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  johnpi 9:37 pm on February 20, 2010 | 3 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: anti-Muslim fearmongering (41), civil liberties (37), civil rights, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, ex-extremists (4), ex-islamists (3), ex-Muslim (2), moderate Muslims (12), Obama and Muslims (2), Rashad Hussain (2), Sami Al-Arian (2)

  Long Wars Journal publishes a very personal defense of Rashad Hussain, Obama’s newly-announced envoy to the OIC, written by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross.

  Before I address the various controversies that have surrounded Rashad, I’d like to make clear that I have known him for a considerable length of time, since 1998. Those familiar with my own biography will realize that I was a practicing Muslim back then. So I have known him as a co-religionist; and know him now as someone who worships a different God than I do, but whose religious practice I respect.
  ….

  I think the dozen years in which I have known Rashad and had the opportunity to assess his beliefs and character provide important context for this defense. Many of the attacks on him are the proverbial view from 50,000 feet: and it is sometimes easy to misunderstand what you see from that distance.

  I’m surprised to see this coming from Gartenstein-Ross, who (according to his Wikipedia bio) has worked for Smearcaster Steven Emerson (also one of the media persecutors of Sami al-Arian) and who wrote a book, “My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir” that the Wiki bio says has been called the American version of Ed Hussain’s “The Islamist.” Here’s the first sentence:

  Before I was an FBI informant, an apostate, and a blasphemer, I was a devout believer in radical Islam who worked for a Saudi-funded charity that sent money to al-Qaeda.

  Here, he offers an insight into Rashad’s remarks about al-Arian:

  Rashad’s concerns about the al-Arian prosecution, and other prosecutions that he discussed in that context, stemmed not from an Islamist ideology but rather from a civil-libertarian ideology. It is clear from his 2004 speech that Rashad is a Kerry-supporting Democrat rather than a bin Laden-supporting jihadist.

   

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  johnpi 10:42 am on February 11, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: anwar al-awlaki (24), citizenship (11), civil liberties (37), civil rights, muslim american extremism (25), Terrorism (399), terrorist label (2), terrorists (14), US government (7), US military (60)

  Pentagon quietly explores de-citizenship of US citizen terrorists.

  At the highest levels of the US military, a quiet discussion is going on about putting in place a legal framework that would permit the US government to strip American citizenship from terrorists.

  The case of Las Cruces, New Mexico born al Qaeda commander Anwar al-Aulaqi, who has been a key organizer and recruiter for the terrorist organization in Yemen is the primary driver of this exploration of possibly modifying US law to allow “de-citizening.”

  As the Washington Post’s Dana Priest recently revealed, al-Alaqi was added recently to a short list of other Americans for whom there are kill orders in place.

  A senior Member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has told me that to his knowledge, there has been no serious discussion in the Committee of stripping US citizenship from terrorists, but a senior Pentagon official has confirmed that some in the military are exploring the upsides and downsides of such a more routenized mechanism for stripping citizenship.

   
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  johnpi 8:38 am on February 11, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, flying while learning Arabic, flying while muslim (24)

  Student detained for toting Arabic flash cards sues police.

  “As someone who travels by plane, I want TSA agents to do their job to keep flights safe,” Nick George says. “But I don’t understand how locking me up and harassing me just because I was carrying the flashcards made anybody safer. No one should be treated like a criminal for simply learning one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world.”

  Here’s Nick George, who was asked about OBL and if he was a communist, in a video talking about what happened to him.

   
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  johnpi 10:32 am on January 3, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, flying while muslim (24), IRA (3), no fly list (3), profiling (10), racial profiling (19), religious profiling (13), Terrorism (399), Tunku Varadarajan

  ‘My daughter’s on the no-fly list’ writes Chris Kelly. She’s 12 years old.

  So I should hate the No Fly List. Besides the personal inconvenience, it runs counter to a solid third of the Bill of Rights. But I’m conflicted. Because I have a pretty good idea why my daughter’s on the list. It’s because she has the same name as this guy:

  

  In 1993 this IRA thug walked into a fish shop in Belfast with a bomb that went off prematurely (of course) injuring 57 people, including a 79-year-old woman and two two-year-old boys. It also killed ten people, including a thirteen-year-old girl named Leanne Baird, and her little sister, Michelle, seven. Just like Jesus would have wanted.

  But I have some disappointing news for Mike Gallagher [radio host who recently said all people with the following names should get profiled]: The killer’s name isn’t Abdul or Ahmed or Mohammed. It’s Sean Kelly.

  Which is why America has to wake up, get serious about terrorism, and racially profile all Irish Catholics. Because you never know where they’ll strike next with their religion of hate. Wait, that can’t be right.

  Kelly also coins a new term: “Varadarajan Stoicism” – as in Tunku Varadarajan, who recently attempted to popularize the phrase “going Muslim.”

   
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  johnpi 7:28 am on December 31, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: American settlers (2), civil rights, Fanatical Defenders Of The Only Democracy In The Middle (15), Israel (351), Jewish settlers (5), settler extremists (6), settler fanatics (6), settler theft of palestinian land (7), settlers (8)

  Rosa Parks was the first Israeli settler…

  Once upon a time there was a black woman; her name was Rosa Parks. There were racially discriminating laws in the United States, but she continued to sit on the bus even when she was told to vacate her seat for a white person. She was arrested, which set off a process whose end saw the abolishment of racial segregation on American buses. How is it possible that one little black woman, a dressmaker by profession, could change history simply because she remained sitting?

  Her protest was stronger than any demonstration, op-ed piece or Knesset vote. She opted for the natural choice; that is why she was triumphant.

  Rosa’s choice, the ‘natural choice’ – Ethnic cleansing, apartheid and building more houses in the West Bank and Gaza for the kids. Shame-tastic.

  Richard has more…

   
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  johnpi 10:59 pm on December 29, 2009 | 6 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Abdulmutallab (19), Anthony Glees (2), civil rights, media (407), UK (121), UK media

  I would appreciate some of our UK readers and contributors stepping up to help us sort bulls*** from substance in what’s being spit out in the UK press right now.

  For example, is The Times considered mainstream media? Left-wing, right-wing? Reliably objective or not? How should I know. I’m in America.

  But anyway, here’s a little something from the Times today about Abdulmutallab’s participation in organizing a ‘War on Terror’ week protest:

  His role in organising War on Terror Week is the first indication that during his years in London he was heavily involved in radical political activity. Experts believe that this would have put him at risk of being groomed by al-Qaeda recruiters who routinely prey on such radical religious and political gatherings. “Before someone goes off for explosives training they have to be converted to the cause of al-Qaeda,” said Professor Anthony Glees, of the University of Buckingham.

  “I think that happened in London in the case of Abdulmutallab, as has happened to many others. He is one of a considerable number of people who have turned to al-Qaeda after being recruited in the UK. This recruitment often goes on where political events take place. Those who speak at such events are not terrorists, but they are being irresponsible if they do not realise that what they say could contribute to the radicalisation of people who could then be recruited into terror.”

  Anthony Glees, you may recall, was the guy who advocated for internment camps in the UK ‘to be on the table as an option’ for dealing with the ‘Muslim problem.’

  Is the fact that a degenerate like Glees is being quoted in the Times ‘normal’ for that paper, or is this an alarming sign that thinkers from way out in the right-wing universe are being ‘mainstreamed’?

   
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  johnpi 8:28 am on December 22, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, FBI (46), Luqman Ameen Abdullah (29), police (27), police brutality (9), police confrontation (2)

  Refusal to release imam’s autopsy raises suspicions.

  The Wayne County medical examiner’s refusal to release its autopsy report on Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah is fueling concerns in the Muslim community about a possible cover-up of facts surrounding his death, a community leader said Monday.
  ….

  The county Medical Examiner’s Office denied a Nov. 2 request The Detroit News filed for Abdullah’s medical examiner report, saying it was not complete.

  Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan, said the county office has not responded to a request from his organization requesting a copy of the report once it is completed. The office also quoted exorbitant fees for copies of autopsy photos, he said.

  Dennis Niemiec, a spokesman for the county, confirmed Monday that the report is completed but is being withheld at the request of Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad, who does not want the report released until his department completes its investigation. The county will seek more information from Haddad about how the release of the report would hamper his investigation, Niemiec said.

  They can stall, but eventually that autopsy report will be released to the public. There is too much attention and pressure about this case for them not to…

   
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  johnpi 12:02 am on December 21, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, deportation (5), ice (2), immigrant persecution (12), immigrants (16), US immigration (11)

  Things you think you’d never hear in America: ‘We can make him disappear.’

  “If you don’t have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he’s illegal, we can make him disappear.” Those chilling words were spoken by James Pendergraph, then executive director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of State and Local Coordination, at a conference of police and sheriffs in August 2008.

  Also present was Amnesty International’s Sarnata Reynolds, who wrote about the incident in the 2009 report “Jailed Without Justice” and said in an interview, “It was almost surreal being there, particularly being someone from an organization that has worked on disappearances for decades in other countries. I couldn’t believe he would say it so boldly, as though it weren’t anything wrong.”

  Pendergraph knew that ICE could disappear people, because he knew that in addition to the publicly listed field offices and detention sites, ICE is also confining people in 186 unlisted and unmarked subfield offices, many in suburban office parks or commercial spaces revealing no information about their ICE tenants — nary a sign, a marked car or even a US flag.

  This is related to the previous post:

  In 2006 ICE punished several Iraqi hunger strikers in Virginia–they were protesting being unlawfully held for more than six months after agreeing to deportation–by shuffling them between a variety of different facilities, ensuring that they would not encounter lawyers or be found by loved ones.

   
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  johnpi 11:40 pm on December 20, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, deportation (5), discrimination (27), discrimination against Muslims (14), immigrant persecution (12), immigration (51), Muslim persecution (19), persecution (17), profiling (10), racial profiling (19), religious discrimination (14), religious persecution (19), religious profiling (13), US immigration (11), US Persecution of Muslims (2)

  A US appeals court has ruled that Muslims and Arab non-citizens have no right “to be free of selective enforcement of the immigration laws based on national origin, race, or religion….”

  The plaintiffs initiated the lawsuit in 2002 on behalf of Arab and Muslim aliens who were held on immigration violations following the Sept. 11 terror attacks and subjected to abuse, mistreatment and lengthy detentions.

  The abuse included beatings, strip searches and sleep deprivation. The allegations have been substantiated by two reports by the Office of the Inspector General.

  Five of the men settled with the government in November. A sixth plaintiff withdrew his claims several years ago.

  Rachel Meeropol of the Center for Constitutional Rights served as lead counsel for the plaintiffs. She called Friday’s ruling a “mixed bag.”

  “By dismissing [the equal protection] claim, the circuit has endorsed using religion and ethnicity as a proxy for suspicion of terrorist activity. That’s the part of the decision we’re disappointed in,” Meeropol said.

  Case ruling here.

  (via)

   
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  johnpi 12:25 am on December 19, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, freedom of religion (61), hate crimes (23), media (407), public inquiry (4), public opinion (5), public relations (4), sikhs (3)

  The Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group for Sikhs in the US, is publicizing an attack in West Texas on a Sikh student who was delivering pizzas.

  The local police department failed to designate the attack as a hate crime, failed to take the attack seriously by designating it a misdemeanor assault, and so far have failed even to file the misdemeanor charge against the attackers.

  Here’s a description of the attack. Note that it appears from the language that the attackers had mistaken him for a Muslim. See if you think this sounds like a misdemeanor:

  He brought pizzas into a home on a delivery and four men took the pizza. Without paying, they began eating, while at the same time hurling racial epithets at the Sikh man and threatening him.

  “I’m going to **** you up in Iraq, I’m going to **** you up in Afghanistan, I’m going to **** you up over here.”

  The men then grabbed the Sikh student and threw him into a swimming pool. The four attackers surrounded the pool, kicking him in the head and body. Every time he tried to escape, they would stomp or hit at him. For 20 minutes, he swam for his life trying to escape. He eventually seized an opportunity to flee and barely made it to his car with two men in pursuit.

  I found this story over at The American Muslim, but it’s also been published in newspapers in India, Pakistan and New Zealand, so it certainly is getting widespread attention.

  I have several criticisms of the Sikh Coalition’s advocacy. Nowhere in the press release do they name the town where this happened, or what specific police department failed to do its job. Consequently, the effect of this advocacy is greatly diminished as the opportunity to hold the town and police department up for public opprobrium and shame (powerful behavior changers) has mostly been lost.

  In the press release it says, “Due to the sensitive nature of the case we have been asked not to release personal information at this time.” Why? If this has been reported to the police it is a public matter, likely published in the town paper’s police log.

   
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  johnpi 8:16 pm on December 3, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil rights, Extremism (166), extremists (14), hate speech (6), human rights (381), NGOs (4)

  Egyptian human rights groups disagree over ‘Islamic hate channels.’

  Egyptian human rights activists submitted a report to the Egyptian government this week demanding it ban aggressive religious Islamic channels from broadcasting.

  The activists, who include lawyer and human-rights activist Nagib Gabriel, described these channels as extremist and said they were disseminating “subversive ideas that call for discrimination against women and Copts and lean towards radical behavior that is far from the spirit of Islam,” according to a report in the Kuwaiti Al-Jarida.
  ….

  Human rights activists are not all in agreement over how to deal with these stations.

  “The stations are very problematic,” Ahmad Samih, director of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies told The Media Line. “It’s not an easy decision for a human-rights activist fighting for freedom of speech to ask them to take it off air, but I think they need to be punished and they need to understand what responsibilities they have.”

  Bahey Eddin Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies told The Media Line that “with all due respect to the good intentions of those NGOs, I’m afraid this will indirectly help the government limit the freedom of satellite channels in Egypt and other parts of the region.”

   
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  johnpi 7:20 pm on November 6, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: anti-muslim (15), anti-Muslim fearmongering (41), anti-Muslim propaganda (27), anti-Muslim speech (17), civil liberties (37), civil rights, collective guilt, collective punishment (4), islamophobia (227), right-wing (96), right-wing media (12), right-wing morons (71)

  Media Matters has put together a concentrated mass of garbage in the form of a roundup article of right-wing media efforts to demonize Muslims over the last 24 hours.

  It appears that ‘political correctness’, ie, the effort on the part of well-intentioned Americans to be fair and just and not ascribe collective guilt, is as much a target as Muslims.

   
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  johnpi 5:39 am on October 27, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil rights, Kindhearts (2), Ohio (3), US government (7)

  Judge: KindHearts’ rights were violated, can’t be termed a terror group.

  A local Muslim charity [Toledo, Ohio], whose constitutional rights were found to have been violated when the U.S. government froze its financial assets in 2006, cannot be labeled as a terrorist organization pending the outcome of the civil case, a federal judge in Toledo ruled Monday.

  Judge James Carr released an order late Monday temporarily prohibiting the government from labeling KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development Inc., as a “specially designated global terrorist.”

  The 13-page order states the government is prohibited from designating the organization pending the judge’s “determination of what remedy shall issue because of the constitutional and statutory violations” already found.

   
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  johnpi 11:07 pm on October 25, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, Dallas (4), texas (12)

  Dallas police admit writing dozens of tickets to drivers over the last three years for not being able to speak English.

  Pending cases will be dismissed, and those who paid the $204 fine for the charge, which does not exist in the city, will be reimbursed, Kunkle said.

   
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  johnpi 7:49 am on October 25, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Boyd (7), civil liberties (37), civil rights, North Carolina (6), patriot act (2), profiling (10), racial profiling (19), religious profiling (13)

  Law enforcement officials hold “town hall” style meeting for North Carolina Muslim community where Daniel Patrick Boyd and seven others were indicted on terrorism charges.

  The event brought together federal, state and local law enforcement agents, as well as lawyers and public officials, in an exercise aimed at restoring trust between the two communities.

  More than 100 Muslims from across the Triangle attended the gathering, sponsored by the Muslim American Society. Among them were the wife, daughter and son of Daniel Boyd, who was indicted July 27 on federal charges that he and seven others conspired to commit terrorist acts. Boyd is in a Virginia prison awaiting trial.
  ….

  Nawar Shora, a Washington, D.C., lawyer with the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, said Muslims should volunteer to sit on community boards and task forces to ensure that their concerns are addressed.

  “We need to take charge of our own destiny,” said Shora. “We need to learn from Jews and African-Americans. We are not the first community to be pigeonholed and labeled.”

   
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  johnpi 7:27 pm on October 20, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, fear (5), flying while muslim (24), paranoia (4)

  Imams settle lawsuit over removal from 2006 flight.

  Six Muslim clerics who were taken off a US Airways flight in 2006 after fellow passengers reported what they considered suspicious behaviour have claimed victory in their discrimination lawsuit.

  The terms of the settlement were not released, and there was no apology/admission of wrongdoing.

  Marwan Sadeddin, of Phoenix, Arizona, said the settlement does not include an apology but he considers it an acknowledgment that a mistake was made.

   
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  johnpi 6:24 am on October 19, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, New York City (7), profiling (10), racial profiling (19), religious profiling (13)

  Another story about the protest last week in New York City against racial and religious profiling of Muslim-majority immigrant communities.

  I previously linked to a New York Daily News story about the protest, but the reporter here talked to different people and perhaps more people, so I’m linking it too.

  Naiz Khan, the Flushing man who was initially detained and released by the FBI several weeks ago in connection with the current terror investigation, also spoke up, though he declined to discuss the specifics of his own case.

  Khan said several rows were empty at his mosque because Muslims are afraid to come out to worship.

  “My life has so been affected by this,” he said, noting he is currently looking for work. “The people who hired me before, if they heard about me, they will not hire me again.”

  Imam Ayub Abdul Baki of the Tahuid Center for Islamic Development in Jamaica, emphasized that the Muslim community opposes terrorism.

  “We stand against all forms of terrorism,” he said, but warned against racial profiling. “These people should not be continually victimized.”

   
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  johnpi 6:51 pm on October 6, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, protest movements (9), protests (25)

  We’re all Neda now…

  A social worker from New York City was arrested last week while in Pittsburgh to participate in the G-20 protests, then subjected to an FBI raid this week at his home – all for using Twitter. Elliot Madison faces charges of hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime. He was posting to a Twitter feed (or tweeting, as it is called) publicly available information about police activities around the G-20 protests, including information about where police had been ordered to disperse protesters.

  While alerting people to public information may not seem to be an arrestable offense, be forewarned: Many people have been arrested for the same “crime” – in Iran, that is.

  Last June 20, as Iranians protested against the conduct and results of their national election, President Barack Obama said in a statement, “The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.”

  Madison quipped, ““I’m expecting the State Department will come out and support us also.”

   
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  johnpi 5:33 am on October 1, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: CAIR (44), civil rights, human rights (381), informant entrapment (11), informants (19)

  CAIR has asked attorney general Eric Holder to review FBI investigation guidelines for possibly violating Muslim’s civil rights, especially in regards to the use of informants in mosques.

  The group’s national legal counsel said, “The Obama administration should review these guidelines and bring them into conformity with the Constitution and with the cherished American values of religious freedom and respect for civil liberties.”

  Other civil liberties organizations have expressed concerns about the FBI’s vague rules for initiating an initial investigation that does not require “any particular factual predication” and the possible use of race and ethnicity as factors when opening an investigation, al-Khalili said.

   
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  abunoor 5:25 pm on September 30, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, FBI (46), Muslim Advocates (5)

  Muslim Advocates sent out today the following:

  Muslim Lawyers Issue Urgent Community Advisory
  **PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR MOSQUES, FAMILY AND FRIENDS**

  American Muslims are committed to preserving the safety and security of our country and support the full and fair investigation and prosecution of those who would seek to bring us harm. However, Muslim Advocates, the National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML) and local Muslim bar associations across the country strongly urge individuals not to speak with law enforcement officials without the presence or advice of an attorney. Despite the characterization that contact with law enforcement is voluntary and discretionary, information provided — or omitted — during any such interview can become the basis for further investigation or prosecution and have immigration implications.

  We highly recommend that attorneys and community leaders share a short, 15-min. “know your rights” video, produced by lawyers with Muslim Advocates, with their mosques, family and friends. The video provides crucial information about how to handle contact from law enforcement officials. The video is available in five languages – Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, Somali and English. Click here to view the video online.

  Key tips to keep in mind:
  There is no legal obligation to speak to law enforcement officials. You are only required to provide identification to law enforcement officials if asked and immigrants are required to carry proof of immigration status at all times. Declining to speak cannot be presumed as guilt.

  Any statements made during an interview can be used against you at a later time. Lying to a federal officer, even by omission, is a crime.

  If approached by the FBI or law enforcement, ask for their business cards and say that your lawyer will contact them.
  For more information, or for assistance locating an attorney in your area, please visit http://www.muslimadvocates.org or contact Nura Maznavi. (nura@muslimadvocates.org) 415-692-1484.

   
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  johnpi 7:44 pm on September 25, 2009 | 5 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: America (36), civil rights, Terrorism (399)

  US Muslim and Arab groups urge vigilance following latest New York terror case.

  (Press release)
  Following the announcement of a federal indictment yesterday against a Colorado man on one charge of conspiring to detonate bombs in the U.S., a coalition of Muslim and Arab American groups are urging greater vigilance and partnership among community members.

  In their joint statement, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), the Freedom and Justice Foundation (F&J), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and Imam Mohamed Magid, Director of the ADAMS Center in Virginia, stated:

  The defendants in this case will be judged in the court of law, and should be afforded their due process and the presumption of innocence. While we are always vigilant in defending civil rights and preventing stigmatization of any group or religion, we also view the safety of our country as a top priority. We have an overarching duty to work together and with law enforcement to protect the country and to offer any information that can pre-empt another terrorist attack.

  “We urge our constituents to extend full cooperation to protect the innocent, to support the rule of law, and to keep the name of Islam clean and clear from any criminal behavior,” said MPAC Senior Advisor Dr. Maher Hathout.

   
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  abunoor 10:41 am on September 22, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil liberties (37), civil rights, Entrapment, FBI (46), law enforcement (6)

  Relevant to a topic that John has posted about and we have discussed previously here on TalkIslam,
  Muslim Matters posts a series of videos under the title “Why You Should Never Talk to Law Enforcement Without an Attorney”

   
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  johnpi 8:38 am on September 11, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: CAIR (44), civil rights, Muslim Advocates (5)

  Civil rights officials examine attack on Michigan Muslim girl.

  The Michigan Department of Civil Rights said today it is looking into the attack on a 16-year-old Muslim girl of Iraqi descent by five African-American students in Ann Arbor.

  The assailants said “(expletive) Arabs, they are dirty,” pulled the girl’s Islamic headscarf off, and dragged her to a nearby home where she suffered injuries from an assault that required six stitches, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Wednesday. The incident started on a school bus, the group said.

  Ann Arbor police are investigating. The local CAIR office is pushing police to investigate the attack as a hate crime, and has contacted the head of the Detroit FBI office about the incident.

  CAIR is doing exactly what is needed – and no other Muslim advocacy group has stepped up to do – push to make a big deal out of this. It’s also giving assistance on further actions that the traumatized family may not have been able to initiate on its own.

  Muslim Advocates, OTOH, a civil rights organization founded by Muslim lawyers, just offers a database of lawyers one can hire in such situations (if you have the money). It also gives you an option to “Share your story” (where you are required to give the name and contact information of your lawyer, which is a cheap push poll tactic to prompt respondents to get a lawyer if they don’t currently have one). I have to doubt the commitment of a group whose individual members have a financial interest in preventing civil rights advocacy organizations from competing with its members to provide legal services to afflicted Muslims.

  At bottom, Muslim Advocates sells lawyers first and serves the civil rights needs of the community second. I much prefer the free services provided by CAIR that ensure rich and poor Muslims alike get equal advocacy and assistance.

   
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  johnpi 5:38 am on September 6, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil rights, Hegemony of human rights discourse (32), Hegemony of human rights discourse watch (29), human rights (381), iran (364), Iranian elections (90)

  Iran’s universities punish students who disputed vote.

  More anti-hegemons:

  The new disciplinary actions came as officials reported that a presidential panel has begun an investigation of the humanities curriculums at universities, the semiofficial Mehr news agency reported. Although the panel was formed a year ago, it did not start work until after recent calls to purge universities of professors and curriculums deemed “un-Islamic,” based on the fear that the teaching of secular concepts helped fuel the political unrest following the June 12 election.

   
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  johnpi 3:53 pm on September 2, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil rights, search (2), traveling Muslims (9)

  Homeland Security formalizes laptop seizure rules – sort of.

  For months it’s been the policy (written or unwritten, no one is sure), that the Department of Homeland Security can do pretty much whatever it wants with your laptop, cell phone, or other electronic gadgets when you, a U.S. citizen, return to the country from overseas.
  ….

  Consumer rights groups haven’t exactly been thrilled with all the arbitrary searches and seizures, and for months they’ve been pressing for DHS to formalize and clarify the rules on what it can do. At last, the department has.

  Sort of.

  There’s some good news in the new rules: Customs finally recognizes that holding on to a laptop for a couple of years can greatly inconvenience the life of anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves under suspicion, and is relaxing — a little — the rules about what it will do during a laptop seizure.

  The big change is that it states owners should normally be present during any laptop search and that equipment should be returned quickly. But, as Ars Technica notes, there are numerous and vague exceptions to all of this, with exemptions granted for national security issues (why else would they search the laptop in the first place?) and for whatever “circumstances of the matter” the agency feels appropriate.

  There are some basic rules for how long they can keep your laptop now, too, with Customs having up to 30 days to hold on to it, depending on which agency actually takes it. And as Ars also notes, “the standards for seizure remain very low.”

   
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  johnpi 12:35 pm on August 28, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil rights, surveillance state (3)

  Will biometric passports lead to a state of constant surveillance?

  Under legislation introduced after the September 11th attacks, the United States has tightened security measures for foreign tourists entering its country. The latest measure requires that by 2012, every traveler entering the United States who is part of the visa-waiver program must have a biometric passport or be forced to apply for a visa.

  The biometric passport – which contains an embedded chip with personal data, facial images and fingerprints – is on its way to becoming a global travel prerequisite. Current passports will remain valid for travel to most countries until then. Germany, France and the Netherlands have already started issuing the new documents. EU parliamentarians approved the US’ demand and passed a ruling at the end of 2005 saying that its goal is to combat illegal immigration, terrorism and organized crime. But the excuse that the new passports will help prevent international terrorism is questionable since security agents will need to know whose face or fingerprints they are looking for in the first place.
  ….

  Data watchdogs and human rights activists argue that this regulation treats everyone as a potential criminal, thus violating the protection of citizens’ personal data and imposing a state of constant surveillance.

   
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  johnpi 7:56 pm on August 16, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: ACLU (6), afghanistan (396), bagram (7), bagram prison (3), civil rights, Hegemony of human rights discourse (32), Hegemony of human rights discourse watch (29)

  ACLU sends defense department letter requesting information about Bagram detainees.

  Yesterday the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sent a letter to the Department of Defense asking them to reconsider releasing information — such as “a list of names, citizenship, length of detention, [and] capture location” — about detainees held at the detention facility at Bagram air base in Afghanistan.

   
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  johnpi 4:43 am on July 22, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil rights, guantanamo (73), guantanamo bay (33), persecution (17), Terrorism (399)

  Refuting the argument that the US must imprison people who are ‘terrorists’ but cannot be charged with a crime:

  Glenn Greenwald:

  …as a result of breathtakingly broad criminal laws in the U.S. defining “material support for terrorism,” there are few things easier than obtaining a criminal conviction in federal court against people accused of being Terrorists. Even if the only thing someone has done is joined a group decreed to be a Terrorist organization, without even engaging in (or even planning) any violent acts, federal prosecutors are well-armed to convict them. In May, the DOJ obtained a conviction in a federal court of a Somalian-Canadian on “material support” charges for doing little more than expressing loyalty to Al Qaeda. Two other Americans of Somalian descent were just indicted on the same charge as a result of their alleged membership in a “militant Islamic group,” Shabaab. The FBI website even boasts:

  Since the 1990s, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has investigated and successfully prosecuted a wide range of international and domestic terrorism cases—including the bombings of the World Trade Center and U.S. Embassies in East Africa in the 1990s. More recent cases include those against individuals who provided material support to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, as well as against international arms trafficker Monzer al Kassar and the Somalian pirate charged in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama.

  To convict accused Terrorists in court, they need not engage in any violent acts; any involvement with Al Qaeda or other Terrorist groups will suffice.

   
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  johnpi 12:19 pm on May 1, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil rights, gay rights (6), gays (15), Obama (249)

  White House list of civil rights promises to gays suddenly gets shorter.

  (More …)

   
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  thabet 5:54 am on April 23, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: civil rights, discrimination (27), ethnicity (30), eu (27), europe (82), racism (201), Statistics (35), xenophobia (7)

  The European Union Fundamental Rights Agency has completed its first ever EU-wide survey of immigrant and ethnic minority groups’ experiences of discrimination and victimisation in everyday life.

  Based on a quick skim read of their survey methodology (pdf), only groups considered most at risk of discrimination were surveyed (see pages 11 and 12).

  The results will be published in detail throughout 2009, culminating in the Fundamental Rights Conference in December, although a summary of sorts has been made available (pdf). (The first of the detailed reports is about the Roma, who reported he highest levels of discrimination.)

  The results indicate that most people who had suffered some kind of discrimination did not report their experience because they did not believe anything would happen.

  Islam in Europe has compiled some of the results from Muslim-majority ethnic groups considered by the survey (North Africans, Somalis and Turks, plus Iraqis in Sweden and Albanians in Italy).