Gov't attacks immigrants, civil liberties
Muslim leader jailed on 'secret evidence'
By Beth Semmer
Chicago
Of all the post-Sept. 11 attacks on civil liberties, the
government's vendetta against Rabih Haddad's Global Relief
Foundation (GRF) may be the broadest and most dangerous.
If U.S. courts allow the Bush administration to use "secret
evidence" to prosecute the GRF--the country's second-largest
Muslim charity--then the door will open to attack community,
religious and political organizations of all descriptions,
based merely on government claims. The basic rights of citizens
and non-citizens to associate and organize will be dramatically
curtailed.
Rabih Haddad's case echoes those of many other immigrants
rounded up after 9/11. Like thousands of others, Haddad has
been illegally imprisoned and held for months without criminal
charges, bail, or any evidence to justify his
incarceration.
Haddad, a Lebanese immigrant and Muslim community leader
from Ann Arbor, Mich., is a co-founder of GRF. The U.S.
government raided the Islamic charity's Chicago headquarters
last December, claiming the group supports "terrorism." GRF's
assets were frozen and Haddad was arrested at his home,
ostensibly for overstaying a tourist visa.
Minor visa violations are the only basis for most of the
racist round-ups.
Press, public banned from hearings
The closer one looks at the government's actions in Rabih
Haddad's case, the more sinister they appear.
Government prosecutors have banned the public, the media and
even Haddad's family from attending his court hearings. This
violation of the right to an open trial prompted editorial
protests from the Washington Post and other newspapers. U.S.
Rep. John Conyers, the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit Metro
News and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed lawsuits
demanding access.
The government also began deportation proceedings against
Haddad's partner, Salma Al-Rashaid, and three of their four
children after she spoke out about his conditions at a rally in
front of Chicago's Metropolitan Correction Center.
According to U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois Patrick
Fitzgerald, Haddad and the GRF aren't even considered the
targets of a criminal investigation. Yet GRF remains shut down
and its assets frozen.
In January, Haddad was moved from a Detroit county jail to
Chicago's Metropolitan Correction Center. He was held in
maximum-security, "super-solitary" conditions, allowed only one
15-minute phone call and four hours of non-contact visits per
month. Thanks to several strong protests in Illinois and
Michigan and Rep. Conyers' intervention, Haddad was released
from solitary. His visiting and phone privileges have
quadrupled.
Andy Thayer of the Chicago Coalition Against War &
Racism and the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network told Workers World:
"The fact remains that Haddad has been legally kidnapped by
Attorney General John Ashcroft and Company for over 100 days.
This kidnapping is not just a Republican Party project. For all
the focus on Ashcroft's bullying of immigrant communities, much
of the legal machinery depriving Haddad and hundreds of others
from the Bill of Rights' protections originated with Bill
Clinton's Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of
1996."
Thayer raised the case of Mazen Al-Najjar, a Palestinian
immigrant who was victimized by the 1996 law. Al-Najjar was
detained in 1997 and incarcerated for three years based on
government claims of "secret evidence" that he had raised funds
for a terrorist organization. In a two-week trial the
government's lead witness, an immigration agent, admitted there
was no evidence against Al-Najjar. He was released in 2000,
only to be detained again in November 2001 based on the same
nonexistent secret evidence. Al Najjar remains in prison
today.
Thayer will speak about Haddad's case at the April 20 March
Against War and Racism in Washington.
Reprinted from the April 25, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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