21 Jan 2010 | Index Index, minipost
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has lifted the travel ban on two prominent Muslim scholars, Tariq Ramadan and Adam Habib.
The American Civil Liberties Union had been due to challenge Ramadan’s ban in federal court yesterday. Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project, speaking to Reuters described the decision was “a major victory for civil liberties.” He went on to say.
“The orders ending the exclusion of Adam Habib and Tariq Ramadan are long overdue and tremendously important.
“For several years, the United States government was more interested in stigmatizing and silencing its foreign critics than in engaging them. The decision … is a welcome sign the Obama administration is committed to facilitating rather than obstructing the exchange of ideas across international borders.”
Ramadan’s visa was revoked in 2004 under the Patriot Act. Intially the US government refused to give a reason but later it suggested Ramadan had links to terrorist organisations, he had donated US$1,300 to a Swiss charity later linked to Hamas.
20 Jan 2010 | Comment, Middle East and North Africa, News
Jared Malsin, news editor for a Palestinian agency, put on flight to New York reports Dimi Reider
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20 Jan 2010 | United Kingdom
English PEN and Index on Censorship today welcome Jack Straw’s proposal to make dramatuc cuts to lawyers’ win fees in defamation cases, but warn that fees are only one part of a libel system in need of serious reform.
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20 Jan 2010 | Uncategorized
One year ago Barack Obama was sworn on in as the 44th US president. Speaking in front of a million strong crowd, the new president said “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America.”
This morning the President’s agenda hangs in the balance, Republicans have taken Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts seat in a historic upset depriving Democrats of 60-seat “super-majority” that allows them to overcome Republican filibusters
On the campaign trail Obama promised to lead the most transparent administration in history and in an exclusive article for the current issue of Index on Censorship magazine the ACLU’s Melissa Goodman makes a searing critique of Obama’s tactics. She argues his promise to break with secrecy was short-lived. Read Keeping it Secret here.
