Col. Mu@quot;ammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi
Revolutionary Leader
Office of the Revolutionary Leader
Tripoli
Libya
Your Excellency:
We write to protest your country@quot;s part in the continuing worldwide abuse of press freedom.
On this day, World Press Freedom Day, there are, to the best of our knowledge, 193 journalists imprisoned in the jails of 29 countries, most of them solely for having done their jobs. Libya is one of the 29, and we are informed that you have in custody Abdullah Ali al-Sanussi al-Darrat, who has been imprisoned for 31 years — the longest time, according to Reporters Without Borders, that any journalist in the world has been incarcerated.
Al-Darrat vanished without a trace and has been detained without trial or charges brought against him. Since 1973, requests for information on his whereabouts have gone unanswered. Your Excellency, now that Libya has taken enormous strides toward re-joining the community of nations, the time has surely arrived to let him go. Or, if he is no longer living, an explanation of his fate would bring closure to his family and close the books on this episode.
This should be done both on principle and as a matter of expediency. The principle is simple, as stated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “”Everyone,? according to the Declaration, ?has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”” U.N. members recognize that this right is sometimes inconvenient and troublesome. Yet, it is crucial to uphold, and for practical reasons: As Libya@quot;s recent history amply demonstrates, a nation that stifles freedom of thought and expression forfeits the good opinion of the world and isolates itself. This may prompt political or economic sanctions, with loss of diplomatic influence and domestic prosperity; at the least, it relegates a country to the company of North Korea, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, or Zimbabwe. And in long or short order, a repressive regime will be overturned.
The Overseas Press Club of America, an independent organization that has defended press freedom around the world for 65 years, urges you to rethink your policy, to welcome free expression of ideas and opinions, and to release Abdullah Ali al-Sanussi al-Darrat.
The courtesy of a reply would be appreciated.
Respectfully yours,
Larry Martz
Norman A. Schorr
Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee