BY DAN
KENNEDY
Notes and observations on
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See the World Through My Daughter's Eyes (Rodale, October 2003),
click
here.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Interview Ben Affleck? Go
directly to jail! Not that anyone should be surprised, but now
comes evidence that the administration's thuggishness toward foreign
visitors extends to journalists as well.
According to this December 13
editorial
in the Toledo Blade, of all places, "immigration and customs
people are arresting, detaining, and deporting journalists arriving
here without special visas. This is so even when they come from
nations whose citizens can stay for up to 90 days without a visa if
they are arriving as tourists or on business."
The Blade recounts the story
of Peter Krobath, of an Austrian entertainment magazine called
Skip, who was jailed overnight like a common criminal after he
arrived in the US to interview Ben Affleck and attend a screening of
the movie Paycheck. His crime: showing up without a
visa.
There are other horror stories as
well. Read the whole thing.
More information is available on
the website of the International
Press Institute, based in
Austria. Be sure to check out this letter
to Secretary of State Colin Powell, which includes more details on
Krobath's detention. This is outrageous:
When Mr. Krobath landed at
Los Angeles Airport (LAX) on 2 December 2003 to cover the
above-mentioned junket, he was questioned about the purpose of his
visit and further interrogated for almost five hours. After he was
body-searched, and his photograph and fingerprints were taken, two
security officers led him handcuffed to an isolation room. Later
on he was transferred to a downtown prison where he spent the
night together with about 45 persons (some of whom were convicted
criminals) in a room with iron benches and two open toilet
facilities but without blankets despite the low temperature. His
luggage and his personal belongings were kept separately.
The letter urges Powell to support
a resolution by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, which has
asked Congress to include journalists in the US Visa Waiver Program
for Visitors from Friendly Countries.
Unfortunately, ASNE's
website
does not appear to have anything on it about this grotesque assault
on the civil liberties of international visitors.
This story bears
watching.
posted at 9:30 AM |
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MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
