Turkey arrested 2 VICE journalists to deter foreign media

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW31i8GxzKTFqjKXy0yqn3XbS0A4jenQ8SYR7OsWGNXALVW5jvNCM1YczYzC8QxZ_0XDbZnzRj533PND9qSQ5LMgXwDdQSoLRE7QfT5DRNvJDAnup3DcV6bHsOv6YN8VeJfAsKiDkLv9Y/s1600/0000.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW31i8GxzKTFqjKXy0yqn3XbS0A4jenQ8SYR7OsWGNXALVW5jvNCM1YczYzC8QxZ_0XDbZnzRj533PND9qSQ5LMgXwDdQSoLRE7QfT5DRNvJDAnup3DcV6bHsOv6YN8VeJfAsKiDkLv9Y/s640/0000.png" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A lawyer representing two Vice News journalists and their assistant on Tuesday denounced a Turkish court's decision to arrest them on terror-related charges, calling it a government attempt to deter foreign media from reporting on the conflict with Kurdish rebels.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The arrests have prompted strong protests from media rights advocates, the U.S. and the European Union.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A government official speaking on the basis of anonymity denied that Turkey was attempting to suppress journalists, and said the arrests were due to encryption software allegedly found on the assistant's computer.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The two journalists — British correspondent Jake Hanrahan and British cameraman Philip Pendlebury — and their Turkey-based assistant were detained late Thursday in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeast, where renewed fighting has killed scores of people. A court ordered the three formally arrested late on Monday on charges of aiding a terror organization</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tahir Elci, head of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, said the arrests were a government move to prevent international media from reporting from the area, after Turkey earlier this year gave police heightened powers to crackdown on protesters.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The spokesman rejected the assertion that the journalists' arrests were an attempt to silence media. The Diyarbakir court's decision "reflects the broader concern that there is a real threat toward Turkey's national security," the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules that bar officials from speaking to journalists without prior authorization.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Elci, the lawyer, said they were told that the journalists were initially taken into custody because of an anonymous tip claiming that they were engaged in activities helping IS recruit followers. The court later accused them of helping armed groups, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and its youth wing. Exact charges would be known when the prosecutor submits his indictment, which could take several weeks, Elci told The Associated Press.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All three have rejected the accusations and the assistant has denied having any encryption system on his computer, the lawyer said. He said that he would appeal the court decision for their arrest.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The arrests come amid a surge in government crackdowns on media freedoms. Authorities frequently use vague anti-terrorism or libel laws to prosecute journalists, although international journalists have rarely been prosecuted in recent years. Several prominent Turkish journalists have been fired under government pressure while access to websites is frequently blocked.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists wrote an open letter to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, calling on him to ensure that the Vice News journalists and their assistant are released.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They "were providing badly needed coverage of current events in southeastern Turkey, which are of interest not only to domestic but also to international audiences," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in Tuesday's letter, which was also sent to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, foreign diplomats in Turkey and EU officials.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Reporting on sensitive issues, including talking to a variety of news sources, is not a crime and such coverage must never be equated with criminal activity," Simon said.</span></div> <div style="margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><i><b>My Comment (not part of original article): </b>These reporters were made an example of to deter other media from getting too close and reporting the truth. This 'coalition' to fight ISIS is a farce. Turkey, which is a NATO ally, is using this as cover, to wage an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Kurds while the US and other members of this 'War OF Terror' coalition strike Assad's forces in Syria, all while claiming they are fighting ISIS. These reporters made the mistake of trying to cover both sides of the story. How dare they try to poke holes in the establishment narrative.</i> </span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Tuesday, police searched the premises of a business and media group close to a U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric whom the government accuses of trying to destabilize it and detained six company officials for questioning. Critics denounced the action as a government crackdown on opposition voices before an election on Nov. 1.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vice News, a New York-based news channel that produces documentaries, breaking news reports and investigative pieces, issued a statement Monday criticizing the charges as "baseless and alarmingly false." The U.S. urged Turkish authorities to "ensure their actions uphold universal democratic values, including due process, freedom of expression as well as access to media and information."</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Brussels, EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said Tuesday: ""Any country negotiating EU accession needs to guarantee the respect for human rights, including freedom of expression." she was referring to Turkey's candidacy to become an EU member.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Renewed conflict in Turkey's mostly ethnic Kurdish southeast has seen about 60 soldiers, police and village guards killed since July. Clashes between government security forces and rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, also have killed around 90 rebels, according to state-run media. The fighting has derailed a 2 1/2-year-old peace process.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">by Suzan Faser - Associated Press</span></div>

Turkey arrested 2 VICE journalists to deter foreign media

A lawyer representing two Vice News journalists and their assistant on Tuesday denounced a Turkish court's decision to arrest them on...

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DoD manual lets journalists be arrested & held as 'belligerents'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX0JGJjBNm1r0ELecZUkJY0c2AEE78gzhxa5joklBWWHRZQwMR2-sjsRwWQFVlI-0dnpo4CrPGKDZ9kHjYfzhFJaEElqiIPqiaa7Tg-VXKGz6Z0zpxz-qT17yXQ2IxLgcsWxNYOFpfVag/s1600/00000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX0JGJjBNm1r0ELecZUkJY0c2AEE78gzhxa5joklBWWHRZQwMR2-sjsRwWQFVlI-0dnpo4CrPGKDZ9kHjYfzhFJaEElqiIPqiaa7Tg-VXKGz6Z0zpxz-qT17yXQ2IxLgcsWxNYOFpfVag/s640/00000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> WASHINGTON (AP) — New Defense Department guidelines allow commanders to punish journalists and treat them as "unprivileged belligerents" if they believe journalists are sympathizing or cooperating with the enemy.<br /> <br /> The Law of War manual, updated to apply for the first time to all branches of the military, contains a vaguely worded provision that military commanders could interpret broadly, experts in military law and journalism say. Commanders could ask journalists to leave military bases or detain journalists for any number of perceived offenses.<br /> <br /> "In general, journalists are civilians," the 1,180 page manual says, but it adds that "journalists may be members of the armed forces, persons authorized to accompany the armed forces, or unprivileged belligerents."<br /> <br /> A person deemed "unprivileged belligerent" is not entitled to the rights afforded by the Geneva Convention so a commander could restrict from certain coverage areas or even hold indefinitely without charges any reporter considered an "unprivileged belligerent."<br /> <br /> The manual adds, "Reporting on military operations can be very similar to collecting intelligence or even spying. A journalist who acts as a spy may be subject to security measures and punished if captured." It is not specific as to the punishment or under what circumstances a commander can decide to "punish" a journalist.<br /> <br /> Defense Department officials said the reference to "unprivileged belligerents" was intended to point out that terrorists or spies could be masquerading as reporters, or warn against someone who works for jihadist websites or other publications, such as al-Qaida's "Inspire" magazine, that can be used to encourage or recruit militants.<br /> <br /> Another provision says that "relaying of information" could be construed as "taking a direct part in hostilities." Officials said that is intended to refer to passing information about ongoing operations, locations of troops or other classified data to an enemy.<br /> <br /> Army Lt. Col. Joe Sowers, a Pentagon spokesman, said it was not the Defense Department's intent to allow an overzealous commander to block journalists or take action against those who write critical stories.<br /> <br /> "The Department of Defense supports and respects the vital work that journalists perform," Sowers said. "Their work in gathering and reporting news is essential to a free society and the rule of law." His statement added that the manual is not policy and not "directive in nature."<br /> <br /> But Ken Lee, an ex-Marine and military lawyer who specializes in "law of war" issues and is now in private practice, said it was worrisome that the detention of a journalist could come down to a commander's interpretation of the law.<br /> <br /> If a reporter writes an unflattering story, "does this give a commander the impetus to say, now you're an unprivileged belligerent? I would hope not," Lee said.<br /> <br /> "I'm troubled by the label 'unprivileged belligerents,' which seems particularly hostile," said Kathleen Carroll, AP's executive editor. "It sounds much too easy to slap that label on a journalist if you don't like their work, a convenient tool for those who want to fight wars without any outside scrutiny."<br /> The history of war is replete with tension between military commanders and the journalists who cover them. War reporting is meant to train an independent eye on combat - its horrors as well as its heroics, as close as possible to the action without interference from commanders. That can place journalists, who sometimes rely on the military for their own security, at odds with officers who may see openness and access as potential threats to their troops' security and to battlefield success.<br /> The nature of the problem has evolved over time. In conflicts like World War II, in which each side fought under generally accepted rules like wearing uniforms, the U.S. military and the media worked out guidelines for coverage, which included official censorship. Today's battlefields in Iraq and elsewhere are more complex and fluid, with front lines less well defined, greater ability for remote and instant communication, and combatants who are not always distinguishable from civilians.<br /> A system of "embedding" journalists with U.S. military units was formalized during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, providing a measure of security for the journalists while imposing security restrictions and giving commanders control over the journalists' movements. It's unclear whether the Pentagon's amended Law of War manual will change that relationship; Pentagon officials insist it should not.<br /> <br /> Journalists working for The Associated Press and other news organizations have been detained or thrown out of embed arrangements for stories, video or photographs that the military found unflattering, even before the new manual was published on June 21. But the manual has raised concerns that commanders would feel even more free to find fault with reporting — or that other governments might use the U.S. rules to mistreat reporters working on their soil.<br /> <br /> The Law of War manual pulls together all international laws on war applicable to the U.S. armed forces, and is designed as a reference guide for the military.<br /> <br /> Defense officials said the manual describes the law for informational purposes and is not an authorization for anyone to take any particular action regarding journalists. The manual also notes that journalists captured by the enemy are supposed to be given the rights of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention.<br /> <br /> "At a time when international leadership on human rights and press freedom is most needed, the Pentagon has produced a self-serving document that is unfortunately helping to lower the bar," wrote Frank Smyth, senior adviser for journalist security at the Committee to Protect Journalists.<br /> <br /> ---<br /> Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

DoD manual lets journalists be arrested & held as 'belligerents'

WASHINGTON (AP) — New Defense Department guidelines allow commanders to punish journalists and treat them as "unprivileged belligere...

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