them to retain custody of a detainee they believe is a security risk even if an Iraqi judicial body has ordered that prisoner freed. The U.N. mandate is due to expire at the end of this year.

Also, the amnesty committee's ruling on Hussein may not cover a separate allegation that has been raised in connection with the case.

AP President Tom Curley hailed the committee's decision and demanded that the U.S. military "finally do the right thing" and free Hussein.

more at
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/04/ap_photograph...i.php

Also see: http://www.ap.org/bilalhussein/

by Pat - none Wed Dec 19, 2007 19:15 none none

I have always been amazed at that photo, what the fuck is that flag pole made of anyway ?
Why did it take so many men to heist it up ?
its staged, just like everything else in America,

by World Weary Mon Dec 17, 2007 08:58

If you bothered to read the book "Flag Of Our Fathers" or watched the Clint Eastwood movie you would know the true story.

by Michael Gallagher - Photographer Sun Dec 16, 2007 13:12

I haven't read all the reports, but I didn't read that he had been "caught with insurgents". I read the US soldiers detained him because they found dodgy 'equipment' in his home and they became suspicious when he seemed to always be around as major events happened, explosions etc.

The photograph at Iowa Jima was staged, that didn't actually happen spontaneously.

Thanks lads for your interest. Will you pass the link for the petition on to as many as possible.

by Sean - none Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:57 none none

If any photographer, or one such as Bilal Hussein decides to run along with Al Qaeda insurgents and record their actions with a camera, does that mean that this photographer is a supporter of Al Qaeda ? Does this make him a target for the US military ?
It appears that this is so in the case of Bilal Hussein. Regardless of what side one might believe a photographer supports or backs, if this is indeed the case. It is important to see Images from all sides of a conflict. Are the US military opening a can of worms here ?.
If you reverse the situation around, would it be fair to say that any photographer who takes a photographs of the US military actually supports them ? I think not.
We have seen enough videos/DVDs, books, news paper articles showing the Iraq war from an American perspective. Why cant we see some images from the other side for a change.
It is not a black and white issue, you can not select a couple of photos from thousands and say 'you support Al Qeaeda' because of photo content.

by World Weary Sat Dec 15, 2007 14:17

Hussein obviously had to develop a relationship of trust between the subjects of photographs in order to work with them.

One of his photos shows a group of insurgents firing a light mortar during the battle of Fallujah.
Another photo shows insurgents gunning down an apparently unarmed Iraqi in the middle of a roadway.

These pictures could not have been taken had Hussein not gained the trust of the men.

Unfortunately during a war there is little toleration for impartial observers who were as hungry as Hussein to get a story.

Hussein was caught with suspected Al-Qaeda members during a US military raid and his photos showing the drama of everyday combat in Iraq could be construed as propaganda glamourising the insurgents. He was lucky he was not shot dead.

I'm sure the mess will be cleared up and Hussein will get back to his valuable work of documenting the fighting for world.

Those are the risks that journalists and photographers must accept.

During WW2 Robert Capa was a photographer who witnessed and photographed the carnage at Omaha Beach - during his time lying flat on the sand trying to avoid getting shot to pieces by German bullets he was wearing a helmet and uniform of a typical US serviceman.

Joe Rosenthal who took the famous photo of the flag raising on Iwo Jima was lucky to have got off the island alive.