Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act

Last updated
Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act 2009
Great Seal of the United States (obverse).svg
Enacted bythe 111th United States Congress
EffectiveMay 17th, 2010
Citations
Public law 111-166
Codification
U.S.C. sections created2
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House as H.R. 3714 by Rep. Adam B. Schiff on June 1, 2009
  • Committee consideration by House Foreign Affairs, Senate Foreign Relations
  • Passed the House of Representatives on December 16th, 2009 (403–12)
  • Passed the Senate on April 29th, 2010 (Unanimous vote)
  • Signed into law by President Barack Obama on May 17th, 2010

The Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act requires the United States Department of State to expand its scrutiny of news media intimidation and freedom of the press restrictions during its annual report on human rights in each country. [1] Signed into law by President Obama on May 17, 2010, the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act is named in honor of former Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan, just four months after the September 11 attacks. [2] The act amends the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act to include provisions to spotlight governments that seek to silence any media opposition by calling upon the Secretary of State to greatly expand the examination of the status of freedom of the press worldwide in the State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. [2] [3] As such, the legislation requires that the State Department identify countries in which there were violations of press freedom, determine whether the government authorities of those countries participate in, facilitate, or condone the violations, and report such actions to preserve the safety and independence of the media and ensure the prosecution of individuals who attack journalists. [2]

Contents

Background

Daniel Pearl Passport.JPG

On January 23, 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, was abducted after being lured from his apartment in Karachi, Pakistan following a tip from a source regarding his research on a story about possible ties between accused "shoe bomber" Richard Reid and Pakistani militants. He was on his way to what he believed was an interview with the head of the fundamentalist Islamic Jamaat ul-Fuqra group, Sheikh Mubarik ali Gilani. [4] His abductors accused him of espionage and had initially demanded the release of Pakistani detainees at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, threatening to kill the reporter if their demands were not met. [4] On May 16, Daniel Pearl's body was discovered in Gadap, Pakistan buried in a shallow grave in several pieces next to his severed head. [5] Although, a Pakistani court sentenced to death Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, and initially imprisoned three others for their roles in the abduction and murder of the reporter, the murder is still unresolved. [6] In March 2007, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the suspected 9/11 masterminds, confessed to the beheading of Daniel Pearl. [7] Despite this confession, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is yet to see a trial and will remain behind bars without trial indefinitely due to disagreements among lawmakers and government officials. [8]

Legislation

The Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act was originally introduced to Congress by Reps. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) and Mike Pence (R., Ind.) and by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) on October 1, 2009. [9] [10] After its introduction, the act passed through the House of Representatives with a vote of 403 to 12 and passed unanimously in the Senate; however, a provision requiring the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in consultation with the Undersecretary for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy, to establish a grant program aiming to promote freedom of the press worldwide. [10] Upon passing through both houses Rep. Adam Schiff, the main sponsor of the act, stated:

We hope this legislation will help the United States work with other nations to better protect his colleagues serving on the frontlines in the fight for greater accountability and transparency. Freedom of expression cannot exist where journalists are not safe from persecution and attack. Our government must promote freedom of the press by putting on center stage those countries in which journalists are killed, imprisoned, kidnapped, threatened, or censored. [2]

On May 17, 2010, President Barack Obama, accompanied by the Pearl family, signed into law the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act. [10]

Provisions

This law requires the expansion of the U.S. Department of State's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices to the U.S. Congress to include a description of the status of freedom of the press in each country included in the report. [3] This expansion includes the identification of countries where violations of freedom of the press have occurred and, in those countries where violations are particularly severe, whether the governments facilitate, participate in or condone such violations along with the specific actions they have taken to preserve the safety and independence of the media and ensure the prosecution of violators who attack or harm journalists. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exercised freely. Such freedom implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state; its preservation may be sought through the constitution or other legal protection and security. It is in opposition to paid press, where communities, police organizations, and governments are paid for their copyrights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalid Sheikh Mohammed</span> Pakistani member of al-Qaeda (born 1965)

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, often known by his initials KSM, is a Pakistani terrorist and the former Head of Propaganda for al-Qaeda. He is currently held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-related charges. He was named as "the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks in the 2004 9/11 Commission Report.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Pearl</span> American journalist beheaded by terrorists in Pakistan (1963–2002)

Daniel Pearl was an American journalist who worked for The Wall Street Journal. On January 23, 2002, he was kidnapped near a restaurant in downtown Karachi and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Schiff</span> American politician (born 1960)

Adam Bennett Schiff is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as a U.S. representative from California since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, Schiff was a member of the California State Senate from 1996 to 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Faraj al-Libbi</span> Libyan member of al-Qaeda

Abu Faraj al-Libi is an assumed name or nom de guerre of a Libyan alleged to be a senior member of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. His real name is Mustafa Faraj Muhammad Muhammad Masud al-Jadid al-Uzaybi. He was arrested by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on May 2, 2005, in Mardan. Finding al-Libi was a joint effort of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Special Activities Division and Pakistan's Special Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Pakistan</span> Overview of the situation of human rights throughout Pakistan

The situation of Human Rights in Pakistan is complex as a result of the country's diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a sovereign Islamic democracy with a mixture of both Islamic and secular law.

The Pakistani Constitution limits Censorship in Pakistan, but allows "reasonable restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan or public order or morality". Press freedom in Pakistan is limited by official censorship that restricts critical reporting and by the high level of violence against journalists. The armed forces, the judiciary, and religion are topics that frequently attract the government's attention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh</span> British Islamist (born 1973)

Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh is a British Pakistani terrorist. He became a member of the Islamist jihadist group Harkat-ul-Ansar or Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in the 1990s, and later of Jaish-e-Mohammed and was closely associated with Al-Qaeda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariane Pearl</span> French journalist

Mariane van Neyenhoff Pearl is a French freelance journalist and a former reporter and columnist for Glamour magazine. She is the widow of Daniel Pearl, an American journalist who was the South Asia Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal, who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in early 2002, during the early months of the United States' War on Terror. Pearl published a memoir, A Mighty Heart (2003), about her husband and his life. It was adapted as a film of the same name, released in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saleem Shahzad</span> Pakistani investigative journalist (1970–2011)

Syed Saleem Shahzad was a Pakistani investigative journalist who wrote widely for leading European and Asian media. He served as the Pakistan Bureau Chief of Asia Times Online and Italian news agency Adnkronos (AKI).

The American intelligence analysts who compiled the justifications for continuing to detain the captives taken in the "war on terror" made dozens of references to al Qaida safe houses, in Karachi, Pakistan.

Mubarak Ali Shah Gillani was a Pakistani Sufi religious leader in the United States. A member of the Qadiriyya tariqa, he was the founder of The Muslims of America (MOA) and also founded the International Qur'anic Open University.

Saud Memon was a Pakistani businessman from Karachi dealing in yarn and textiles. Memon was said to own the Al-Qaeda safe house in Karachi where American journalist Daniel Pearl was killed. Memon was wanted by law-enforcement agencies in the Pearl case for supposedly providing the place where Pearl was beheaded and subsequently buried. However, Memon was never formally charged.

Ash-har Quraishi is an American broadcast journalist and national consumer correspondent for CBS News. He is a former reporter for WMAQ-TV in Chicago. He was previously the chief Midwest correspondent for now-defunct Al Jazeera America at its Chicago Bureau. He has served as CNN's bureau chief in Islamabad. He later worked for WTTW-TV in Chicago and for the Chicago News Cooperative. He was born in Chicago.

United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, et al. is the trial of five alleged al-Qaeda members for aiding the September 11, 2001 attacks. Charges were announced by Brigadier General Thomas W. Hartmann on February 11, 2008 at a press conference hosted by the Pentagon. The men charged are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ammar al-Baluchi, and Mustafa Ahmad al Hawsawi.

This page lists trials related to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Umar Cheema is an investigative reporter for the Pakistani newspaper The News. In 2008, he won a Daniel Pearl Journalism Fellowship, becoming the first Pearl fellow to work at The New York Times. He also attended London School of Economics as a Chevening Scholar doing M.Sc. in Comparative Politics.

Sheikh Nur Mohamed Abkey was a Somalian journalist killed in the line of duty. Abkey worked for Radio Mogadishu-Voice of Somali Republic in Somalia's capital city. He had a long career as a journalist and worked under difficult conditions during the last two decades of his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdel Karim al-Khaiwani</span>

Abdel Karim al-Khaiwani, also known as Abdul Karim Muhammed al-Khaiwani, was a Yemeni politician, human rights activist, and journalist, columnist and editor, who was known for his critical articles pertaining to the civil rights abuses and government corruption of the Yemeni government. He was assassinated in his hometown of Sana'a, Yemen because, according to Freedom Foundation Yemen, he was politically outspoken.

Freedom of the press in Pakistan is legally protected by the law of Pakistan as stated in its constitutional amendments, while the sovereignty, national integrity, and moral principles are generally protected by the specified media law, Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002, and Code of Conduct Rules 2010. In Pakistan, the code of conduct and ordinance act comprises a set of rules for publishing, distributing, and circulating news stories and operating media organizations working independently or running in the country.

References

  1. "U.S. to Promote Press Freedom". The New York Times. New York, NY.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act to be Sent to the President" (PDF). Congressional Press Release. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-07. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  3. 1 2 3 "H.R. 3714" (PDF). Full Text of the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  4. 1 2 "U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl is dead, officials confirm". CNN. 2002-02-22. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  5. McCarthy, Rory (2002-05-18). "Body parts believed to be of murdered US reporter". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  6. McGirk, Tim (2003-01-26). "Who Killed Daniel Pearl?". Time. Archived from the original on November 25, 2006. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  7. "Al-Qaida No. 3 says he planned 9/11, other plots". NBC News. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  8. "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 9/11 Mastermind, Unlikely to Have Trial, Post Says". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  9. "President Obama Signs the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act". The Cypress Times. Archived from the original on 2010-05-22. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  10. 1 2 3 Meckler, Laura (2010-05-17). "Obama Signs Pearl Press-Freedom Act". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-12-01.