About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

IFEX MEMBERS URGE VISA RULE CHANGES FOR JOURNALISTS

The United States' reputation as a "beacon of press freedom" is being tarnished by a pattern of incidents in which at least 13 foreign journalists have been detained and deported from the country in the past 18 months because of unfair visa regulations, say four IFEX members.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontierès, RSF) and the International Press Institute (IPI) have raised concerns over visa rules under which foreign journalists from 27 countries the U.S. government considers "friendly" have been denied entry.

Since January 2003, at least 13 journalists have been detained, interrogated and sent back to their countries, according to RSF. In some cases, journalists have been subjected to "humiliating" treatment, including being handcuffed and strip-searched, the IFEX members say.

They argue that there is no reason why journalists from the 27 countries should be treated any differently than their fellow citizens, who are allowed to enter the U.S. without a visa for up to 90 days.

In recent weeks, pressure from press freedom groups and journalists' organizations, including the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), has been gathering steam. The U.S. House of Representatives has introduced a bill that would allow journalists from the 27 countries to enter the U.S. without a visa for up to 90 days. Tabled by Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren, HR 4823 cites the recent deportations of foreign journalists as proof that existing visa rules need to be changed (see: http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=5259).

Visit these links:

- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2004/USA23july04na.html
- IAPA: http://www.sipiapa.org/pressreleases/chronologicaldetail.cfm?PressReleaseID=1169
- IPI:
http://www.freemedia.at/Protests%202004/pr_WPFD03.05.2004.htm
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10296
- ASNE: http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=5258