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Urgent Action 12/7/03: Farouk Moved Again On Dec. 5, 2003, NYC-based Palestinian activist Farouk Abdel- Muhti was transferred again, this time to Hudson County Jail in Kearny, New Jersey. Immigration authorities refused to tell Farouk the reasons for the move, his fifth in 19 months of detention, and failed to notify his legal team [see press release below]. Please contact David Venturella, Assistant Deputy Director of Detention and Removal at the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE), at phone 202-514-8663 or 202-305-2734; fax 202-353-9435; email david.venturella@dhs.gov with copies to freefarouk@yahoo.com. Tell him to FREE FAROUK NOW! Ask him: - Why did you transfer Farouk again? - Why didn't you notify Farouk's attorneys of the move? - Why are you continuing to hold Farouk in violation of the law? For information: Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti, PO Box 20587, Tompkins Square Station, New York, NY 10009, tel 212-674-9499; freefarouk@yahoo.com; http://freefarouk.org *** For immediate release: December 7, 2003 Contact: David Wilson, 212-674-9499 Immigration Authorities Transfer NYC Palestinian Activist to a Sixth County Jail Following Assault by Guards On Friday, December 5, 2003, US immigration authorities transferred Palestinian activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti from Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, New Jersey, to Hudson County Correctional Center in Kearny, New Jersey. Abdel-Muhti was taken from Bergen together with several Latin American detainees early on December 5; the group of detainees spent the day being processed and photographed at the offices of Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) in Newark, New Jersey, before being transferred to Hudson. Immigration officials refused to answer Abdel-Muhti's questions about where he was being taken, but told the Latin American detainees they were being prepared for deportation. Immigration officials failed to notify Abdel-Muhti's attorneys of his transfer or of any change in his situation. As a stateless Palestinian, Abdel-Muhti has no country willing to accept him. In November 2002, Abdel-Muhti filed a habeas corpus petition demanding that the US government release him, based on the Supreme Court's June 2001 Zadvydas v. Davis decision mandating the release of detainees whose deportation orders cannot be carried out within a reasonable period of time--generally six months. On November 25, 2003, in an answer to the government's latest response to the suit, attorneys Shane Kadidal and Jeffrey Fogel of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) urged federal judge Yvette Kane of the Middle Pennsylvania district to order Abdel-Muhti's immediate release. The latest move comes as Abdel-Muhti is recovering from a Nov. 19 attack in which Bergen County guards hit him, pushed him to the ground, verbally abused him and confiscated his medication, correspondence and reading materials. Abdel-Muhti was preparing to file a formal complaint about the incident when he was transferred out of Bergen County Jail. Abdel-Muhti's transfer came two days after several Palestinian detainees were shipped out on a deportation flight from the US, headed for the West Bank and Gaza, via Jordan and Egypt, respectively. Officials apparently sought to keep the latest flight secret; a similar flight on August 19 of this year sparked press attention and public controversy, leading deportation chief David Venturella to defend the agency's actions on the Pacifica Radio program "Democracy Now!" The move also came after more than 75 people marched to the immigration offices in Newark last Saturday, November 29, to demand Abdel-Muhti's release. Supporters believe Abdel-Muhti has been singled out by the US government for his activism in defense of human rights and Palestinian liberation. Abdel-Muhti has lived in the New York City area for more than 25 years; he is 56 years old and suffers from high blood pressure, arthritis and a hernia. Hudson County Correctional Center is the sixth detention facility where Abdel-Muhti has been held since his arrest on April 26, 2002. He was held at Middlesex, Camden and Passaic county jails in New Jersey before being transferred last February to York County Prison in south-central Pennsylvania. He was held in solitary confinement at York until his transfer on October 30 of this year to Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, New Jersey. ### |
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