The United States placed a well-known British
journalist on the “No-Fly List” and still refuses to
let him travel to the country. Reporters Without
Borders (RSF) calls on the US government to
immediately resolve Karl Penhaul’s situation, which
has had extremely grave consequences on freedom
of the press.
Karl Penhaul is a well-known and respected British
journalist who was placed on the No-Fly List on or
before January 2014 as a result of U.S. authorities’
misplaced suspicions generated by his work as a
reporter and news contacts in Colombia. The NoFly
List was created after the attacks of September
11, 2001 by the U.S government to identify and
include people who are prohibited from boarding a
commercial aircraft for travel in or out of the United
States.
Penhaul applied for redress at the United States
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and,
earlier this year, DHS notified him that it had made
corrections to its records, presumably a reference
to his removal from the No-Fly List. Nonetheless,
Penhaul is still unable to travel to the US as the
Department of State has failed to review his new visa
application for months since the DHS correction.
“RSF calls on the Department of State to put an
end immediately to this absurd situation. Karl’s
placement on the No-Fly List and now his inability to
obtain a visa prevents him from freely practicing his
profession within the United States, the country of
the First Amendment. This sends a very concerning
signal to all American and foreign journalists
covering sensitive issues of high-public interest for
the American public. Karl’s case sets a worrying
precedent for press freedom and highlights the
need for the US Administration to carefully review
journalists’ profiles before placing them on the US
No-Fly List”, says Delphine Halgand, US Director of
Reporters Without Borders.
Penhaul lived and worked in Colombia from
September 1996 until mid-2014 and cultivated
contacts with many local sources including within
the FARC. Covering the FARC is of high-public
interest for the international community and the
American public. Penhaul has worked for various
media outlets and news agencies such as Reuters,
The San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe,
U.S. News and World Report, and especially CNN
and Univision. He received and was part of the
CNN team who received the most prestigious
journalistic awards, such as the Peabody Award
in 2006, the Edward R. Murrow Award in 2007,
the CINE Golden Eagle Award in 2010, the Prix
Bayeux des Correspondants de Guerre in 2010 and
an Emmy Award in 2006. Karl’s journalistic work in
Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, Egypt and in Latin America
contributed directly to inform the American public.
“It has been deeply unnerving on a personal
level and extremely damaging on a professional
level to have been effectively labeled a terrorist
by the U.S. administration because of my work as
a journalist,Karl told RSF. There was clear public
interest in informing U.S. taxpayers about how their
money is being spent fighting counterinsurgency
and narco-trafficking in Colombia. It is the
responsibility of a free press to shed fresh light on
issues by reporting from all angles.”
Penhaul is not the first foreign journalist who has
been prohibited from traveling to the US because of
his reporting on sensitive topics. Manuel Martorell,
a well-known Spanish journalist, former editor in
chief of the prominent daily newspaper El Mundo
and historian who specializes in covering Kurdish
issues, was refused a tourist visa for a trip to the
United States with his family in May 2015. When
he applied for a visa, he was asked to fill out a
questionnaire about his personal and professional
history. Three months later, he received a letter from
the US Department of State informing him that his
visa application had been denied because he was
alleged to have participated in “terrorist activities”.
RSF reiterates its call on the US government to act
quickly to rectify the visa status of Manuel Martorell.
Despite various exchanges over several months
between RSF and the US Department of State, both
of Penhaul and Martorell’s visa situations remain
unresolved.
The United States ranks 41 out of 180 countries in
RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index
journalist on the “No-Fly List” and still refuses to
let him travel to the country. Reporters Without
Borders (RSF) calls on the US government to
immediately resolve Karl Penhaul’s situation, which
has had extremely grave consequences on freedom
of the press.
Karl Penhaul is a well-known and respected British
journalist who was placed on the No-Fly List on or
before January 2014 as a result of U.S. authorities’
misplaced suspicions generated by his work as a
reporter and news contacts in Colombia. The NoFly
List was created after the attacks of September
11, 2001 by the U.S government to identify and
include people who are prohibited from boarding a
commercial aircraft for travel in or out of the United
States.
Penhaul applied for redress at the United States
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and,
earlier this year, DHS notified him that it had made
corrections to its records, presumably a reference
to his removal from the No-Fly List. Nonetheless,
Penhaul is still unable to travel to the US as the
Department of State has failed to review his new visa
application for months since the DHS correction.
“RSF calls on the Department of State to put an
end immediately to this absurd situation. Karl’s
placement on the No-Fly List and now his inability to
obtain a visa prevents him from freely practicing his
profession within the United States, the country of
the First Amendment. This sends a very concerning
signal to all American and foreign journalists
covering sensitive issues of high-public interest for
the American public. Karl’s case sets a worrying
precedent for press freedom and highlights the
need for the US Administration to carefully review
journalists’ profiles before placing them on the US
No-Fly List”, says Delphine Halgand, US Director of
Reporters Without Borders.
Penhaul lived and worked in Colombia from
September 1996 until mid-2014 and cultivated
contacts with many local sources including within
the FARC. Covering the FARC is of high-public
interest for the international community and the
American public. Penhaul has worked for various
media outlets and news agencies such as Reuters,
The San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe,
U.S. News and World Report, and especially CNN
and Univision. He received and was part of the
CNN team who received the most prestigious
journalistic awards, such as the Peabody Award
in 2006, the Edward R. Murrow Award in 2007,
the CINE Golden Eagle Award in 2010, the Prix
Bayeux des Correspondants de Guerre in 2010 and
an Emmy Award in 2006. Karl’s journalistic work in
Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, Egypt and in Latin America
contributed directly to inform the American public.
“It has been deeply unnerving on a personal
level and extremely damaging on a professional
level to have been effectively labeled a terrorist
by the U.S. administration because of my work as
a journalist,Karl told RSF. There was clear public
interest in informing U.S. taxpayers about how their
money is being spent fighting counterinsurgency
and narco-trafficking in Colombia. It is the
responsibility of a free press to shed fresh light on
issues by reporting from all angles.”
Penhaul is not the first foreign journalist who has
been prohibited from traveling to the US because of
his reporting on sensitive topics. Manuel Martorell,
a well-known Spanish journalist, former editor in
chief of the prominent daily newspaper El Mundo
and historian who specializes in covering Kurdish
issues, was refused a tourist visa for a trip to the
United States with his family in May 2015. When
he applied for a visa, he was asked to fill out a
questionnaire about his personal and professional
history. Three months later, he received a letter from
the US Department of State informing him that his
visa application had been denied because he was
alleged to have participated in “terrorist activities”.
RSF reiterates its call on the US government to act
quickly to rectify the visa status of Manuel Martorell.
Despite various exchanges over several months
between RSF and the US Department of State, both
of Penhaul and Martorell’s visa situations remain
unresolved.
The United States ranks 41 out of 180 countries in
RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index