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Representatives of the Southern African Freelancers’ Association (SAFREA) and various individual members belonging to this organisation have added their signatures to a letter appealing for information on the whereabouts and safety - and release - of South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl.

The letter was drafted by the Campaign to Free Anton Hammerl and sent on 16 May, 2011 to South Africa’s Minister for International Relations and Co-operation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and was copied to South African President Jacob Zuma; Michael Spindelegger (Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs); Janos Martonyi (Minister of Foreign Affairs in Hungary); UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the Media Frank LaRue; African Commission on Human and People's Rights Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Pansy Faith Tlakula; and the Special Representative on the Media of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Dunja Mijatovic.

The document makes an urgent appeal to the authorities above to step up their efforts to locate Hammerl, who is presumed to be in the custody of the Libyan regime and was arrested on 5 April 2011. He has had no consular access or other contact with the outside world since his arrest. 

The letter was signed by 84 signatories, including journalists, photographers, editors, civil society organisations, and concerned individuals.

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Dear Minister

URGENT APPEAL FOR INFORMATION ON THE WELLBEING OF PHOTOJOURNALIST ANTON HAMMERL

We, the undersigned, respectfully appeal to the governments of South Africa, Austria and Hungary to do everything within your power to ensure that freelance photojournalist Anton Hammerl is brought safely out of Libya.

It has now been 42 days since Hammerl, a photojournalist with joint South African and Austrian citizenship, was reported missing in Libya.  The Libyan government has assured Hammerl’s family and consular authorities of both countries that they have him in their custody but they have yet to produce evidence that he is alive and well. 

The safety and wellbeing of journalists working in situations of armed conflict is protected under international human rights and humanitarian law.  Notably, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) carries a specific obligation to protect individuals from arbitrary arrest or detention under Article 9, while Articles 6 and 7 stipulate that every human being has the right to life and to be protected from torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.  Article 19 of the ICCPR also provides crucial protection for journalists by means of the right to freedom of expression.

In addition, Article 79 of Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Convention specifically protects journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict, while UN Security Council Resolution 1738 of 23 December 2006 states that journalists and media workers should be “considered as civilians... and protected as such” during situations of armed conflict.

Further, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provides for the interests and protection of country nationals within a foreign land.  As a citizen of South Africa, Anton Hammerl is entitled to the consular services of the South African embassy in Tripoli.  As a citizen of Austria, and therefore the European Union, Anton Hammerl is also entitled to support from Austrian consular services, through any functioning European diplomatic missions operating in Libya.

In a statement released by Hammerl’s family on Thursday 12 May, his wife Penny Sukhraj appealed to the South African government: “Anxiety is escalating in the light of reports that the other journalists captured with Anton have been allowed to call their loved ones and receive visitors. We haven’t heard from him, and nobody has had access to him. We absolutely need to know that Anton is well and that he will come home.”

Anton Hammerl is a seasoned photojournalist who was merely doing his job, covering the civil conflict in Libya and attempting to bring images of this unfolding story into the wider world.  

The family is desperate for news, having only received third-hand assurances that Hammerl is in custody.  Sukhraj continued: “The only proof that Anton is well to date is that of the word of his captors. The Libyan authorities have made good on promises to those working to secure the release of the American and Spanish journalists but have yet to do so in the case of Anton. Why is Anton being treated differently to the other three?

“We are in regular contact with the Austrian and South African governments but they are yet to establish Anton’s whereabouts or safety.

“We need proof that Anton is well – and not just the word of the people holding him captive, but concrete proof in the form of a phone call or consular access. Where is the proof?”

We, the undersigned, are aware of the difficulties faced by diplomats during situations of conflict.  However, we respectfully urge you to:

   • Co-operate fully among yourselves and with the Hammerl family, and to work in partnership in the best interests of Anton Hammerl’s safety.

   • Encourage the Libyan authorities to allow Hammerl to contact his family and be visited by consular officials, as a sign of good faith.  We further urge President Jacob Zuma of South Africa to use his personal connection to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his role as a member of the African Union’s high-level panel on Libya to negotiate for Anton Hammerl’s immediate release.

   • Ensure that Anton Hammerl, along with the other three foreign journalists he was reportedly captured with, is freed and allowed to return home as soon as safely possible.

Yours faithfully

ON BEHALF OF THE CAMPAIGN TO FREE PHOTOJOURNALIST ANTON HAMMERL

 

COPIED TO:

1. Office of the President of South Africa: President Jacob Zuma

2. Foreign Minister of Austria: Dr Michael Spindelegger

3. Foreign Minister of Hungary (EU Presidency): Mr János Martonyi

4. UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression: Mr Frank LaRue

5. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, African Commission on Human and People’s Rights: Ms Pansy Faith Tlakula

6. Representative on Freedom of the Media, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe: Ms Dunja Mijatovic

 

NOTES

To reach Penny Sukhraj, please call +44 7758 318 815 or email: penny.sukhraj@gmail.com. 

Anton Hammerl travelled into Libya via Egypt in order to cover the unfolding civil conflict there.  He last spoke to his wife Penny Sukhraj on 4 April, saying he was heading for a rural location some distance from Benghazi, along with a group of fellow journalists and photographers.  He has not been heard from since.  On 7 April, another photographer called Sukhraj to report that this group had been captured by troops loyal to the Gaddafi regime. 

Human Rights Watch in Geneva later confirmed this information.  The Libyan government also confirmed that it had four international journalists in their custody and it was presumed that this included Anton Hammerl.

Subsequently, it has emerged that three foreign journalists – United States citizens James Foley and Clare Gillis, and Spanish citizen Manu Brabo – are being held in Tripoli by the Libyan regime.  These three journalists have been in contact with their families and have been allowed consular access.  However, although they have confirmed that Hammerl was captured with them, he has inexplicably been separated from the group and has had no further contact with them, or with the outside world.

Anton Hammerl is an experienced photojournalist who cut his teeth covering political and social events during the critical transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa in the early and mid-1990s.  He has been senior photographer at the Sunday Independent, the Star and Saturday Star, and was also picture editor of the Saturday Star.  As a freelance photojournalist, he has worked on assignment for Associated Press and several other local and international agencies.  

Hammerl has also won a number of prestigious awards for his work, including the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass (1997), the Abdul Shariff Humanitarian Photographer of the Year (1997, 1999), Mondi Shanduka Photographer of the Year (2005), and the Fuji Africa News Image of the Year (2006).

Hammerl is the father of a daughter and two sons.  He lives with his wife and family in London, where he continues to work as a freelance photojournalist.

***ENDS***

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