US: The US should lift its ban on publishing literature from countries such as Cuba, Iran and Sudan without special permission, Europe's biggest rights watchdog said yesterday.
"Today, American publishers might face prison sentences and high fines if they fail to ask for a government licence to publish literature from these countries," Mr Miklos Haraszti, media freedom director at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said.
Publishers who flout the rules face a prison sentence of up to 10 years and fines of up to $500,000.
In a letter to US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell, Mr Haraszti called the regulations on publishing materials from countries under embargo an "impediment to the free flow of information" enshrined in international treaties on freedom of information to which Washington is a signatory.
The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) offers a number of documents on its website that explain the rules governing materials from Cuba, Sudan and Iran - rules the OSCE said were not enforced until the US government reversed that policy last year.
OFAC enforces sanctions under the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act and 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
It said the following editorial activities would require a licence since they could change or improve a manuscript: "The collaboration on and editing of manuscripts submitted by persons in Iran, including. . .the reordering of paragraphs or sentences, correction of grammar, and replacement of inappropriate words by US persons, prior to publication.