Action Alert: 9/8/08

Action Alert: Monday September 8th

It is the middle of the day on Monday in Nigeria, and Andrew has already been re-detained and questioned for over 3 hours with the State Security Service (SSS).

The more pressure we apply to our elected leaders (and by extension to the State Department) the sooner Andrew will be released. Your collective calls on Friday made a huge difference, and Andrew was able to spend the weekend in comfort thanks to YOUR efforts on the phone. Please don’t stop now.

Please contact your local congressional representatives TODAY and ask them to continue to put political pressure on this issue. If you have already called them on this matter, call again to follow up. You can find your local representatives here.

What to say:

• As a constituent and a concerned citizen, I wanted to bring your attention to the continued detention of American journalist Andrew Berends and his translator, Samuel George, in Nigeria. Having been arrested eight days ago, he has still not been charged, and is currently being subjected to yet another day of interrogation.

• Nigeria enjoys the highest level of diplomatic relations with the United States, and for an American journalist to be detained without representation and subjected to coercive questioning is both highly inappropriate and illegal.

• We ask you to make known your awareness and concern about this matter, contact your colleagues in Congress and the State Department, and work to ensure the good treatment and speedy release of Andrew Berends and his interpreter from Nigerian custody

Senators from New York:

We would like everyone to call both their own local representatives and also the two Senators from New York State. When talking with New York reps, please add that Andrew is a New Yorker. Both the NY senators have previously spoken out on Andrew’s behalf, but it is critical that they keep up the pressure on their State Department counterparts TODAY. Please call and ask for their urgent and immediate attention to this matter.

The contact information for NY senators Clinton and Schumer is:

• Senator Charles Schumer (D- NY) 212-486-4430

• Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- NY) 212-688-6262

Please forward this call to action to anyone you think could help by making a call to their representatives and the NY senators.

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) new press release:

Christiane Amanpour speaks out:

 

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been advocating on behalf of Andy and Samuel since their detention on Sunday August 31st. Today, in a new press release from CPJ, Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent and CPJ boardmember calls for Andrew and Samuel to be released. 

No stranger to the challenges of working internationally, Amanpour raises an important point that we cannot forget: journalists and filmmakers must be free to tell vital stories that inform a better understanding of our world today. We cannot stand by and watch them be censored into silence through fear and intimidation. Each one of us that consumes media is responsible for protecting the rights of the journalists and filmmakers who put themselves at risk to bring us these critical stories. Please take action to help Andrew and Samuel be released

—– 

NIGERIA: CPJ demands release of journalist and translator

New York, September 4, 2008—U.S. documentary filmmaker Andrew Berends was filming women going to the market in a public waterside area of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, when he was detained by the Nigerian military, according to e-mails sent by the journalist to his editor. In the e-mails, which have been reviewed by the Committee to Protect Journalists, Berends said a sergeant had given him permission to film in the area.

The e-mails contradict the Nigerian military’s claim that Berends and translator Samuel George were filming a military deployment without clearance when they were detained on Sunday.

State Security Services in Port Harcourt detained Berends for 36 hours after his arrest and then ordered him to report for day-long interrogations each day since. George has remained in custody throughout the week.

“CPJ calls for the immediate release of Samuel George and Andrew Berends whose only crime is carrying out their work,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “The Nigerian military must stop arresting local and international journalists on spurious allegations, and it should halt its effort to censor reporting of the Niger Delta region.”

CPJ’s board also expressed deep concern. “Nigeria’s democratic government must release Berends and George and allow journalists to freely cover this vital story,” said Christiane Amanpour, a CPJ board member and CNN chief international correspondent.

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday, urging her to work for Berends’ immediate release. “Mr. Berends was embarked on an effort to raise awareness of and concern for this region and its complicated problems,” Schumer wrote. “Unfortunately, in this case, it seems that the Nigerian government’s response is to harass and intimidate foreign and native journalists. This is unacceptable.”

Berends, an award-winning filmmaker, legally entered Nigeria in April to complete a documentary called “Delta Boys,” sponsored by the New York-based Tribeca Film Institute, about the region’s oil conflict. During his first 36 hours in detention, Berends was not fed and was denied sleep, CPJ reported on Tuesday. His personal belongings, including equipment and passport, have been confiscated, according to his e-mails. Berends said he had heard that he may be moved to Abuja.

George is a graduate of Port Harcourt University of Science and Technology and has helped with translations for Berends’ film. Berends had previously directed a film on Iraq called “Blood of My Brother,” which was screened widely on the international festival circuit and earned a 2006 International Documentary Award.

Another documentary film crew was arrested this year by the Nigerian military in the Niger Delta region. The Nigerian military arrested the film crewof “Sweet Crude” on April 12 and held them for a week on charges that were never substantiated. According to CPJ research, this is the fourth time journalists and media workers have been arrested in the Niger Delta on unsubstantiated charges since 2005.

Senator Clinton speaks out

Senator Hillary Clinton also speaks out on Andy’s case:

 

Senator Charles Schumer speaks out

“Untenable”

Senator Charles Schumer’s letter to Condoleezza Rice regarding Andrew Berends

What you can do to help

Action Alert: 

 

Many of you are wondering how you can help Andrew. We encourage everyone to raise their voices and contact their elected officials to ask for their help in speaking out about this issue.

We feel strongly that the more pressure we are able to apply, the sooner Andrew will be released.

Please contact your local congressional representatives to raise political pressure on this issue. You can find your local representatives here. 

 

What to say: 

• As a constituent and a concerned citizen, I wanted to bring your attention to the news that American journalist Andrew Berends has been arrested by the Nigerian government while working on a documentary.

• Nigeria enjoys the highest level of diplomatic relations with the United States, and for an American journalist to be detained without representation and subjected to coercive questioning is both highly inappropriate and illegal.

• We ask you to make known your awareness and concern about this matter, contact your colleagues in Congress and the State Department, and work to ensure the good treatment and speedy release of Andrew Berends and his interpreter from Nigerian custody.

 

Senators from New York:

We would like everyone to call both their own local representatives and also the two Senators from New York State. When talking with New York reps, please add that Andrew is a New Yorker.

The contact information for NY senators Clinton and Schumer is:

• Senator Charles Schumer (D- NY) 212-486-4430
• Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- NY) 212-688-6262

Please forward this call to action to anyone you think could help by making a call to their representatives and the NY senators.

 

Media: 

We strongly encourage any of you with contacts in the media or blogosphere to tell Andrew’s story. Sustained media pressure will help shine a light on Nigeria’s mistreatment of foreign journalists. Please share this site with any media contacts you have. You can read each day’s press release here.

CPJ News Alert

Committee to Protect Journalists issues news alert:

NIGERIA: Journalist and media worker detained in Port Harcourt

New York, September 2, 2008—Freelance American filmmaker and journalist Andrew Berends and his translator, Nigerian Samuel George, remain in the custody of Nigerian state security services in Port Harcourt today. The Nigerian military arrested Berends and George on the afternoon of August 31 and transferred them to the State Security Services, local journalists told CPJ.

Berends was released temporarily after 36 hours in detention without being charged while George remained in custody, Berends wrote in an e-mail to friends and colleagues. He said he was accused of espionage and that his passport and equipment were confiscated. Berends, an award-winning filmmaker, legally entered Nigeria in April to complete a documentary called “Delta Boys,” sponsored by the New York-based Tribeca Film Institute, about the region’s oil conflict. He was ordered to return to the security offices at 9 a.m. this morning, which he did.

“Authorities continue to arrest journalists in the Niger Delta area in order to block media coverage of the conflict,” said Tom Rhodes, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator. “We call on the government to abandon these repressive tactics, which deprive the world of vital information about the conflict in the Niger Delta. We urge the Nigerian authorities to drop the case against Andrew Berends and Samuel George and to return Berends’ passport immediately.”

A Niger Delta military spokesman, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, said the military arrested Berends for filming a Nigerian military deployment without clearance, according to The Associated Press.

Berends is the second American filmmaker arrested this year by the Nigerian military in the region. The Nigerian military arrested the film crew of “Sweet Crude” along the Niger Delta River on April 12 and held them for a week by state security in Abuja. And this is the fourth time journalists and media workers have been arrested in the Niger Delta on unsubstantiated charges since 2005, according to CPJ research.

In a separate development, state television companyNational Television Authority reporter Felix Opute was also detained today by military authorities while attending a Niger Delta community meeting. Local leaders were meeting to discuss ways of enforcing a court order that bans the practice of lighting oil fires in residential areas, local journalists told CPJ.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, pumps crude from the poverty-stricken Niger Delta region. Armed groups have emerged since the early 1990s in the region, ostensibly to fight for more oil revenues to support the local community and stop the environmental degradation caused by the oil production. The conflict has curbed one-quarter of Nigeria’s daily crude output, according to international news reports.

 

Visit the CPJ website