HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
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Cameron,
I'm forwarding this to some other mailing lists,
and to some Usenet newsgroups.
Rolf M.
Malmö, Sweden
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>From: Cameron McLaughlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 15:21:15 -0500
>Subject: eFreePalestine! FBI torture of Muslims in US
>
>I know this is beyond the scope of this group, but we must spread the
>word about what is happening here in the US to all Muslim people. It has
>gone far beyond detention and harassment.
>
> >A terrifying article from Dawn (www.dawn.com),
> >Pakistan's English-language newspaper, which is in no
> >way considered extreme. This was published June 23rd
> >and passed on to me by my friend Raza, in Pakistan.
> >Note particularly:
> >
> >"Mohammad Rafiq Butt, a Pakistani, was picked up by
> >the FBI after 9/11 and was tortured to death. The INS
> >reluctantly sent his body back to his family in
> >Pakistan who carried out an independent autopsy and
> >discovered that the cause of his death was severe
> >beating and torture." (taken from within the following
> >article).
> >
> >Has anyone read a word about such actions?
> >
> >Lisa,
> >now quoting the article and, through anyone who can
> >pass them on, sending condolences and my personal
> >shame to the victims of this kind of terror.
> >------------------------------------------------
> >
> >FBI and INS into racial profiling of Muslims
> >
> >By Anjum Niaz
> >
> > Caramel coloured clouds that hang atop Brooklyn
> >Prison and Detention Centre lend a sober sight to a
> >treeless, flowerless and a friendless neighbourhood.
> >Dog-dirt strewn across the pavement emits a fowl
> >smell, while the desolate structures all around look
> >like a wild west movie set. An odd immigrant
> >shopkeeper shuffles around, eyes downcast, lost in his
> >weary shack. The silence is eerie. Unbelievable that
> >only 10 subway stops away is lovely Manhattan, and its
> >alluring sights and smells with wealthy Americans out
> >shopping on late Saturday summer morning!
> >
> >As I cross under a Brooklyn bridge, laden with water
> >(a burst sewer?), I see the protesters gathered in
> >front of the Prison, across the road. The poker-faced
> >police is in full force and have cordoned the area. My
> >effort to stray off and get a close shot of the
> >maximum-security federal prison sends a scowling cop
> >scampering after me with a stern warning that such a
> >trespass will not be tolerated.
> >
> >Every Saturday, for the past 21 weeks, protesters have
> >assembled in this very spot to demonstrate against FBI
> >and INS (Immigration Service) detention of over 2,200
> >Arab and Pakistani immigrants since 9/11. "We are
> >experiencing one of the worst periods of xenophobic
> >and racist backlash this country has seen in recent
> >history," Robina Niaz, a Pakistani volunteer tells me.
> >She works with Justice for Detainees Coalition. She
> >adds, "The Arabs and Pakistanis have been under direct
> >attack in the forms of racial violence, racial
> >profiling, mass incarcerations and deportations. None
> >have been charged with crimes connected to the 9/11.
> >We live in fear because these incidents have gone
> >unreported as INS, FBI and NYPD (New York Police) are
> >still continuing to kidnap members of our community."
> >
> >Flashing images of Pakistani men being deported on
> >visa violations come to my mind as Adem Carroll,
> >Relief Coordinator for Islamic Circle of North
> >America, tells me, "We have received reports that some
> >Pakistanis have been deported in their jail clothes,
> >an orange jumpsuit, which may criminalize them in the
> >eyes of the authorities back there."
> >
> >Wait a second. To be dressed in a jailbird orange
> >jumpsuit and arriving on your sacred homeland is the
> >ultimate humility the Americans can heap on
> >Pakistanis! Can one imagine these fallen men to ever
> >lead normal lives again? And yet, not a stir of
> >protest from our Embassy here nor from authorities in
> >Pakistan. Such official indifference is so
> >devastating.
> >
> >About the identity of these unfortunate men, Adem
> >tells me, "For the moment, I will not provide the
> >names we have as I would like to give them time to
> >readjust back in Pakistan. Apart from the humiliation
> >and indignity they have suffered, it's difficult as
> >many have lost their savings with legal fees or to
> >keep families fed during their confinement. Some have
> >Americanized children who may find return to Pakistan
> >a new but confusing experience."
> >
> >Brooklyn has been one of the INS's main targets.
> >Hundreds of Muslims have disappeared in the middle of
> >the night, with most of their loved ones still being
> >kept in the dark about their charges and conditions.
> >"The INS refuses to return our phone calls or answer
> >our letters," says Adem. While his organization has
> >spent $150,000 for legal services, attorneys are
> >reluctant to take up pro bono cases because of the
> >stigma attached.
> >
> >"Mohammad Azmath and Ayyub Ali remain in solitary
> >confinement after nine months in this prison. This
> >does not mean that the charges of terrorism against
> >the two Pakistanis have been substantiated," says Adam
> >who recalls that 35 men were kept in solitary
> >confinement at this facility for many months and were
> >only moved down to general jail population when FBI
> >cleared them.
> >
> >DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving) is also coming to
> >the rescue. Being a community-based social justice
> >organization of working class and poor South Asians
> >immigrants in New York, founded in 1999. Its mission
> >is to organize low-income, South Asians immigrant for
> >racial, economic and social justice on critical local
> >struggles and their global roots.
> >
> >"We make this happen through our campaigns, actions
> >and programmes," says Monami, a Bangladeshi activist,
> >who has worked tirelessly with families of detainees.
> >"Mohammad Rafiq Butt, a Pakistani, was picked up by
> >the FBI after 9/11 and was tortured to death. The INS
> >reluctantly sent his body back to his family in
> >Pakistan who carried out an independent autopsy and
> >discovered that the cause of his death was severe
> >beating and torture. We want INS to provide us with
> >answers to Butt's death," demands Monami at the rally,
> >as a chorus of slogans are raised:
> >
> >Say No to repression and racial profiling!
> >
> >Say No to Cointerlpro (FBI secret police)!
> >
> >Stop the detentions!
> >
> >Stop the deportations!
> >
> >Stop the disappearances!
> >
> >Norman Siegel, former executive director of ACLU
> >(American Civil Liberties Union), warns about the
> >sinister intrusion of FBI agents, who are always
> >present at such gatherings. "I strongly recommend you
> >find out who is who at such a public demonstration,
> >because the FBI does not let us or the public know
> >what they are up to. This is antithetical to an open
> >democratic society like ours," says Norman, who
> >wonders how America could have targeted 150,000
> >Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbour, whose lives
> >were negatively affected, or allowed former FBI
> >director Edgar Hoover's and Senator Joe McCarthy's
> >reign of terror.
> >
> >"We must now wake up and speak up," says Siegel, who
> >has been here on all 21 Saturdays, "we want middle New
> >Yorkers and mainstream America to join in with our
> >protests. Washington will only sit up and change its
> >policies when we form a mass movement, as we did
> >during the civil rights days. We must not be silent
> >and must continue to demand from FBI and INS to give
> >us the names and specific information about the people
> >they are currently holding."
> >
> >FBI director Robert Mueller, along with Attorney
> >General Ashcroft, have taken so much flak for their
> >colossal 9/11 intelligence failure that now they are
> >playing catch up and grabbing any Muslim that crosses
> >their path. The Puerto Rican Jose Padilla, a.k.a
> >Abdullah al Muhajir, is the latest catch, arrested
> >last month for plotting to attack the United States
> >with a so-called radioactive "dirty bomb". Ashcroft
> >victoriously flashed his victim to the world from
> >Moscow, where he had gone for a conference. Reminds
> >one of our overzealous police who, when put on a
> >deadline by higher authorities, nab the wrong man or
> >kill him in 'police encounter'! Mueller and Ashcroft,
> >with all their millions and sophisticated high-tech,
> >are as tawdry as our rundown ramshackle law
> >enforcement authorities!
> >
> >A pretty green-eyed Kashmiri, Zahida Pirhani is scared
> >stiff of Ashcroft's ambition to swell his ranks of
> >Muslim detainees: "My parents left India to escape
> >Hindu persecution. I was born and raised here. My
> >mother reminds me daily: 'Zahida, remember you are a
> >Muslim'. Mother of two, Zahida volunteers for DRUM: "I
> >believe in my freedom. I am an American. Why should I
> >be profiled?"
> >
> >Debbie Almontaser is a hijab-wearing Arab woman who
> >demands: "I should be able to walk alone on these
> >streets in my hijab. But I am afraid. I want security.
> >This is my home. I know of no other home. I want to be
> >okay."
* * *
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