Syria should free U.S. journalist
Dorothy Parvaz, a former reporter for Seattle newspapers and now a reporter for English-language Al Jazeera Credit: AP
The detention and harassment of journalists covering the Arab uprisings in the Middle East is a concern beyond the liberty of individuals. It deprives all of us of the information needed to foster democratic governments and economies.
The disappearance of American Dorothy Parvaz in Syria is only the latest troubling incident in a nation that has taken into custody or expelled dozens of journalists since antigovernment protests began rocking the repressive regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
While there's some relief now that Syrian officials have admitted that security forces are holding Parvaz, who works for Al Jazeera's English-language channel, she should be released immediately.
A former features and editorial writer for Seattle newspapers and a Neiman fellow at Harvard University, Parvaz, 39, hasn't been heard from since her April 29 arrival in Damascus.
She joined Al Jazeera in 2010 and, although she is based in Qatar, had most recently been in Japan covering the aftermath of last month's devastating tsunami.
Parvaz, born in Iran to an American mother and an Iranian father, left with her family for Canada in 1981. She holds passports from Iran, Canada and the United States and was believed to be using the Iranian one to enter Syria, since that did not require her to have a visa.
The stories unfolding in the Middle East must be shared with the world, and journalists such as Dorothy Parvaz must be free to tell them.
