Civil
Libertarians deny support to Palestinian political prisoner, Dr. Sami
Al-Arian; They want free speech for whom?
TAMPA, FL — Held without
bail since his arrest in February, Palestinian rights advocate Dr. Sami
Al-Arian has so far been denied support or representation from the traditional
white liberal civil libertarian defenders of free speech. Dr. Al-Arian
was one of eight Palestinian patriots named in a 50-count indictment announced
by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft charging them with "racketeering
and conspiracy to provide support to terrorists".
Al-Arian's real crime has been
his refusal to be silent about the righteous struggle of the Palestinian
people. An outspoken leader in his community, Al-Arian heads an Islamic
school in Tampa, Florida, has established Palestinian and Islamic educational
groups and has participated in public events opposing U.S. and Israeli
imperialist aggression in the Middle East.
Judge Mark Pizzo refused to
set bail for Dr. Al-Arian, ruling that he will remain incarcerated throughout
his trial, which is expected to last over a year. Al-Arian is not a flight
risk. His family is in Tampa. The school that he runs is in Tampa. Following
his arrest, Al-Arian has been fired from his tenured position as a computer
science professor at the University of South Florida. He is appealing
the firing, with the support of the American Association of University
Professors, which has threatened to censure the university for its disregard
of Al-Arian's rights. Meanwhile, Al-Arian and his family are left with
no income and little resources. Where would he go? As a displaced Palestinian,
he does not even have a country of his own.
Dr. Al-Arian is attempting
to organize a legal team and raise funds for his own defense. Because
he has not yet been able to win competent and supportive lawyers to represent
him in what promises to be an expensive trial, he was assigned two public
defenders who have shown disrespect and contempt for their client. Al-Arian
told the court he may need to defend himself. When U.S. District Judge
James Moody said he would likely provide "standby counsel" if
Al-Arian defends himself, Frank Louderback, one of his two current court
appointed lawyers, remarked, "If he represents himself, he needs
Dr. Kevorkian, not me", referring to the doctor who has assisted
in suicides.
Judge Thomas B. McCoun III
moved Al-Arian from Orient Road Jail in Tampa to the maximum security
wing at Coleman Federal Prison, three hours away from his family, where
Al-Arian and three of his co-defendants appear to be the only people held
there without having been convicted of anything.
Al-Arian is being held in solitary
confinement. He is continually strip-searched and has limited access to
visitors, telephone, attorney and family. When he receives a visit from
his public defender, his hands are cuffed behind his back, making it impossible
for him to bring his legal documents with him.
Excerpts from a statement Dr.
Al-Arian made before Judge McCoun at his arraignment on April 7, 2003,
read, "The confinement conditions that I am put under are of such
enormity that they've effectively denied me any opportunity to [assemble
a legal team and organize my defense]. I was told that I'd have only one
15 minute phone call per month. (At Orient Road Jail, one hour per day
phone use is allowed). I was told that I could make one 10 minute phone
call either to my family or to my attorney, but not to both, with my hands
behind my back in handcuffs.
"That Friday, I had a
non-contact visit with my family. I prepared a list of things to follow
up with, especially concerning the legal representation and the funding.
However, before I was taken to the visitation area, the guard took my
notes and pencil. I was taken to the non-contact visitation room with
my family, and I tried to recall from memory what I wanted my family to
do. However, apparently, someone saw through the camera in the room that
my wife was writing something, again, they came barging into the room
from both sides, and within five minutes, they had confiscated the paper
and pen and threatened that if they ever saw anyone bring a pen or paper
or write anything, all visits would be cancelled.
"I, along with my other
co-defendants, [continued] our requests for legal phone calls. Several
other prison inmates who sympathized with our plight started protesting
the denial of our requests by throwing their food trays in the hallway,
putting their hands outside the openings or the traps so that the guards
would not be able to close them, and in one instance, one inmate put his
bed sheet around the iron gate so it would not open until the Lieutenant
showed up. When the Lieutenant showed up, he was told that there was a
protest against the denial of our legal calls. It was then that we were
allowed to make phone calls."
Africans and our families —
who are imprisoned at an enormously disproportionate rate as part of the
U.S. government's counterinsurgency program to militarily contain our
oppressed and colonized people — will find these prison conditions
familiar. We experience them daily in the U.S. concentration camps called
prisons, whether we are the heroic political prisoners who have devoted
our lives to the freedom struggle of our people or the everyday Africans
who are denied the human right to economic and political self-determination.
Clearly the isolation of prisoners
from their families, attorneys and supporters constitutes a denial of
due process of law, preventing them from participating in the organization
of their own defense.
Well respected in his community
and among progressives, Dr. Sami Al-Arian should be just the kind of case
that civil liberties groups should be jumping to support in this chilling
era of escalating attacks on free speech rights. But where are groups
like the ACLU?
ACLU member Dwight Lawton has
been trying to get his local Pinellas County ACLU chapter, headed by Paul
Pohlman and Ray Arsenault to come forward in support of Al-Arian for over
two months. Lawton is an anti-war activist who has spent time in prison
for civil disobedience protests against the U.S. mercenary training camp
in Georgia, called the School of the Americas (aka School of Assassins).
Failing to win support from his local chapter, he has written to Howard
Simon, the Florida ACLU Executive Director and to the ACLU National Office,
with no response. He is presently attempting to contact the Center for
Constitutional Rights in Washington, D.C. Dr. Al-Arian's son, Abdullah,
has also sent requests to the ACLU and Amnesty International with no response.
We have seen the ACLU bring
considerable resources to the defense of the free speech rights of the
Ku Klux Klan, and other causes. In the face of thousands of Arabs locked
up without being charged and tens of thousands interrogated and intimidated,
we see little to no action or outcry on the part of the ACLU. This is
the true challenge for civil libertarians today.
Since 9/11, the organization
has reportedly gained vast numbers of new members and a tremendous influx
of resources from people who are deeply concerned about the attack on
civil liberties under the Patriot Act and the "war on terrorism".
The defense of Dr. Sami Al-Arian must be a priority for civil libertarians
and all freedom-loving people.
In addition to legal support,
the family of Dr. Al-Arian and his supporters have asked all those who
want to defend the rights of Arab and all peoples to freedom of speech
without fear of imprisonment to voice your concerns.
Write to:
Judge Thomas B. McCoun III
U.S. District Court
801 North Florida Ave.
Tampa, FL 33602
and ask:
- Why Al-Arian has not received
permission to defend himself.
- That he be moved closer
to family and lawyers and granted due process rights to prepare for
his trial, including full access to the law library and telephone.
Contact:
Donald McKelvy, Warden
U.S. Penitentiary
PO Box 1023
Coleman, FL 33521
Phone: 352-689-3003; fax: 352-689-3003
and
Harley G. Lappin, Director
U.S. Bureau of Prisons
320 First Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20534
Phone: 202-307-3250; fax: 202-514-6878
Ask:
- Why Al-Arian is in solitary,
frequently strip-searched and denied more than occasional use of phone.
- Why he has only limited
access to the law library and why there are no reference materials he
needs to prepare his case.
- Why he cannot obtain pencils.
- If he is not convicted of
a crime, why should he be in Coleman?
Ask the ACLU, ACLUFL and the
local ACLU Pinellas why they haven't at least issued a press release statement
on the violation of Al-Arian's due process and offered him legal help.
Nadine Strossen, President
and Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director
ACLU
125 Broad St., 18th Floor
New York, NY,10004
Phone: 212.549.2500
e-mail: http://www.aclu.org/feedback/feedback.cfm
Howard Simon, Executive Director
ACLU-FL
4500 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 340
Miami, FL 33137
Phone: 305-576- 2336
e-mail: aclufl@aclufl.org
Paul Pohlman, President
ACLU Pinellas
PO Box 12372
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
Phone: 727-821-9494
e-mail: ppohlman@poyyter.org
Paul Rebein, Director
ACLU-FL, c/o Shook, Hardy and Bacon
100 No. Tampa, Suite 2900
Tampa, FL 33602
Phone: 813-202-7100
Write letters to the editors,
including to the St. Petersburg Times at letters@sptimes.com and the Tampa
Tribune at tribletters@tampatrib.com
Write, email or call your Senators
and U.S. Representative.
Ask them why Al-Arian is being
inhumanely treated at Coleman and why he is being denied reasonable access
to telephone, lawyers and family in preparing for his trial.
Dr. Al-Arian needs financial
assistance. Please contribute to his defense fund by mailing a check to
:
National Liberty Fund
PO Box 22580
Alexandria, Virginia 22304
Note on check "Al-Arian Defense Fund."
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