Bilal Hussein (Arabic: بلال حسين, romanized: Bilāl Ḥusayn) is an Iraqi Associated Press photojournalist based in Fallujah, Iraq.
[1][3] On November 20, 2007, the US military announced that they would soon be bringing criminal charges against Hussein, and would be turning the case over to Iraqi judges.
[6][7] Hussein is an Iraqi citizen and shopkeeper who in 2003 was living with his family in Fallujah, where he sold cell phones and computers.
[9] The military also claimed that Hussein was found with two insurgents, including Hamid Hamad Motib, an alleged leader of al-Qaida terrorists in Iraq.
[1] In September 17, 2006, Tom Curley, AP president and chief executive, said, "Bilal Hussein has been held in violation of Iraqi law and in disregard to the Geneva Conventions.
[1] According to Curley, the Associated Press had been working quietly until then, but since the US military showed no sign of changing their stance, they considered it best to make the imprisonment public.
[1] After hearing of the charges, Curley said, "We have grave concerns that his rights under the law continue to be ignored and even abused...The steps the U.S. military is now taking continue to deny Bilal his right to due process...represents a miscarriage of the very justice and rule of law that the United States is claiming to help Iraq achieve...At this point, we believe the correct recourse is the immediate release of Bilal."
"[1] Other AP executives said that their review of Hussein's work did not find anything to indicate inappropriate contact with insurgents, and any evidence against him should be brought to the Iraqi criminal justice system.
"[1] In urging the release of Hussein, in September 2006, AP officials noted that he was "one of an estimated 14,000 people detained as suspected security threats by the U.S. military worldwide — 13,000 of them in Iraq.
[11] On April 7, 2008 an Iraqi court found that Bilal Hussein's case fell under an existing amnesty regulation.
[12] A Pentagon spokesman said that the decision on Hussein's release would be made by "officials" in Iraq, "based upon their assessment as to whether he remains a threat.