Utterly Deploring

* * *Larry SiemsDirector, Freedom to Write and International ProgramsPEN American Center588 Broadway, Suite 303 New York, NY 10012(212) 334-1660, ext. 105FOR PRESS FREEDOM IN THE UNITED STATESLast year, our colleague Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “leaking state secrets” after publishing official restrictions on press coverage of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.In 2001, Russian PEN Member Grigorii Pasko was tried for espionage and sentenced to four years in prison for reporting the Russian navy’s practice of dumping nuclear waste in the sea.In 1995, Kunle Ajibade of Nigerian PEN was sentenced to life in prison as an “accessory to treason” for covering the secret trials of a group of dissident army officers.When PEN challenged these and scores of other violations of press freedom perpetrated in the name of national security, we had a powerful ally: the United States government. In the case of Shi Tao, for example, the State Department rebuked China for jailing journalists for leaking state secrets “as a means to harass and intimidate the press.”It is therefore deeply troubling to see members of our government fueling a campaign of intimidation against American newspapers and journalists, a campaign that has included Congressional calls for espionage and treason trials and popular exhortations to violence.The attacks follow reports on controversial surveillance and detention programs that, like many other antiterrorism initiatives, the Administration has developed and implemented with no oversight or scrutiny. When pressed for information, it has routinely invoked state secrets and national security to thwart both Congressional and Judicial review.It is the American people who are ultimately responsible for the actions employed in their defense. With the scope and lawfulness of these programs at issue, we believe it is the essential role of the press to provide information that helps people judge whether they are ethical, legal, and wise.PEN commends the reporters who broke these stories and the newspapers that ran them.We condemn threats to prosecute these reporters and other efforts to intimidate the press, and we utterly deplore threats of violence against journalists and media outlets.Our country’s commitment to the First Amendment is not just a fundamental element of American democracy. It is a force for press freedom around the world. On behalf of our colleagues in other countries, we call on our elected officials and our fellow citizens to reaffirm America’s support for a free, unfettered, independent press.