Call for release of AP photographer Bilal Hussein, held by US army for 18 months

Nothing has changed in the situation of Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi national, since his arrest 18 months ago, Reporters Without Borders said today. He is still held at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad airport, and he is still waiting to be brought before a judge. The US authorities, who claim he represents “a security threat,” have never said when this might happen. “As a result of its incomprehensible behaviour and stubbornness in portraying Hussein as a terrorist,” the United States is violating his rights as a detainee and defying international humanitarian standards,” the press freedom organisation said. “Hussein's involvement in criminal activity has never been proved, so what is he still doing in prison?” The Associated Press, the US news agency that employed Hussein for near two years before his arrest, has never stopped insisting on his innocence and on the fact that he never had “inappropriate contact with insurgents.” Paul Gardephe, Hussein's lawyer, went to Iraq in March and was able to meet with his client for four days. He told Reporters Without Borders that a panel is due to take another look as his case soon and decide whether or not he should be brought before an Iraqi criminal court. Reporters Without Borders wrote to US defence secretary Robert Gates on 12 April requesting his release, but never got a reply. Aged 35, Hussein was arrested by US soldiers in Ramadi, 100 km west of Baghdad, on 12 April 2006. The US authorities attributed his arrest to his physical proximity with insurgents, who had given him permission to take photos of them. Former AP employees have created a support committee for Hussein's release. A petition can be signed on their website, www.freebilal.org