Constitutional Law

Ban on Miami Herald Gitmo Reporter Lifted

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU

Good news for the First Amendment! Last night, the Department of Defense (DOD) lifted its ban of Miami Herald reporter Carol Rosenberg, one week after a coalition of news organization sent a letter to the DOD raising legal objections to the ban. The DOD had originally said it would lift the ban on August 5, which would have been too late for Rosenberg to attend the pretrial hearing of Omar Khadr scheduled for next week. Rosenberg will now be able to attend the Khadr proceedings, which she has been following for years.

Soon after the reporters were banned back in May, the ACLU, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the National Institute for Military Justice — all organizations that monitor the military commissions on a regular basis — sent a group letter calling on the DOD to reverse its decision.

ACLU attorney Jamil Dakwar told us Rosenberg was missed by other journalists and human rights observers at Gitmo earlier this week's for the pretrial hearing for Ibrahim al-Qosi. Al-Qosi agreed to a plea agreement and his sentencing hearing is scheduled on August 9.

Full post as published by Blog of Rights on July 09, 2010 (boomark / email).