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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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 Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:48 am Post subject: End Al Arian's torture |
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We don't need Guantanamo, we have torture right at home. And this guy was acquitted two years ago but the government has so far reneged on its deal to deport him.
The Torture of Sami Al Arian
JURIST Guest Columnist Peter Erlinder of William Mitchell College of Law, attorney on appeal for Dr. Sami Al Arian, says that the treatment accorded the acquitted but still detained academic Palestinian activist from Tampa - now on hunger strike and in danger of irreversible renal failure at a federal prison hospital - is abuse of power amounting to torture taking place in the United States itself under the aegis of the Bush Administration and its "war on terror"...
The storm of criticism that followed George Bush�s weekend veto of Congressional limits on the CIA�s use of torture might lead to the conclusion that, reprehensible as �torture� might be in remote, secret CIA locations, it could never happen here in the US. But the Bush administration�s abuse of power in its treatment of Dr. Sami al Arian and other acquitted Palestinian �terrorism-defendants� has already demonstrated that �torture� for this administration is commonplace - even here.
In December 2005, a Tampa jury acquitted Dr. Al Arian of �terrorism� charges. Two years later he is still in prison, and in the 6th day of a hunger-strike because the Bush administration refuses to honor a May 2006 promise to release and deport him. Unless he receives proper medical care within days, he risks irreversible renal failure and death - all under the watchful eyes of the Bush �Justice� Department.
Apparently, �legal black holes� like Guantanamo can be created without having to set-up a special overseas prison, if domestic law can be sufficiently manipulated. And the Bush administration is very, very good at manipulation, both legal and otherwise.
(Here is the complete article.)
...End the Torture of Dr. Al Arian Now!
Between now and his April 7, 2008 release/deportation date, Kromberg will have to bring Dr. Al-Arian before the grand jury on a stretcher, kept alive by IV�s, assuming he receives proper treatment in the next day or two. Unless, of course, the Congress, the Courts or Mukasey put an end to the torture he has so far been subjected to. While Mukasey or Bush could release Al Arian with the stroke of a pen. Bush's veto of the torture limitation bill is an indication that Dr. Al Arian�s own torture will not be ended without the intervention of the Congress, the Courts, or the American people.
The torture of Dr. Al Arian is not �water-boarding,� nor the �enhanced interrogation techniques� that Bush says is now part of America�s regular way of doing business�but it is �torture� nonetheless. The Bush veto on Saturday demonstrates the Bush-Cheney �war on terror� is not really about terrorism at all, but is a politically-motivated assault directed against the constitution and the rule of law.
A government that is unwilling to publicly renounce torture committed in its name, and in the name of the American people, is capable of doing anything, to anybody, at any time, and the Al Arian case is a prime example of a lawless regime displaying itself to the world.[2] The Al Arian case is not law, it is politics...and torture. It is time for Congress, the Courts and the American people to put an end to the legal torture of Dr. Al Arian, now.
Release him!
(c) 2008 Peter Erlinder.
Last edited by bacasper on Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:16 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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yawarakaijin
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:58 am Post subject: |
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Nothing surprises me about this administration anymore.
While it is my fervent wish that this whole radical islamic wave run its course as quickly as possible, I wouldn't shed a single tear if either Bush or Cheney bought the farm, preferably blown up by an innocent man turned "terrorist". |
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Nowhere Man
Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:00 am Post subject: ... |
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If the Bush administration promised to release him, he should be released.
On the other hand, a guy going on a hunger strike isn't torture. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:04 am Post subject: Re: ... |
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| Nowhere Man wrote: |
If the Bush administration promised to release him, he should be released.
On the other hand, a guy going on a hunger strike isn't torture. |
What about spending five years in a cell for something you are not guilty of? |
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blaseblasphemener
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Americans would do well to follow the example of Canada when considering whether to close Gitmo.
Up until the early 1970s, Baffin Island was home to Camp Mercer, where Canadian First Nations people, as well as Newfoundlandic and Labradorian partial-status citizens were confined indefinitely under the Levesque statute, which included such "offences" as speaking ill of the RCMP, or defacing the Canadian Beavertail (the Canadian dollar).
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau finally bowed to pubic pressure to close the camp after photos were leaked of prisoners being sent off onto ice flows.
Trudeau's great legacy of billingualism and staying out of the bedrooms of Canadians is still considered tarnished by Camp Mercer.
Last edited by blaseblasphemener on Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:32 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Funkdafied
Joined: 04 Nov 2007
Location: In Da House
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:27 am Post subject: |
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| In the current political context, calling something torture when it is not torture is extremely disingenuous. Thus, right or wrong on the issue, I have no sympathy for the writer. Going on a hunger strike is a personal choice, the guy is only chosing to harm himself, again, not torture. Maybe he should be free, but this kind of hysterical rhetoric incenses me and makes me ( a long time hardcore liberal ) more and more conservative all the time. Liberals are thier own worst enemies. |
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Nowhere Man
Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:36 am Post subject: ... |
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| What about spending five years in a cell for something you are not guilty of? |
We have a word for that: wrongful imprisonment.
Now, if he were wrongfully imprisoned AND tortured, that would be worse than if he was just wrongfully imprisoned, right? That's why you don't just flippantly label anything you want as torture.
While, we're at it, one could argue that he's been robbed of his life for the past 5 years, ergo it's murder.
It's rape, too, isn't it?
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| In the current political context, calling something torture when it is not torture is extremely disingenuous. Thus, right or wrong on the issue, I have no sympathy for the writer. |
Exactly. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:19 am Post subject: |
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I appreciate the good comments on this thread.
While we may quibble about the exact definition of "torture" and whether or not it is constituted by five years of wrongful imprisonment, wouldn't we all agree that this is a grave injustice being committed by an administration with an extensive history of grave injustices? |
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Funkdafied
Joined: 04 Nov 2007
Location: In Da House
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:58 am Post subject: |
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| No, I would not "quibble" about whether five years of wrongful imprisonment is torture, it is not! And I find it hard to even get to the point of considering the issue at hand when a writer is so dishonest. |
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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee
Joined: 25 May 2003
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:03 am Post subject: |
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Sami Amin Al-Arian (Arabic: سامي العريان) (born January 14, 1958 in Kuwait) is a Palestinian computer engineer who was convicted of conspiracy to help Palestinian Islamic Jihad.[1] Al-Arian, a former university professor, was arrested by the United States government in 2003 on charges of funding terrorists. He was acquitted on eight of the 17 charges against him December 2005 after a six month trial with three co-defendants. On April 14, 2006 Al-Arian pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and agreed to be deported. In return, federal prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining eight charges against him. Al-Arian was sentenced to the 57 months in prison and given credit for time served. He was to serve the balance of 19 months and then be deported.
However, Al-Arian served a 14-month sentence for civil contempt of court after refusing to testify against former associates. The 14-month sentence was in addition to the criminal sentence. In December of 2007, a federal judge lifted the civil contempt charge. However, in March of 2008, The Justice Department subpoenaed Al-Arian to testify before another grand jury. [3]
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 Ties to terrorism
3 Investigation
4 Arrest
5 Trial
6 Plea agreement
7 Sentencing
8 Grand jury subpoena and hunger strike
9 Film
10 References
11 External links
[edit] Biography
Al-Arian was born in Kuwait. He emigrated with his family to Egypt in 1966, and traveled to the United States in 1975 at the age of 17 to attend university.[2] He obtained his Bachelor's Degree, graduating with honors in 1978 with a major in Electrical Engineering, and completed his Master's Degree and Ph.D. in computer engineering in 1980 and 1985 respectively. In 1986, he was hired as a professor in the Computer Sciences Department at the University of South Florida in Tampa.[2] Dr. Al-Arian is married to Nahla Al-Arian and has five children, including Abdullah Al-Arian. Abdullah Al-Arian was the subject of national media attention when he was escorted out of the White House by the Secret Service in June, 2001.[3] At the time, the younger Al-Arian was an intern for U.S. Rep. David E. Bonior; the White House later issued a public apology over the incident.[3]
Al-Arian played a prominent role in establishing a number of Arab and Islamic terrorist institutions over the past quarter of a century. These include the Arab Muslim Youth League in 1977, the Islamic Community Center in Tampa, and the Florida Islamic Academy, which is an Islamic school for students in Tampa and its suburbs. He was also imam of his mosque. He also co-founded the Islamic Association for Palestine, an organization linked to Hamas. Its daughter organization is the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU. InfoCom Corporation, another organization affiliated with IAP, had its offices raided by the U.S. government.
Al-Arian is considered to have been among the most active lecturers in North America in the 1980s and 1990s on the subjects of the Palestinian cause, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the relationship between Islam and the West. He helped to found the World Islamic Study Enterprise (WISE) and the Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP), also known as the Islamic Concern Project, in 1990.[2] Over a period of five years, WISE and ICP issued 20 volumes and several books, as well as sponsoring several conferences.
Al-Arian was also involved in U.S. national politics, having met with then-candidate George W. Bush at a campaign event in Florida in March 2000 where Bush and his wife, Laura, posed for a photo with Al-Arian and his family members.[4] Al-Arian later claimed to have spoken to Bush about the government use of "secret evidence" in deportation proceedings against accused terrorists.[4] When Bush subsequently brought up the issue in a debate with Al Gore, Al-Arian was reportedly "thrilled--and began registering local Muslims for the Republican Party and praising Bush at local mosques."[4] He also lobbied Congress on civil liberties matters, contributed thousands of dollars to the campaigns of influential members of Congress, and renounced violence during television appearances.[4] In June, 2001, Al-Arian joined 150 Muslim-American activists in a White House briefing with Karl Rove.[4]
[edit] Ties to terrorism
Accusations that WISE and ICP were fronts for terrorists were made in a series of articles in the Tampa Tribune. ICP sponsored several conferences in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in which terrorists attended, including Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, who was implicated in the 1993 New York City landmark bomb plot.[2] Other attendees included Sheikh Abdel Aziz Odeh, spiritual leader of Islamic Jihad.[5] In 1995, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) submitted an affidavit for a search warrant against ICP, WISE, and Al-Arian, which alleged that ICP and WISE were fronts that were used to help individuals to obtain visas and enter the United States.[2]
In February 2003, the FBI accused al-Arian and seven others of being involved since 1984 in a criminal organization that assists the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement. The authorities added that this organization had been responsible for hundreds of terrorist acts in Israel, resulting in over 100 deaths, and that Al-Arian was the jihad movement's chief of operations in the United States. Al-Arian denied any connection with terrorist activities.
Following the publicity regarding his non-academic activities as well as the criminal allegations, he was suspended with pay from his university position, while an investigation was conducted for the university by William Reese Smith, prominent attorney and former president of the American Bar Association. Shortly thereafter, the university formally notified him of its intent to terminate his employment. The Smith investigation discovered no evidence against Al-Arian, who resumed teaching. At that time, federal authorities were unable to comment on Al-Arian's status. As Dr. Al-Arian was a tenured professor, both the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and United Faculty of Florida (the faculty union) opposed the actions of the university administration in Al-Arian's case. After announcing its intent to fire Dr. Al-Arian, the case hung in suspense for many months. The university fired Dr. Al-Arian shortly after his Federal indictment and arrest.
In the 2004 Florida U.S. Senate campaign, former USF president Betty Castor was attacked for failing to fire Al-Arian at the time of the WISE flap. She replied that, acting on the information available at the time, there was insufficient evidence to justify firing a tenured professor. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_Al-Arian |
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yawarakaijin
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:09 am Post subject: |
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So these guys were told they were going to be released years ago but they are still in solitary confinement 22hrs a day? America has really dropped the ball on this one. Makes me sick to my stomach.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032008E.shtml |
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nicholas_chiasson
Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Location: Samcheok
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:30 am Post subject: |
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| I have met very few individuals who make a good case for almost anything the administration has done. The problem is americans, owing to a two party system, or strangely divided into going with EVERY action of a party, or NONE of them. Truth, does, often lie in the middle. |
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wannago
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:40 am Post subject: |
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| yawarakaijin wrote: |
| ... I wouldn't shed a single tear if either Bush or Cheney bought the farm, preferably blown up by an innocent man turned "terrorist". |
Funny, they were saying the exact same thing about you the other day...  |
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yawarakaijin
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:28 am Post subject: |
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[quote="wannago"]
| yawarakaijin wrote: |
| ... I wouldn't shed a single tear if either Bush or Cheney bought the farm, preferably blown up by an innocent man turned "terrorist". |
Let me put in another way for you then. I wouldn't shed a tear for anyone killed that was responsible for putting ANY INNOCENT man/child (yeah children were put in there) through Guantanamo.
Does it make it any easier to swallow if I remove the revered names of Bush and Cheney?
| Quote: |
| Funny, they were saying the exact same thing about you the other day... |
Actually that could very well be true. I honestly do doubt whether Bush or Cheney would give a rat's ass if I were blown up by a terrorist. They certainly don't appear to give a shit about the thousands of Iraqi's or young American men and women who have lost their lives.
Seriously have you seen your commander in cheif on the television lately? Listened to any of Cheney's remarks on how splendid everything is going? Do they look like men that are troubled?
I just don't understand how the backers of this administration can hold such contradictions. America and the west is in a "struggle for it's very survival" against Islamic fundamentalism and yet......Geez the list is endless.
How do you really expect the world to rally around your cause when your government has trampelled on many of the very ideals America is most respected for? Your rich and upper-middle class could hardly even know your country is at war. Poll after poll is stating that the economy is now the main issue in your country! For heaven's sake! Listen to your own polls. Your own populace doesn't buy Bush's ideas. Either that or they have sunk to a depth where they are more concerned about their personal pocket books than the fine young men and women dying over there in Iraq and Afghanistan. YOU ARE AT WAR!
Yet, we are all supposed to get behind Bush and applaud him for his wonderful killing of dirty little muslims who had NOTHING to do with 9/11. I applaud you and your fine government sir.
Last edited by yawarakaijin on Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Summer Wine
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: Next to a River
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:42 am Post subject: |
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We don't need Guantanamo...
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Actually you do, or at least you need something like it.
Osama Bin Laden existed before he became a blip on your radar and those of his ilk existed as well.
Unless you intend a mafia style double tap into the side of thier head when you find them, you need a place to hold them. Also unless you ask them nicely why they felt the need to attack the USA first instead of attacking thier own countries who don't follow extremist Islam, you do need to convince them to share thier thoughts in private.
Though I do have a question as to why all the extremists from Iran, Syria, etc seem to be too busy to wage war against thier own country while those Islamic countries that are semi moderate in thier views seem to have an abundance.
(Personally I blame Wahabism for not only ruining thier own country but for corrupting a dozen others who had a more moderate form before they showed up). If you don't agree, then go back into the past 10 - 15 yrs and speak to those from S.E.A.) |
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