UPDATES
and activities
Annual February 20th Event
Thanks to all who helped with the excellent event!
Let us know if you'd like to see pictures or video!
UPCOMING
Note: This list is to share information. Being included on the list does not necessarily mean that the February 20th Coalition has endorsed the event.
Ongoing statement against deportation
The Blue Triangle Network issued a statement on June 23, 2003 against the planned deportation of 13,000 Muslim, Arab and South Asian immigrant men and boys. For four months, beginning in December 2002, immigrant men and boys from 24 Muslim, Arab and South Asian countries that had entered the U.S. with �non-immigrant visas� voluntarily came forward for �special registration� at Immigration and Naturalization Service offices (now the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Even though they voluntarily complied with the order, the government is planning to deport 13,000 of them. See www.bluetriangle.org for more information!
Third National Day of Action in Solidarity with Muslim, Arab and South
Asian Immigrants Featuring "We've Come Undone" performance by Kayhan Irani, "Planet of the Arabs," and Community Forum
FRI, Feb 20, 7:30 pm
Rutgers Student Center, 126 College Ave, New Brunswick, NJ. MPR (Multi-Purpose Room) For more information: [email protected] http://www.njsolidarity.org/ Sponsored by NJ Solidarity, NJ Civil Rights Defense Committee, Rutgers University Women's Center Defense Coalition and more!
Blue Triangle Network: voices rising, film and music
SAT, Feb 21, 2-5pm and 8pm
2-5pm: Queens Museum of Art, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, screning of Justifiable Homicide, Bangle East Side, Mistaken Identities, and Farouk Abdel-Muthi Political Prisoner
8pm: Galapagos, 70 N 6th St, Brooklyn, L train to Bedford, $10 cover with music by Outernational, DJ Siraiki of Mutiny, Abu Jorjj or damar-wa-fawda, and others.
Immigrant Communities in Action: A Day of Dialogue
SAT, Feb 21, 8:30am
the 32BJ building at 101 Avenue of the Americas
Take the A, C, E, 1, or 9 subway lines to Canal Street
The Day of Dialogue is an event being planned and organized by community and labor organizations, religious institutions, and activists in
immigrant communities in order to continue and broaden the struggle for
workers and immigrants. For more info, call NYCPP at 212-388-3789
Judge Accuses Arab-American Of Supporting Terrorists
Hard to believe, but in Tarrytown, New York, a judge who was hearing an Arab-American woman's defense against some parking tickets reportedly asked if she was a terrorist then told her to stop complaining about the size of the parking tickets, because she had enough money to support terrorists. The judge has admitted asking if she was a terrorist, but denies making any other remarks. The woman was angry the first time, then fainted when he told her she was supporting terrorists.
Sikhs Shot For Being A Sikh-American
In Arizona, a truck driver who was shot and seriously wounded was
apparently targeted because he is a Sikh who wears a turban, police
said in late-May 2003. Avtar Singh, 52, an Indian immigrant, was the second Sikh in less than two years to be shot in Arizona apparently because of his appearance. A gas station owner was killed in Mesa just days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, allegedly because the gunman thought he was an Arab.
Not In Our Name: October 6, 2002 Rally
The Central Park rally had over 10,000 people, including the Blue Triangle contingent, letting people know about the fight to free the detainees.
Monthly demonstrations to show solidarity with Arab, Muslim, and South Asian immigrants being detained.
First Saturday of every month from noon to 1pm (next will probably be in November). They are held at the Metropolitan Federal Detention Center in Brooklyn (take the N/R to 25th Street, Brooklyn and it is around 29th Street and Third Avenue, just a few blocks away).
Here's a report from Indymedia on how the secret detentions take a toll on families. Big thanks to the group Justice for the Detainees for their organizing efforts.
Government Spying
Newspapers have printed articles suggesting that the government believes as many as 5,000 people in the United States have connections with al-Qaida. The government has also launched a programmed called TIPS seeking to have the public voluntarily phone in their accusations of others.
Lost Detainees
Nasir Ali Mubarak, a California resident who was deported to Pakistan in August, was apparently detained by Pakistani officials upon arrival in Islamabad and is now missing, according to San Francisco attorney Mark Van Der Hout.
Update on the Detention of Farouk Abdel-Muhti
As of August 20, 2003, BICE (renamed from INS) are starting to send Palestinians away who have been ordered deported, including Farouk. As of August 19, Farouk Abdel-Muhti was still at York County Prison in PA and had not been moved. Make phone calls and send faxes to:
- David J. Venturella, BICE Office of Detention & Removal: 202-514-8663;
fax 202-353-9435; - William Cleary, BICE regional director in Buffalo: 716-551-4741, ext. 2530 - Members of Congress (Congressional Switchboard): 202-224-3121. Make it clear to BICE officials that deporting people who do not have valid travel documents or who fear for their safety if deported is a violation of international law--regardless of whether they have "had their day in court" or have exhausted their appeals--and that if any harm comes to any of the deportees, you will hold them (BICE officials) personally responsible.
On Feb 19, 2003, INS transferred Farouk from Paterson NJ to York PA, which his supporters see as an attempt to disrupt his habeas corpus petition in NJ. Supporters also raise the possibility that the INS transfer is punishment for participating with five other detainees in a hunger strike from January 14-21.
Latest seems to be that Farouk's lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition on November 6th seeking his release. The government submitted their opposition briefs on December 10th.
Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a well-known Palestinian activist from New York City and a participant in the February 20th Coalition has had chest pains on his left side because of the extreme cold during his detention at Camden County Jail, which is kept in extremely low temperatures and Farouk is only allowed to have one blanket.
Farouk Abdel-Muhti is a Palestinian who has lived in this country for more than 25 years. He has been active defending human rights, the rights of all workers and the rights of immigrants.
The morning of April 26, NYPD and Immigration and Naturalization Service agents arrived at the home of Bernard McFall kicking and slamming on the door and shouting until he opened the door. The INS then arrested his guest Farouk Abdel-Muhti. Farouk is presently in a prison in Camden, New Jersey, accused of being in the US illegally.
Farouk was arrested because of his solidarity with the struggles of all immigrants and educating the public about the murders and other abuses being committed against Palestinians by the government of Israel. The weeks prior to his arrest he was a regular guest on the WBAI program Wake Up Call where he helped translate calls from Palestine to the station. This was during the
Israeli invasion into Palestinian communities with tanks and military helicopters which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians. Immediately after his arrest he was threatened with being sent to the Israeli government!
LATEST news: Farouk is being locked down in "the hole" for over 23 hours a day. He is now in York prison. He would rather be deported than be held in the hole indefinitely, but the government is doing nothing and he continues to be held indefinitely.
Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti, PO Box 20587, Tompkins Square Station, New York, NY 10009. Email: [email protected]
Farouk Abdel-Muhti #75122 (VALID AS OF MAY 2003)
York County Prison
3400 Concord Street
York, PA 17402.
Court Rulings Against The INS/FBI/CIA/DoJ
On June 17, 2003, a divided D.C. Circuit appeals court voted 2-1 that the government can keep secret the names of hundreds of
people arrested or detained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks because
disclosing the information supposedly could help al Qaeda and harm national security. Attorney General John Ashcroft made the following allegation: ""We are pleased the court agreed we should not give terrorists a virtual road map to our investigation."
On October 8, 2002, a divided Third Circuit appeals court voted 2-1 that the public has no right to access immigration proceedings that the federal government declared close to press and public in a blanket order for security reasons. The ACLU and media argued (and the lower court had agreed) that the blanket rule should be thrown out -- and that a case-by-case determination can and should be made. On May 27, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court without comment stated it would not review the attempted appeal of the Third Circuit's decision. During the government's investigation, approximately 766 detainees were designated as 'special interest' cases, 611 of whom had one or more hearings closed, department lawyers said.
On September 17, 2002, the district court judge in Michigan (Nancy G. Edmunds) ruled that the government violated Rabih Haddad's rights by holding secret hearings and must either be released in 10 days or be given new hearings that are open to the public. On August 26, 2002, the Sixth Circuit of Appeals ruled that the government violated the Constitution by holding secret immigration hearings of Rabih Haddad, someone investigated for the September 11th attacks. The court rejected any general policy to close hearings, because there was no limit to the scope of what hearings the government could close. The court also rejected the Justice Department's argument that it was closing hearings on a case-by-case basis because there was no publicly available information of how anyone chose which hearings to close to the public and no method for reviewing or appealing the decision to close a hearing. Update: on July 14, 2003, the government deported Rabih Haddad in the dead of night, without informing his family.
The August 26th decision upheld the April 3rd decision by a federal judge in Michigan (Nancy G. Edmunds) that the immigration hearing against Rabih Haddad, a native of Lebanon and resident of Ann Arbor, Michigan who founded Global Relief Foundation, an Islamic charity, should be open. On April 10th, the federal appeals court agreed to a speedy review of the decision and issued a temporary stay of the order. The August 26th decision was its review of Judge Edmunds's order.
In May 2002 (made publicly known in August 2002), the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (rumored as not having turned down a request by the Department of Justice for years), rejected a wiretap request and said the government had previously misled the court or provided bad information. The court also suggested the government was seeking power to misuse intelligence information by sharing it in ongoing criminal investigations. According to the NYTimes, the court identified over 75 cases where it was misled by the FBI.
As of August 20, 2002, the Justice Department rejected a request by the House Judiciary Committee for information about how it is using new anti-terrorism powers to monitor Americans. The Committee Chairman said that if he does not receive the information by September 1st, he will consider issuing a subpoena to force Attorney General Ashcroft to provide the information.
In August, a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to provide facts about why it is holding American-born Yaser Esam Hamdi captured in Afghanistan. The judge wrote that "This case appears to be the first in American jurisprudence where an American citizen has been held incommunicado and subjected to an indefinite detention in the continental United States without charges, without any finding by a military tribunal, and without access to a lawyer." In response the Justice Department refused and provided what the judge called sparse facts. The judge issued another ruling demanding more facts.
According to the BBC, Nabil al-Marabh was beaten and held for months without legal representation in the United States after September 2001. He pleaded guilty in July 2002 to trying to cross the US border illegally. For the first eight months Mr al-Marabh was held in a special unit at New York's Metropolitan Detention Centre, along with, he said, 40 other detainees. He told the BBC that "It was like nothing worse than hell and I did five times hunger strikes, asking for a lawyer, for a judge," said Mr al-Marabh. He says that he was punished for his hunger strikes, forced to sleep on a urine soaked mattress for 10 days, without enough water to wash himself. He also alleged that he was beaten twice.
In late-August 2002, Azmy Elghazaly was released in Sacramento, California after 10 months of incarceration even though he was never tied to terrorism. The government never developed evidence to support its naming of Elghazaly on a list of suspected terrorists, according to court documents, but it held him as an illegal immigrant who had dodged a deportation order.
Latest figures from the government is that over 1,100 have been released or deported and as of July 2002, only 74 remain in detention. The INS said 38 are likely to be deported for immigration violations and criminal offenses (not for terrorism), leaving 36 who are expected to be continued to be held in custody. An advocate for the detainees said that the release of over 95% of the detainees without charging a single one with participating in the WTC attacks shows none of the detainees are terrorists and that the detentions are misguided. In the past, Attorney General John Ashcroft has defended detentions as "vital to preventing, disrupting or delaying new attacks."
In December 2001, groups sued the government for information. In January 2002, the government gave a list of the charges, dates of arrest, and nationalities but no names of 725 people held. The groups want more information. Argument was set for late-April.
The ACLU and several newspapers sued in New Jersey to open all immigration hearings nationally. After gaining an initial win, the decision was stayed pending appeal.
The Center for Constitutional Rights in NYC filed a lawsuit on behalf of detainees to challenge the US policy of imprisoning immigrants for up to five months even though those immigrants have voluntarily agreed to leave the US. Also to challenge how guards beat up and abuse detainees in violation of their civil rights, human rights, and Constitutional rights.
On Tuesday, March 26th, a New Jersey state judge ruled that groups must be provided access to INS detainee records in two New Jersey jails (which some call detention centers). The effect of the decision was postponed to allow the government time to appeal the ruling. The ACLU is pursuing the case and filed the complaint that started the case on November 28, 2001.
Opposition to The INS/FBI/CIA/DoJ
US universities oppose move to fingerprint Muslims
The six biggest universities and college associations are working on opposing rules proposed by the justice department to fingerprint, photograph and compile detailed background information on visitors from countries on the US "terror list." Some feel that the rules are racial profiling. Under the proposed law, each year, visitors would have to provide immigration authorities with documentation of their activities within the US.
Past Activities
April 20th Demonstration To Stop the War. A march on Washington DC on Saturday, April 20th to stop the war. Issues included ending racial profiling and ending degrading and secret imprisonment of immigrants. Events kicked off the day before with a teach-in in DC. It is planned as a nonviolent event.
Two protests against Israel's illegal military killings and invasion took place in New York City on April 6 in Times Square and on April 7 across the Brooklyn Bridge. Between 1,800 and 2,000 pro-Arab protesters rallied in New York's Times Square chanting anti-Israeli slogans on April 6th. The BBC ran a picture of the Brooklyn protest, noting that "thousands marched demanding that Washington intervene in the Middle East crisis, with protesters walking across the Brooklyn Bridge carrying placards equating Mr Sharon with Hitler."
On Tuesday, April 2nd, two sentencing hearings took place -- Shakir Baloch, 9:30 am with Judge Duffy and Anser Mehmood (Husband of Uzma Naheed) 11 am with Judge Jones. At his February 27 hearing, Pakistani-Canadian Dr. Shakir Baloch pled guilty to two charges of illegal entry and possession of a false Social Security card. Dr. Baloch was facing indefinite detention were he to plead not guilty. The judge sent him back to jail for five weeks in order to
accommodate a probation interview.
Saturday, March 30th, from 1-4pm, there was a Demonstration and Rally at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC in support of Palestinian Rights.
March 19th at 8:45am, there was a protest in Staten Island and then an attempt to fill the courtroom concerning the actions of NYPD from the 120th precinct on Jersey Street on Staten Island in three delis on February 13, 2002.
March 23rd, there was a Rally to show NYC Labor Solidarity with Immigrant Detainees. Trade unionists, immigrant, civil rights, peace, and social justice organizations held a rally and march to oppose the mass detention of foreign nationals since Sept. 11. It was held at the Metro Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Archive of old updates.
Other important groups:
DRUM- Desis Rising UP & Moving at www.drumnation.org and (718) 205-3036
NYTWA- NY Taxi Workers Alliance
|
