By Donald R. Winslow
News Photographer magazine
BAGHDAD, IRAQ (April 16, 2008) – Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Bilal Hussein has been released from U.S. military detention in Baghdad after being held by the Army for more than two years.
"I want to thank all the people working in AP ... I have spent two years in prison even though I was innocent. I thank everybody," Hussein said after being freed.
The photographer was turned over to AP colleagues at a checkpoint in Baghdad. AP says Hussein was taken to the checkpoint in a military prison bus, that he appeared in good health, and that he was smiling and wearing a traditional Iraqi robe.
The president and CEO of AP, Tom Curley, said, "Hussein is safely back with AP and his family, and it is a great relief to us. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you who supported us during this difficult and challenging period. Bilal will now be spending some quiet time with his family and resting up."
When he was released Hussein was embraced by his family members, including his mother and brother who were sobbing with joy, and he received flowers. The photographer called other well-wishers by cell phone. AP says Hussein's family has prepared a traditional feast for today, and that two sheep were slaughtered in his honor for the celebration.
Since he was seized in Ramadi in the Anbar province on April 12, 2006, Ameican military investigators have alleged that Hussein had links to insurgents and was involved in terrorist activities. Early in his detention, the U.S. military accused Hussein of being a "terrorist media operative who has infiltrated the AP."
But last week an Iraqi judicial council found the photographer innocent of all of the American Army's allegations and ordered Hussein's immediate release.
Under Iraq's new amnesty law, an Iraqi judicial council dismissed all charges against Hussein, 36, last week. Afterward the U.S. Army, who actually held Hussein in their custody and not the Iraqis, said they would not necessarily be obligated to honor any Iraqi proceedings because of a U.N. charter that allows them to hold anyone they've deemed to be a security risk.
According to lawyer Scott Horton, who worked with AP on Hussein's case according to the Columbia Journalism Review, Iraq's judicial amnesty did not just absolve Hussein of responsibility for any acts he may have committed, but instead "they essentially found him innocent."
The photographer's brother, Yassir Hussein, 35, a university professor in Baghdad, said, "I cannot describe my happiness at seeing him again. The family has been going through a hard time over the past two years, but now we thank God that we will have some rest."
In December last year the Army turned over to Iraq's judicial system their evidence and allegations against the photojournalist, suspecting him of terrorist activities, of links to insurgents, and of being involved in the kidnapping and murder of an Italian citizen. The Army said it would be up to the Iraqi judicial system to determine Hussein's fate.
Hussein has been in custody since April 12, 2006 when he was detained by U.S. Marines. The AP and Hussein have denied any improper links and have said all along that Hussein was only doing his job as a journalist.
Last week the Iraqi council granted Hussein amnesty and ordered his release. The military continued to hold him at Camp Cropper near the Baghdad airport at an American detention facility while they "reviewed" his case.
On Sunday, as Hussein began his third year in American custody, an Iraqi judicial panel dismissed the last remaining criminal allegation against the Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photojournalist and granted him amnesty, ordering him released from U.S. custody two years and one day after he was detained.
The Iraqi committee of three judges and a prosecutor of the Federal Appeals Court on Sunday granted amnesty to Hussein, and said there should be "no further action" on allegations that he may have had improper contacts with insurgents.
The panel ordered a "halt to all legal proceedings" against Hussein, and said that the photojournalist should be "released immediately."
On Monday afternoon a press release from the Multi-National Force – Iraq posted on their Web site said, "Coalition forces have informed attorneys for AP photographer Bilal Hussein Zaidon that they intend to release Hussein from custody on April 16."
"After confirming that the main charges for which Hussein was scheduled to be tried had been determined by Iraqi judicial committees to be covered by Iraq’s new Amnesty Law, the Deputy Commanding General for Detainee Operations, Multi-National Force – Iraq, Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, signed the order approving his release," the statement said.
“After the action by the Iraqi judicial committees, we reviewed the circumstances of Hussein’s detention and determined that he no longer presents an imperative threat to security,” Stone said. “I have therefore ordered that he be released from Coalition force custody.”
The military's statement was careful to say through its crafted wording that it was the Iraqi's who were ordering Hussein released under their amnesty law, and not the Army, saying that Hussein "no longer presents an imperative threat to security," implying that at one time Hussein was a threat.
"While we may never see eye to eye with the U.S. military over this case, it is time for all of us to move on," AP's president Curley said on Monday after the Army's statement.
"In time we will celebrate Bilal's release. For now, we want him safe and united with his family. Obviously, we are relieved and delighted. After two years in detention, Bilal needs time to spend with his family, to rest and to catch up with the rest of the world. So that’s what he’s going to do. For security reasons, we won’t be discussing any details, but we’ll keep you abreast of important developments."
The National Press Photographers Association and other press freedom groups had repeatedly called for Hussein's release over the years that he's been held by the American military. In an editorial in News Photographer magazine, NPPA challenged the miltary to either charge Hussein with a crime and give him his day in court, or set him free immediately.
Apparently the last hurdle the judicial committee and the U.S. military had to overcome was a question concerning a separate allegation about whether Hussein had any contact with the kidnappers of an Italian citizen, Salvatore Santoro, whose body was photographed by Hussein in December 2004 with two masked insurgents standing over Santoro with guns.
Hussein was one of three journalists who were stopped at gunpoint by insurgents and taken by them to see the propped-up body. None of the journalists witnessed his death, said Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography. The AP wrote a story about the incident at the time, and has compiled information about the incident here.
An independent investigation conducted by former federal prosecutor Paul G. Gardephe last year showed that the charges against Hussein were either "false or meaningless," and "despite the fact that Hussein has not been interrogated since May 2006, allegations have been dropped or modified over time, and new claims added, all without any explanation."
Hussein was part of AP's team of photojournalists who won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for their coverage of the war in Iraq.
