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Human Rights Record of the US in 2004 (full text) The US freedom of the press is filled with hypocrisy. Power andintimidation hang over the halo of press freedom. The New York Times published a commentary on March 30, 2004, saying that the USgovernment's reliance on slandering had reached an unprecedented level in contemporary American political history, and the government prepared to abuse power at any moment to threat potential critics. A collected works, Zensor USA, revealed that whenever the faults of government dignitaries or big companies were touched, the strong American press censorship system would snap at the journalists who insisted on investigation and made them the last sacrificial lamb. (see Das Schweigen der Journalisten, Handelsblatt, Germany, March 17, 2004). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) kept watch on a leader of freedom of speech movement in University of California at Berkeley for a decade long. Although no record showed he violated federal laws, the FBI hired someone to keep monitoring his daily activities and collect his personal information without permission from the court. (see SingTao Daily, Oct. 11, 2004). On July 16, 2004 the US State Department made a regulation, in violation of the norms of most other countries, that foreign reporters should leave the country while waiting for the valid period of their visas to be extended. The annual report of Native American Journalists Association criticized the US administration for the move, which severely infringes upon press freedom. (see APstory, Antigua, Guatemala Oct. 24, 2004). Someone with the American Society of Newspaper Editors said that the US administration's measures reflected its repulsion of foreign news media. (see Milenio, Mexico, June 20, 2004). In Iraq, the United States on the one hand alleged that it had brought democracy to the Iraqi people, on the other hand it suppressed public opinion. On March 28, 2004 US troops closed downa Shiite newspaper in Baghdad, which triggered a protest demonstration by thousands of Iraqi people. On Sept. 27, the Association of American University Presses, Association of American Publishers and other organizations jointlylodged a complaint to the district court of Manhattan, New York, charging the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the Departmentof the Treasury with deliberately preventing literary works of Iranian, Cuban and Sudanese writers from entering the United States and turning the economic sanctions against the three countries into a "censorship system" to stop free dissemination ofinformation and ideology. (see Xinhua story, Sept. 30, 2004). In another case, eight reporters, including Jim Taricani of theTV station in Providence, Rhode Island with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Judith Miller of The New York Times, and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, were declared guilty for theydeclined to disclose the confidential sources of news. The New York Times pointed out on Nov. 10, 2004 that through these cases, it was found out that press freedom suffered rampant infringement. In addition, in recent years, over a dozen foreign journalists have been
detained in airports in the United States, including theone in Los Angeles. In
March 2003, a Danish press-photographer wasexpelled out of the country after a
DNA test. A Swiss journalist was rejected from entry of an airport in Washington
D.C. The airport staffs by force took pictures and finger prints of the
journalist. Meanwhile, he was not permitted to contact the Swiss embassy in the
Unite States. In May, two groups of French journalists, altogether six members,
were rejected of entry the USterritory. They simply came to the Unite States to
cover an exposition. Two Dutch journalists fell into trouble when they
werecovering a film award ceremony. In October and December, one British
reporter and one Austrian journalist were held up at US airports respectively.
In early May, 2004, a British female journalist, who was sent by The Guardian to
Los Angeles to cover some events, was detained at the Los Angeles airport and
faced interrogation and body search, and then was handcuffed and taken to the
detention house in the downtown. There, she was detained for 26 hours before
sent back to Britain.
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