Report Just In: Crimes Against Muslims Soaring in U.S.

Ten states accounted for almost 79 percent of all incidents … Those states include: California (20 percent), New York (10 percent), Arizona (9 percent), Virginia (7 percent), Texas (7 percent), Florida (7 percent), Ohio (5 percent), Maryland (5 percent), New Jersey (5 percent), and Illinois (3 percent). …

By far the greatest increase over last year … occurred in the areas of unreasonable arrests, detentions, searches/seizures, and interrogations. In 2003, complaints concerning law enforcement agencies accounted for only seven percent of all reported incidents. In 2004, however, these reports rose to almost 26 percent …

The Secret Roundup

Glenn A. Fine, Inspector General for the Department of Justice, officially reported that at least 1,200 men from predominantly Muslim and Arab countries were detained by law enforcement officials nationwide within two months of 9/11. 11 The Inspector General conceded in his official report that a senior officer in the Office of Public Affairs stopped reporting the cumulative count of detainees after 1,200 because the “statistics became too confusing.” 12 In August 2002, Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft released a 95-page report, entitled Presumption of Guilt, which documented cases of prolonged detention without any charge, denial of access to bond release, interference with detainees’ right to legal counsel, and unduly harsh conditions of confinement for the over 1,200 detainees. 13

A portion of Yee’s letter cited several reasons why he was leaving the Army.Some relevant excerpts of his letter are as follows:

• “…In 2003, I was unfairly accused of grave offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and unjustifiably placed in solitary confinement for 76 days. Those unfounded allegations — which were leaked to the media — irreparably injured my personal and professional reputation and destroyed my prospects for a career in the United States Army…” 87
• “…The only formal punishment I received (on matters having nothing to do with national security) was overturned, but at the same time official statements again unfairly tarnished my reputation…”
• Because of the gag order, said Yee, “my ability to defend myself against this pattern of unfairness has been impeded by official correspondence, the clear purpose of which is to chill the exercise of my right to free speech…”
• Yee wrote that he waited for months for a government apology, “but none has been forthcoming. I have been unable even to obtain my personal effects from Guantanamo Bay, despite repeated requests. In the circumstances, I have no alternative but to tender my resignation…” 88

After his ordeal and honorably completing his tenure with the United States Army, Captain Yee plans to complete his master’s degree in international relations and return to his home in Washington [state].

On March 11, 2004, ten bombs exploded on four commuter trains in Madrid, Spain. The death toll exceeded 190 people and at least 1,800 people were injured. 89 A partial fingerprint found on a bag containing detonators was matched by FBI analysts and the Justice Department proclaimed the match to be a “100% identification” 90 of American lawyer Brandon Mayfield;91 who was subsequently arrested and jailed as a `material witness’ in the 3/11 Madrid bombings. 92 Two weeks later, as Mayfield languished in prison, Spanish federal authorities confirmed their previous suspicions that the fingerprint did not belong to Mayfield. After two weeks in jail and hundreds of media stories labeling him a `terrorist’, he was finally released with a rare official apology from the FBI; who claimed that errors in fingerprint analysis were the sole cause for the catastrophic mistake. 93 Said Mayfield about his arrest; “I am a Muslim, an American, and an ex-officer of the U.S. military. I believe I was singled out and discriminated against…[for being] a Muslim.” 94

The Case of Professor Tariq Ramadan

Dr. Tariq Ramadan is a world renowned Swiss scholar known for his work on Islamic theology and the place of modernity within Islam and recently named one of TIME magazines “100 Innovators of the 21 st Century”137. Because of his prolific academic record, Dr. Ramadan was appointed the Henry R. Luce Professorship of Religion, Conflict, and Peace Building 138 for the Fall 2004 semester at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana 139.

Dr. Ramadan’s visa application for admittance to the United States was initially accepted and he received a visa from the U.S. State Department. After receiving his visa, Dr. Ramadan was preparing to move his family and young children to Indiana and was scheduled to begin teaching his classes at Notre Dame in late August. However, just days before Dr. Ramadan was set to travel, his visa was revoked without any explanation at the behest of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 140.

It turns out that Dr. Ramadan’s visa was revoked pursuant to section 411 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which bars entry to foreigners who have used a “position of prominence . . . to endorse or espouse terrorist activity.” 141

The basis of the charges against Al-Hussayen was that he volunteered his computer expertise to help run websites for a Muslim charity. While the charity’s mission was geared toward peaceful religious teachings, prosecutors alleged that buried deep within the websites were a handful of violent messages — written by others — encouraging attacks on the United States and donations for terrorist organizations. 180

However, according to the Seattle Times, Al-Hussayen’s case had nothing in common with other terrorism cases. There was no evidence that the websites recruited terrorists, or, for that matter, that Al-Hussayen even believed their hateful message. 181 Even if he did, the First Amendment would protect his right to speak his mind, as long as there was no “imminent threat of violence.” 182

Law enforcement officials used the USA PATRIOT Act, the sweeping anti-terrorism law hurriedly passed in October 2001, to bypass some of these legal hurdles. Al-Hussayen was charged under a clause that broadly expanded the definition of “material support” to include those individuals who provide “expert advice or assistance” to cause of terrorists. Al-Hussayen was the first person in United States history to be charged under this provision. 183

For the 2004 calendar year, CAIR and its affiliate chapters processed a grand total of 1,522 192 incident reports 193 involving claims of civil rights discrimination and harassment. This was a 49 percent increase in reported cases of harassment, violence and discriminatory treatment from 2003 (1,019 reports). This also marks the highest number of Muslim civil rights cases ever reported to CAIR in our eleven year history.

SAMPLE CASES

Hate Crimes:

March 21 st, 2003 – A Muslim American family of Palestinian descent became victim of property damage when their van was bombed outside their home in the Chicago suburb of Burbank, Illinois. The individual responsible for the crime had been convicted earlier of criminal damage to property in 2001 for vandalizing an Arab-owned furniture store two days after the 9/11 attacks 206.

March 2 nd, 2004 – In San Diego, a man of Portuguese descent was beaten by a group of four white men who mistook him for being Middle Eastern. They yelled racial slurs at him and told him to go back to Iraq

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August 10 th, 2004 – A Muslim man on his morning commute in Virginia reported that a car tailgated him, then went up beside him and yelled, “…f-ing terrorist, filthy motherf-ing raghead go back to the desert where you came from” and then got in front of him and slammed on his brakes.

December 30 th, 2004 – In California, a Muslim woman wearing hijab was pushing a stroller with her baby in it on the sidewalk when a man in a truck almost ran her over exiting a gas station. When she exclaimed, “You almost killed me and my baby!” The man replied, “It wouldn’t have been a big loss.”

”We believe the disturbing rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes and in the total number of civil rights cases, both of which will be outlined in our news conference, can be attributed at least in part to rising Islamophobic rhetoric in American society,” said Arsalan Iftikhar, the council’s legal director.