Brother of Spanish Journalist slain by US troops renders tribute in Lafayette Park, Washington DC
(Wednesday 6th April de 2005)

Leads Memorial on Second Anniversary of Palestine Hotel Attack and Calls for Independent of US Killings of Journalists

WHEN/WHERE: April 8, 2005, 12 noon in Lafayette Park, Washington DC.

WHAT: Javier Couso, brother of the Spanish journalist Jose Couso, who was killed by a US tank in Baghdad on April 8, 2003, will hold a memorial to his brother in front of the White House in Lafayette Park in Washington DC on the second anniversary of the attack on the Hotel Palestine in Baghdad.

Javier will read a short statement in both Spanish and English and will lay a wreath of flowers in memory of his brother and other journalists killed in Iraq. His brother Jose and the Ukrainian camerman was killed on April 8, 2003, when a US tank in Baghdad opened fire on the Hotel Palestine, which housed the vast majority of the international media based in Iraq at the time. This attack followed on the heels of attacks by the US on the offices of both the Al Jazeera and Abu Dhabi television networks.

The family, friends and colleagues of Jose Couso are continuing in their efforts to gain a truly independent investigation into the events of that day. The need for full transparency in this affair is made all the more pressing in light of the recent attack on the Italian journalist Guiliana Sgrena by a US tank. In that case, the Bush administration agreed to a full investigation in cooperation with the government of Italy, but has so far refused to conduct a similar inquiry into the attack on the Palestine.

"This is not an issue of Spain versus the US, but of ensuring freedom of press, and preventing the US military from targeting journalists who are not embedded in their forces," says Javier Couso. "The Pentagon and the entire military command knew the Hotel Palestine was home to some 300 international journalists, who are protected under the laws of war as civilians. They should be forced to fully account for what happened that day."

CONTACTS: Karen Pomer, (310)463-7025; James Hollander, 347 675 9355