U.S. Troops Detained AP Cameraman, Confiscated His Footage

[babylonsister]

U.S. Troops Detained AP Cameraman, Confiscated His Footage
By Spencer Ackerman - October 4, 2007, 2:53PM


Yesterday the AP reported that U.S. troops in Iraq confiscated an AP cameraman's videotape of the aftermath of a Baghdad bombing. A military spokesman, Lt. Colonel Scott Bleichwehl, explained that the troops were enforcing an Iraqi law prohibiting the photographing or videotaping the aftermath of acts of violence. That seemed strange -- U.S. troops enforcing Iraqi law?

So yesterday I asked U.S. military representatives in Baghdad about the confiscation, the alleged law, and the use of U.S. troops as law enforcement for a foreign country. A spokesman replied to me that he knew of no agreement or arrangement "that would compel to enforce Iraqi law." A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy declined to comment on the matter at all -- even to confirm the existence of such an Iraqi media law -- and instead referred me back to the military. Making matters even stranger, my interlocutor in the military told me that a colleague "checked with the unit who responded to the scene of the attack... and they reported that there was no video tape confiscated" by U.S. troops. I was unable to learn the identity of the unit.

When I asked AP for clarification about what happened, AP representatives e-mailed me this just-updated story . Apparently U.S. troops detained the cameraman -- after first denying that they even had the videotape:

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl told the AP Thursday morning he had checked with American soldiers who were at the scene and the U.S. military did not take the tape. He called back later and said he had discovered in further checks that the tape was in the hands of the U.S. military and would be returned to AP shortly.

The camera operator said he was handcuffed and detained by the U.S. troops at the scene for 40 minutes. He said he was kept inside an American Humvee then released. He said the Americans took the tape but returned his camera upon his release.

The Iraqi government passed a law earlier this year making it illegal to video tape or photograph the aftermath of attacks and bombings.

more...

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004386.php

[Kagemusha]

1. Yes, the Iraqi parliament did pass that law, and it was signed, but..

the US Army can't enforce law like that on US soil, so what gives?

[atreides1]

2. Fighting for Freedom are they?

I guess freedom of the press isn't one of those freedoms, I wonder which one is next?