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CAIR-CA: FOIA Request Filed Over Lodi ‘Harassment'
SACRAMENTO - Prompted by reports from the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Sacramento Valley (CAIR-SV) and the Muslim community, civil rights groups are filing a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) seeking FBI records of the procedures and policies used during the questioning and detention of dozens of Muslims in the Central Valley town of Lodi. Lodi has become the center of a FBI investigation that has led to the arrests of five Muslims, two of whom are U.S. citizens. They were charged with making false statements to federal officials and three others were charged with alleged immigration violations. The FOIA request is being filed by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and the ACLU of Northern California. CAIR-SV officials say they have received numerous reports of intimidating tactics used in the last weeks by some FBI agents. Reports of inappropriate conduct by law enforcement officials include threats of arrest or deportation used to coerce cooperation, unnecessary use of force, denial of medical treatment, and constant FBI surveillance of regular mosque attendees. "Law enforcement authorities have every right to follow up on legitimate leads in a criminal investigation, but to target an entire community and conduct a 'round up the usual suspects' approach will only serve to intimidate those whose cooperation is sought," said CAIR-SV Executive Director Basim Elkaara.
The civil rights groups are seeking expedited processing of the FOIA request because of the widespread media attention on the FBI activities in Lodi and the fact that the records sought relate "to the loss of substantial due process rights." In specific, directly to the possible violations of individuals' rights to have access to attorneys, translators, medical attention and the right to be free from inappropriate government surveillance. Expedited processing means that the FBI would have ten calendar days to respond to the FOIA request. "The climate of fear is alienating the very people whose assistance the government seeks," said Shirin Sinnar, an attorney with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. "In light of reports that people have been denied access to counsel, pressured into interviews despite their requests to contact a lawyer, and otherwise discouraged from exercising their legal rights, we are asking the FBI to clarify its policies." In addition, the civil rights groups are concerned about the FBI surveillance of a Town Hall meeting in Stockton on June 11, 2005.The "Know Your Rights" event was sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We appreciate and respect the need of the FBI to conduct investigations of possible criminal activity; however any investigation needs to be done in a way that respects individual's rights," said Mark Schlosberg, Police Practices Policy Director of the ACLU-NC.
"Heavy handed law enforcement activities that do not respect people's rights engender distrust of the community and are ultimately counterproductive." "We are extremely troubled by reports that Muslims in the Lodi community are being advised by FBI officials that they are not entitled to legal representation and should not seek it," said Marwa Elzankaly, President of the Bay Area Muslim Association of Muslim Lawyers. "We are also troubled that attorneys have been prevented from access to their clients. As a result, BAAML is continuously working to ensure that members of the Muslim community are fully informed of their legal rights and responsibilities and to ensure that they have adequate legal resources available to them." The FOIA request is being sent to the US Attorney for the Eastern District of California, the Sacramento Headquarters of the FBI, other local FBI offices in the central valley, and federal offices in Washington D.C. For a copy of the FOIA request visit http://www.aclunc.org PRESS CONTACTS: Basim Elkarra, CAIR-Sacramento Valley 916-441-6269, Shirin Sinnar, LCCR 415-543-9444 Stella Richardson, ACLU-NC 415-621-2493
http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=36960&theType=NB
"Heavy handed law enforcement activities that do not respect people's rights engender distrust of the community and are ultimately counterproductive." "We are extremely troubled by reports that Muslims in the Lodi community are being advised by FBI officials that they are not entitled to legal representation and should not seek it," said Marwa Elzankaly, President of the Bay Area Muslim Association of Muslim Lawyers. "We are also troubled that attorneys have been prevented from access to their clients. As a result, BAAML is continuously working to ensure that members of the Muslim community are fully informed of their legal rights and responsibilities and to ensure that they have adequate legal resources available to them." The FOIA request is being sent to the US Attorney for the Eastern District of California, the Sacramento Headquarters of the FBI, other local FBI offices in the central valley, and federal offices in Washington D.C. For a copy of the FOIA request visit http://www.aclunc.org PRESS CONTACTS: Basim Elkarra, CAIR-Sacramento Valley 916-441-6269, Shirin Sinnar, LCCR 415-543-9444 Stella Richardson, ACLU-NC 415-621-2493
http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=36960&theType=NB
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The F.B.I. is essentially the U.S. government's Gestapo. Almost every law they enforce is a violation of civil liberties. This is clearly and obviously the case with their anti-'terrorism' laws, which aim to criminalize any kind of support for opponents of the real terrorists who own and run the United Snakes of AmeriKKKa!
Targets of the government, including left activists and Muslims, should not cooperate with the F.B.I. or any other military or police agencies of the U.S. rulers. One tactic that might be good for targetted communities is to set up an alert system whereby supportive people who live nearby could be semi-automatically informed when the F.B.I. or the Migra comes to someone's home or workplace. They could then come and crowd around the agents who are trying to do their dirty work. (I wouldn't want anybody to hurt the agents in such a situation, of course, since the higher-up scum could just use their dead or injured underlings as an excuse for further attacks.)
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