What is coming out today in a few national newspapers is the appeal of a first group of journalists, who in the last years have followed up closely the matters related to the detention centres and are now asking for the abrogation of the ministerial circular letter banning the entrance to the CIE to all journalists in the last two months.For the colleagues of other newspapers: publish the appeal in your newspapers and on your websites, read it on the radio and on television. Report back the amount of support you are getting and most of all ask your Prefectures for the press pass to visit the CIE of your town and send us the negative replies.
Let’s make ourselves heard! Here below is the appeal with the first petitioners.
LET US ENTER!
JOURNALISTS’ APPEAL
FOR THE ENTRY OF THE PRESS IN THE CIE
“Get out of our way, journalists included. There is a return to censorship in Italy. Since the 1st April a circular letter of the Ministry of Interior (prot. n. 1305 dated 01.04.2011) the journalists are banned from entering in to the centres of identification and expulsion (CIE) and to the reception centres for asylum seekers (CARA). The legal excuse is the declaration of the state of emergency due to the refugees arrivals. It’s a step that takes us several years back, when the Pisanu directive established that no journalist could enter the detention centres, which were then called Cpt (centres of temporary permanence), if not following a parliamentary delegation. At the moment it’s even worse, because today the press isn’t allowed to enter even with the parliamentarians. We therefore ask the government to respect the right to inform and the article 21 of the Constitution, that ratifies the freedom of the press. The censorship cannot be institutionalized with a circular letter of the Ministry of Interior. Citizens have the right to be informed. And the press have the right to monitor what happens in the centres where thousands of Tunisian citizens are being detained at the moment, waiting to be deported.”
First petitioners:
Gabriele Del Grande, freelance, editor of Fortress Europe (he was denied acces to the Cie of Trapani and Brindisi and to the Cara of Mineo)
Raffaella Cosentino, freelance (she was denied access to the Cie of Roma, see articles on Redattore Sociale and Repubblica)
Stefano Liberti, Il Manifesto (see cover of the 26th May 2011, he requested access to the Cie of Rome and to the Cara of Mineo)
Alessandro Leogrande, author of “Uomini e caporali” (Men and corporals)
Antonello Mangano, author of “Gli africani salveranno l'Italia” (The Africans will save Italy)
Marco Rovelli, author of Lager Italiani
Giovanni Maria Bellu, L'Unità
Stefano Galieni, Liberazione
Cinzia Gubbini, Il Manifesto
Supporters:
- Giuseppe Giulietti, Articolo 21
- Jean Leonard Touadì, journalist and parliamentarian
- Andrea Segre, documentary film maker, author of Come un uomo sulla terra (Like a Man on Earth)
- Andrea Billau, Radio Radicale, Radio Migrante
- Stefania Ragusa, author of Le Rosarno d'Italia
- Flore Murard-Yovanovitch, Agenzia Radicale
- Vilma Mazza e Sarah Castelli, Global Project, they requested access to the Cie and to the Cara of Gradisca
- Nicola Grigion, Melting Pot Europa, Melting Pot, he requested access to the Cie and to the Cara of Gradisca
- Orsola Casagrande, Il Manifesto, she requested access to the Cie and to the Cara of Gradisca
- Ilaria Sesana and all the editorial unit of Terre di Mezzo, they requested access to the Cie of Milano
- the editorial unit of Volontari per lo Sviluppo
- Antonella Vicini, freelance
- Giulia Bondi, freelance author of Harraguantanamo
- Leone Venticinque, Qui Mineo e Calatino solidale per davvero
- Cristiano Tinazz, freelance
- Stefano Collizzoli e Matteo Calore, freelance
translated by Alexandra D'Onofrio