US State Dept's fidgety, persistent need to control Al Jazeera

QATAR TRIBUNE: THE ‘Open Doors’ (Abwab Maftuha)

campaign launched by the US Embassy in Qatar last year

has paid off in a big way to cater to the personal needs of the

Qataris and in enhancing ties between the US and Qatar,

according to the outgoing US Ambassador to Qatar HE

Joseph Evan LeBaron.

US State Department's fidgety, persistent need to control Al Jazeera

By ©Brenda Norrell
Censored News

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

The US State Department’s obsession with Al Jazeera, as exposed by Wikileaks in the US diplomatic cables, is a good read for most anyone, especially journalists. Al Jazeera’s top director has already resigned. Still, four years of cables, 2005-2009, reveal how the United States demanded that Al Jazeera pander to US officials and the US perspective.

Besides Al Jazeera, the diplomatic cables reveal US Embassies obsessed with news reports around the world, from a Vanity Fair article that created US backlash in Germany, to media reports in Bolivia, of Evo Morales’ statements of CIA involvement in a planned assassination of Morales.

But no where is the US more upset about the news than when it comes to Al Jazeera, with a stream of US reports analyzing its coverage and repeated meetings with Al Jazeera’s top newsmakers and board members. The US cables expose the US Ambassadors and US State Department’s persistent, uncontrollable need to control the media.

Guantanamo imprisoned cameraman: US wanted me to spy on Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera was so important to the United States that Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj said that while he was imprisoned in Guantanamo for six years, and tortured, that the US pressured him to spy on Al Jazeera for the US.

The revelation comes from US Embassy's Charge d'Affaires Michael Ratney, who writes of al-Hajj’s speech when he returned to Qatar on May 31, 2008.

Ratney writes in the cable, “In his speech, al-Hajj also claimed that he had been interrogated 130 times, mostly relating to his work with Al Jazeera. He asserted that the USG had pressured him to work ‘as a spy’ against the network. Asked by a British journalist if he harbored any hatred, al-Hajj smiled and asked in English, 'For whom?' When the journalist responded, ‘the Americans,’ al-Hajj continued in Arabic, explaining that he held no ill will toward the American people, and that he had even befriended certain guards while in prison. The hardest thing to endure, he claimed was the way U.S. soldiers had denigrated Islam, forcing prisoners to break their fasts during Ramadan, and desecrating copies of the Quran.
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/06/08DOHA417.html

US monitoring and pressuring Al Jazeera

The US Ambassadors in Qatar make it clear that the US should spend more time making friends with the leaders of Qatar, which owns Al Jazeera, in order to make it easier to control the news to the world, especially the Arab world.

Among the avid US cable writers about Al Jazeera was US Ambassador Joseph Evan LeBaron, assigned to Qatar from July 18, 2008--July 29 2011.

After years of bombarding Al Jazeera with reports, meetings, and demands to change content, and turn over tapes, Ambassador LeBaron said things were looking up in 2008. Ambassador LeBaron said Al Jazeera was starting to treat the US better, possibly because of Obama’s presidential win, and possibly because Al Jazeera was giving Obama a chance.

“Embassy intends to take advantage of this positive trend by seeking placement of more U.S. voices, both official and private, on Al Jazeera in the coming months and closely monitoring the performance of producers and interviewers. Al Jazeera's audience of 40-50 million Arabs is too large and important for us to do otherwise.”

For the US, making the US look good included getting USAID on Al Jazeera. This was considered a coup. “Embassy also arranged for six live and taped interviews from November 25 to December 2 on Al Jazeera Arabic and English with the USAID Administrator, the USAID A/A for Public Affairs, the A/S for International Organizations, and the President's Special Envoy for Sudan.”

US apparently disappointed in lack of Iran protest violence coverage

The US complained about the lack of news coverage of the Iran election. Al Jazeera's Director General Khanfar (who recently resigned) explained to the US diplomats that this was because Iran demanded that Al Jazeera reporters stop filming and ordered those on special assignment out of Iran. It appears that Twitter saved the coverage. Ambassador LeBaron wrote in a cable, “Had it not been for Twitter, said Khanfar, the majority of news on the Iranian elections would not have reached Al Jazeera.”
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/06/09DOHA416.html

The Wikileaks cables reveal a steady stream of meetings with Al Jazeera, with the US demanding airtime and that their perspective be aired. Al Jazeera broadcasts on the Iraq war and Gaza were high on the US watch list. The US even brought in elite officials like Karen Hughes, US for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, to meet with met with Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera, however, also brought their own concerns, including the US bombing of Al Jazeera offices.

“The AJ team asked for news of Sami Al Hajj, the Sudanese Al Jazeera cameramen arrested on the Pakistan-Afghan border in 2001 and now detained in Guantanamo; and they also complained once again that the USG had bombed their offices in Baghdad and Kabul without offering a word of apology or regret.”
http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=06DOHA317&q=al%20jazeera%20khanfar

Al Jazeera changed web content in 2005 after US pressure

Finally, there's the cable written in 2005 that ultimately exposed the US demand for Al Jazeera to change content on its website. The US Embassy says that Khanfar removed images of wounded Iraqi civilians from an Al Jazeera report following pressure by the U.S. Further, the US Embassy said that Khanfar was anxious to keep his behind-the-scenes collaboration secret. The cables were the focus of an article in New York Times on Sept. 20, 2011, as Khanfar resigned.

US Ambassador Charles "Chase" Untermeyer states in a cable that under pressure in 2005, Al Jazeera changed its website. This included removing the photo of an African child suffering from starvation and the US exploitation of oil.

The Ambassador is quoting Al Jazeera’s Khanfar in this passage:

“Most notably, he said, he had ordered that the picture of the starving African child be removed and that the mention of ‘US. control of Arab wealth and oil’ be amended. ‘A mistake was made, and it has been fixed,’ he said. He urged PAO to look again at the slide show to verify if the changes made the slide show less objectionable. ¶6. (C) PAO subsequently attempted to retrieve the archived slide show from the website without success and, a couple of hours after the meeting, Al Mahmoud called to say that the slide show had in fact been completely removed from the website on orders from Al Jazeera's managing director, Wadah Khanfar."
http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=05DOHA1734&q=al%20chase%20jazeera%20khanfar%20untermeyer

What the cables really tell us is that in the end, the people must be the watchdogs, ever-vigilant when anyone, or any government, attempts to manipulate or control the news, so that the news is the voice of truth to the world.
.
Reference on Vanity Fair backlash in Germany:
US cable: "On January 27 the Bundestag Interior Affairs Committee will examine allegations that a CIA team tracked a suspected al-Qaida supporter in Hamburg and planned to assassinate him before eventually aborting the mission. The story originated from a recent Vanity Fair article on Blackwater/Xe founder Erik Prince."
http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=10BERLIN25&q=fair%20germany%20vanity

Canada urged to prosecute Bush for torture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 29, 2011 11:23 AM

CONTACT: Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) press@ccrjustice.org

Human Rights Groups Urge Bush Torture Prosecution

Canada urged to prosecute Bush, who will be in Canada on Oct. 20, for torture

By Center for Constitutional Rights and Canadian Center for International Justice

VANCOUVER, B.C. (September 29) Today, the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ) lodged a detailed and lengthy indictment setting forth the case against former U.S. president George W. Bush with the Attorney General of Canada, urging him to open a criminal investigation against Bush for his role in authorizing and overseeing his administration’s well-documented torture program. Bush will visit Surrey, British Columbia on October 20th, as a paid speaker at the Surrey Regional Economic Summit at the invitation of Surrey Mayor Diane Watts.

Earlier this year, CCR, supported by CCIJ and more than 60 international human rights organizations, called on Swiss authorities to prosecute Bush for torture based on his own admission that he authorized torture and the plethora of evidence in the public domain setting out his role in the U.S. torture program. However, Bush canceled his February trip to Switzerland at the last minute, a move that many speculated was motivated by fear of arrest.

“George Bush has openly admitted that he approved the use of torture against men held in U.S. custody,” said Katherine Gallagher, Senior Staff Attorney at CCR. “Despite this admission, no country has been willing to investigate and prosecute Bush’s criminal acts, leaving the victims of his torture policies without any justice or accountability. Canada is a signatory to the Convention Against Torture, and has an obligation to investigate Bush for his leadership role in the U.S. torture program. Torturers – even if they are former presidents of the United States – must be held to account and prosecuted. We urge Canada to put an end to impunity for Bush.”

“Canada has a strong legal framework and there is absolutely no ambiguity in our criminal code when it comes to committing or allowing torture,” said Matt Eisenbrandt, Legal Director of CCIJ. “There is grave evidence that former President Bush sanctioned and authorized acts of torture, not only in violation of Canadian laws, but also of international treaties that Canada has ratified. It is therefore clear that our government has both the jurisdiction and the obligation to prosecute Bush should he set foot again on Canadian territory.”

According to the indictment submitted to the Attorney General for his action, former President Bush bears individual and command responsibility for the acts of his subordinates, which he ordered, authorized, condoned, or otherwise aided and abetted, as well as for violations committed by his subordinates, which he failed to prevent or punish. In particular, Bush is alleged to have authorized or overseen enforced disappearance and secret detention, exposure to extreme temperatures, sleep deprivation, punching, kicking, isolation in “coffin” cells for prolonged periods, threats of bad treatment, solitary confinement, and forced nudity.

One hundred and forty-seven countries, including Canada and the United States, are party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT), meaning that those countries have committed to promptly investigate, prosecute, and punish torturers. While the U.S. has thus far failed to comply with its obligations under the CAT, all other signatories are similarly obligated to prosecute or extradite for prosecution anyone present in their territory who they reasonably believe has committed torture. If the evidence warrants, as the Bush indictment contends it does, and if the U.S. fails to request that Bush be extradited to face charges of torture, Canada must, under law, prosecute him for torture.

The indictment prepared by CCR and CCIJ, along with more than 4,000 pages of supporting materials, are available at: http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/bush-torture-indictment

The Canadian Centre for International Justice works with survivors of genocide, torture and other atrocities to seek redress and bring perpetrators to justice. The CCIJ seeks to ensure that individuals present in Canada who are accused of responsibility for serious human rights violations are held accountable and their victims recognized, supported and compensated. For more information visit www.ccij.ca

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

CCR Condemns Targeted Assassination of US Citizen

Center for Constitutional Rights Condemns Targeted Assassination of U.S. Citizen Anwar Al-Awlaki
CCR Cites a Lack of Adherence to Constitutional and International Laws that Afford Due Process
By Center for Constitutional Rights
WASHINGTON (September 30) Today, in response to the news that a missile attack by an American drone aircraft had killed U.S. citizen Anwar Al-Awlaki in Yemen, the Center for Constitutional Rights, which had previously brought a challenge in federal court to the legality of the authorization to target Al-Awlaki in Yemen, released the following statement:
“The assassination of Anwar Al-Awlaki by American drone attacks is the latest of many affronts to domestic and international law,” said Vince Warren, Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. “The targeted assassination program that started under President Bush and expanded under the Obama Administration essentially grants the executive the power to kill any U.S. citizen deemed a threat, without any judicial oversight, or any of the rights afforded by our Constitution. If we allow such gross overreaches of power to continue, we are setting the stage for increasing erosions of civil liberties and the rule of law.”
Pardiss Kebriaei, a CCR senior staff attorney, added: “In dismissing our complaint, the district court noted that there were nonetheless "disturbing questions" raised by the authority being asserted by the United States. There certainly are disturbing questions that need to be asked again, and answered by the U.S. government about the circumstances of the killing and the legal standard that governed it.”
Further information on CCR’s challenge to targeted killings is online at http://ccrjustice.org/targetedkillings
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

YouTube censors Border Patrol arrest at Bisbee

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CENSORED 'Border Patrol in the Bushes'

ACLU says Bisbee activist has the right to video tape, and post the video online, when Border Patrol agents come trampling through her property

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

BISBEE, Ariz. -- Border Patrol agents have pressured YouTube into censoring a video of agents making an arrest in Bisbee, Arizona. The video includes the image of a migrant with a bloody nose. Meanwhile, the ACLU has contacted YouTube stating that a Bisbee resident has the right to post this video.

The Arizona ACLU argues in its letter to both YouTube and Customs and Border Patrol "that public officials have no reasonable expectation of privacy while exercising their official duties in public places."

Stephen Lemon, in his column Feathered Bastard at Phoenix New Times, tries to track down the reasons that Border Patrol doesn't want the video posted. Lemon writes that Activist Alison McLeod "lives on her own property, which is regularly invaded by BP agents hot on the trail of her footprints. (I kid you not.)"
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2011/09/border_patrol_youtube_censor_v.php

For everyone that has been harassed, detained, assaulted or threatened by Border Patrol agents, including news reporters on the border, it is good to see the exposure of both the censorship by YouTube and the Border Patrol's efforts to hide.
Today's story follows last week's release of "A Culture of Cruelty," by the humanitarian aid organization No More Deaths in Tucson, documenting years of abuse, where children and adults were beaten by Border Patrol agents, and migrants were denied water, food and medicine.
At the same time, Border Patrol agents in the Southwest continue to be arrested for drug smuggling and corruption. Yuma Border Patrol agent Michael Angelo Atondo, already suspended after being charged with smuggling 745 pounds of marijuana, was arrested again on Thursday for drug charges.
In June, Customs and Border Patrol officials testified before a Congressional committee, revealing that since Oct., 2004, 127 CBP personnel have been arrested, charged or convicted of corruption. Of the 127 arrests, 95 are considered mission compromising acts of corruption. At the time of the hearing in June, there were 267 corruption related investigations underway of the Border Patrol.
Meanwhile, Alison has made a properly censored video and posted it on YouTube. See both videos below.
Here's her note on YouTube: "BANNED FROM YOUTUBE. Was it the dogs and chickens? The plainclothes agents with the latex gloves? Or was it the young detainee with the bloody nose? This video contains a remake of a benign video that was removed from YouTube at the request of Border Patrol. The original video was intended to show that life on the U.S.-Mexican border is not the 'war zone' as is portrayed in the corporate media. First Amendment protections were designed to keep the government and its officers from abusing absolute power. However, the new video is now properly censored and annotated, with a left-wing liberal bias."

Here's the ACLU's statement and the video:

ACLU Says Bisbee Activist Has First Amendment Right to Post Border Patrol Video on YouTube

Thursday, September 29, 2011
CONTACT: Alessandra Soler Meetze, ACLU of Arizona, (602) 773-6006 (office) or 602-301-3705

PHOENIX – In letter sent today to YouTube administrators, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona criticized the online company for censoring a video of United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents arresting a man with a bloody nose.
The 5-minute video, dubbed “Border Patrol in the Bushes,” was taken by Bisbee activist Alison McLeod, who pulled out her video camera and started filming border patrol arresting an individual after she heard helicopters and saw several agents, on horseback and on foot, on her property on August 31st. The video shows four CBP agents walking an individual in handcuffs through her property to a white CBP truck parked on a public road. McLeod posted it on YouTube on September 2nd where it received “hundreds” of views within hours. Ten days after the video was posted, YouTube officials took it down, citing privacy complaints by CBP agents.
“This is yet another example of a private online community trampling on our First Amendment rights and trying to exercise greater control over what we share and watch online,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. “People have the right to film government officials carrying out their duties in public places. By censoring this type of protected speech, YouTube officials not only violated their own guidelines, but they’ve managed to silence debate around U.S. immigration practices along the U.S.-Mexico border.”
According to YouTube, three complaints about the video were filed; two of them were posted by CBP agents. Within hours of the YouTube posting, a CBP supervisor showed up unannounced at McLeod’s doorstep, telling her 19-year-old daughter who was home at the time that he was inquiring about the YouTube video. The agent then offered to give McLeod and her daughter a tour of the Border Patrol facilities and the local search area.
“This is the reality of border enforcement for those of us living on the border,” said McLeod, who has been living on the border since 1997. “Rather than trying to intimidate residents like me who are simply trying to make CBP more accountable to the public, they should respect the rights of all people living on the border.”
The ACLU sent a separate letter to the CBP’s Tucson Field Office, arguing their involvement in trying to remove the video constitutes “severe government interference with McLeod’s constitutional rights.”
“Customs and Border Protection is now the nation's largest federal law enforcement agency and it operates with total impunity, accountable to no one and with little government oversight,” added Meetze. “This video and CBP’s response to it underscores the need for greater transparency.”
Although YouTube has privacy guidelines that allow them to remove content where an individual is “uniquely identifiable,” the ACLU argues in its letter to both YouTube and CBP that public officials have no reasonable expectation of privacy while exercising their official duties in public places. The ACLU letter also points out that “nothing distinguishes McLeod’s videos from the hundreds of videos already on YouTube demonstrating various law enforcement activities.”
“YouTube boasts that it is the biggest news platform in the world,” wrote ACLU of Arizona Legal Director Dan Pochoda in his three-page letter to YouTube. “One of the goals of a free press is to hold government officials accountable for their actions. Granting law enforcement a de facto veto over materials they find objectionable or unflattering would violate and jeopardize that mission.”
The letter to YouTube asks the company to allow McLeod to repost her video and any future videos of government officials performing their duties. The ACLU also is asking CBP to stop interfering with McLeod’s efforts to videotape and photograph CBP activities on her own property or public land, and to rescind its complaints seeking the removal of the video from YouTube.

The Censored Video:

The properly censored video now on YouTube: