Immigrant Rights News: Almost Half of Americans Favor Restrictions on U.S. Muslims' Rights December 21, 2004 National Immigrant Solidarity Network No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: _http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org_ (http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/) In a clear sign of impacts of the institutional racism against People of Color and Muslims in the country, a recent survey shows that nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim-Americans, according to a nationwide poll. everyday, immigrants are risking their life cross the border because of more militant US-Mexico Border. Lee Siu Hin National Immigrant Solidarity Network ====================================================== 1) Almost Half of Americans Favor Restrictions on Muslims' Rights The Associated Press 12/17/04 (AP) -- - Nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim-Americans, according to a nationwide poll. The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslimsâ civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious. 'Disturbing news' Researchers also found that respondents who paid more attention to television news were more likely to fear terrorist attacks and support limiting the rights of Muslim-Americans. âItâs sad news. Itâs disturbing news. But itâs not unpredictable,â said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society. âThe nation is at war, even if itâs not a traditional war. We just have to remain vigilant and continue to interface.â The survey found 44 percent favored at least some restrictions on the civil liberties of Muslim Americans. Forty-eight percent said liberties should not be restricted in any way. The survey showed that 27 percent of respondents supported requiring all Muslim-Americans to register where they lived with the federal government. Twenty-two percent favored racial profiling to identify potential terrorist threats. And 29 percent thought undercover agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations to keep tabs on their activities and fund-raising. Cornell student researchers questioned 715 people in the nationwide telephone poll conducted this fall. The margin of error was 3.6 percentage points. 37 percent believe terrorist attack likely James Shanahan, an associate professor of communications who helped organize the survey, said the results indicate âthe need for continued dialogue about issues of civil libertiesâ in a time of war. While researchers said they were not surprised by the overall level of support for curtailing civil liberties, they were startled by the correlation with religion and exposure to television news. âWe need to explore why these two very important channels of discourse may nurture fear rather than understanding,â Shanahan said. According to the survey, 37 percent believe a terrorist attack in the United States is still likely within the next 12 months. In a similar poll conducted by Cornell in November 2002, that number stood at 90 percent. ===================================================== 2) Review: Guantanamo Detainee Wrongly Held By JOHN J. LUMPKIN .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - A military review has determined a second prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is classified wrongly as an enemy combatant and will be released to his home country soon, the Navy's top civilian said Monday. Pentagon officials also said they were looking into newly public allegations that interrogators at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo questioned detainees under the guise of being FBI agents. The American Civil Liberties Union obtained and released e-mails that showed FBI officials disapproved of the practice and suggested the military interrogators were trying to take advantage of the rapport the FBI had established with some detainees. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said such a technique was not on a list of interrogation methods approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. It was difficult to determine from the e-mails, however, whether it ``was permissible or not.'' Defense officials said it is permissible to impersonate a foreign national during interrogations. The military operation at Guantanamo Bay has come under increased scrutiny as former prisoners have alleged they were tortured. The Pentagon maintains it runs a humane operation there, and says all allegations of abuse are investigated. Asked about Guantanamo at his news conference Monday, President Bush said, ``You've got to understand the dilemma we're in. These are people that got scooped up off a battlefield attempting to kill U.S. troops. And I want to make sure, before they're released, that they don't come back to kill again.'' Of the roughly 200 that have been released at least a dozen have returned to the battlefield, Navy Secretary Gordon England said. The newest prisoner to face release would be the second to be freed under a military process instituted to help satisfy the Supreme Court's ruling during the summer that prisoners at Guantanamo could challenge their detentions through the U.S. court system. To bolster its case for each of the prisoners against any such challenge, the Pentagon set up tribunals to review circumstances of each man's capture and other factors to determine whether they are properly held. England refused to provide the name or nationality of the prisoner to be released, and the circumstances of his capture were not immediately available. The State Department has been notified of the decision and will arrange to return him home. For 228 other prisoners at Guantanamo, a panel of three military officials determined they were properly held. In the tribunals, formally called Combatant Status Review Tribunals, a three-person panel studies a prisoner's case and forwards its findings to the officer who convened the tribunals for a final ruling. More than 300 additional cases are still being reviewed. The ACLU's latest releases about the prisoners' treatment were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and primarily constitute e-mails between FBI officials whose names were removed by the government before they were released. In several, the writers describe and criticize various interrogation techniques they say they witnessed at Guantanamo. While military interrogators are performing much of the questioning at Guantanamo, the FBI and CIA also have operations there. In one e-mail, dated from last July, the writer describes seeing a ``detainee sitting on the floor of the interview room with an Israeli flag draped around him, loud music being played and a strobe light flashing.'' Another Guantanamo prisoner has, in a court petition, described detainees wrapped in Israeli flags, among other allegations. At the time, a Guantanamo Bay spokesman denied his statements. In another message, dated from August, the writer reports more than once witnessing prisoners chained to the floor in a fetal position, with no food or water. They had often soiled themselves. On one occasion, the temperature in a room was lowered so much the barefooted detainee shivered. In another, the room was so hot the detainee had pulled out some of his hair before passing out. Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, say the latest release of FBI documents continue to show the U.S. government was ``torturing individuals in some instances'' and demonstrates a major rift between FBI agents and the military over proper interrogation techniques. ``There was real concern within our law enforcement community about whether we are torturing individuals,'' Romero said. One FBI e-mail dated May 22, 2004, suggested President Bush personally signed off on various harsher interrogation techniques in an executive order. However, ``What the FBI agent wrote in the e-mail is wrong. There is no executive order on interrogation techniques,'' White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Monday. ``Interrogation methods for military detainees are decisions made by the Department of Defense.'' The FBI would not comment on the release of documents. Also Monday, a federal judge in New York said he planned to deny a request from the government to delay a review of whether certain CIA internal files related to Iraq should be made public. The comments from Judge Alvin Hellerstein was a victory for the ACLU and other groups seeking information about the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo and Iraq. Associated Press writer Curt Anderson contributed to this report. 12/20/04 23:05 EST ===================================================== 3) Jurors Complete Day in Smuggling Trial By JUAN A. LOZANO .c The Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) - Jurors completed a full day of deliberations Monday without reaching a verdict in the first trial connected to the nation's deadliest human smuggling attempt. Victor Jesus Rodriguez and Fredy Giovanni Garcia-Tobar are accused of taking part in a smuggling ring that prosecutors say packed more than 70 illegal immigrants into a hot, airless tractor-trailer and tried to take them from South Texas to Houston in May 2003. The trailer was abandoned at a truck stop near Victoria, about 100 miles southwest of Houston. Seventeen immigrants were found dead inside the trailer. Two died later. Jurors were to resume deliberating Tuesday. Rodriguez and Garcia-Tobar each face 58 counts of harboring and transporting illegal immigrants. If convicted, they could get up to life in prison. Defense attorneys say their clients either were not directly responsible for putting the immigrants in the trailer or were accused by unreliable witnesses. Jurors asked Monday to review several trial exhibits and also asked U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore for a definition of the word ``harboring.'' Since prosecutors and defense attorneys couldn't agree on a definition, Gilmore told jurors in a note to ``use your common sense to arrive at a definition.'' The alleged driver of the tractor-trailer, Tyrone Williams, could face the death penalty if convicted; his trial was set to begin Jan. 5. Last week, a federal judge dismissed charges against a co-defendant, a woman from Mexico accused of profiting from a restaurant that authorities said was a sham business intended to feed people crossing the border. Gilmore said prosecutors failed to prove their case against the woman, Claudia Carrizales de Villa, 36. 12/20/04 19:41 EST ===================================================== National Immigrant Solidarity Network No Immigrant Bashing! 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