Here is most of the coverage of Farouk's release arranged chronologically.
Sorry for taking so long to put this together. Please point out any articles I've missed. And many thanks to the reporters who have been covering this case through its many twists and turns.
David Wilson/Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti
=========================================================
1. Saudi Gazette, 4/3/04
2. Herald News, 4/10/04
3. El Diario-La Prensa, 4/10/04
4. York Daily Record, 4/10/04
5. Democracy Now, 4/12/04
6. Democracy Now, 4/13/04
7. NY Times, 4/14/04
8. Associated Press, 4/14/04 (two versions)
9. Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/15/04
10. Socialist Worker, 4/16/04
11. NY Press, 4/21/04
12. The Militant, 4/27/04
=========================================================
1. Saudi Gazette, 4/3/04
Date : 4/3/2004 Issue No : 865 PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST SET TO WIN CASE AGAINST ASHCROFT Farouk Abdel-Muhti on course to be free from U.S. detention
By Karen Bradway The Saudi Gazette HARRISBURG BY car, train or bus, it is a three to four-hour trip from New York City to
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. New Yorkers who wanted to attend political activist and Palestinian-born
Farouk Abdel-Muhti s March 30 hearing, Abdel-Muhti vs. Ashcroft, had to
make that trip. Abdel-Muhti s long awaited hearing - challenging the US
government s right to detain him beyond six months without imminent
deportation - was held not in New Jersey where Abdel-Muhti s case
originated, but in Harrisburg, PA. Abdel-Muhti s (Farouk s) lawyers say the US government deliberately moved
the trial to Harrisburg PA - far from his home base in NYC - in order to
minimize the amount of media attention and political support he received.
They say the move was part and parcel of a case characterized by an endless
stream of systematic delays, lies, evasions and prevarications on the part
of the US government. On Tuesday in Pennsylvania, however, the small room full of Abdel-Muhti s
supporters was unexpectedly pleased by the proceedings.
Not only did the
government show up for the hearing, but judge Yvette Kane appeared to side
with Abdel-Muhti, which means there is a strong possibility for his
release. I was optimistic going in and I am more optimistic coming out,
said Jeff Fogel, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights
(CCR) and consultant to Abdel-Muhti s case.
The judge seemed to clearly
understand several key issues here: how long Farouk has been in prison, how
that requires the government to increase the likelihood of his removal (in
its argument to the court), and that the removal be imminent.
While there was no specific outcome at Tuesday s hearing, Fogel said he
anticipated getting a decision within a week or so. My expectation based on
everything we heard today and everything I know about the law is that
Farouk will be released, he said.
Abdel-Muhti first filed his habeas lawsuit in Federal District court in New
Jersey on November 6, 2002 after he was detained more than six months at
several New Jersey county jails. The lawsuit demands his release under the
US Supreme Court s ruling in Zadvydas v. Davis, which mandates the release
of detainees whose deportation orders cannot be carried out within a
reasonable period of time - generally six months.
Abdel-Muhti has been in
jail - over a third of it in solitary confinement - for over 700 days. He
is being held on no criminal charges. It s almost two years - one of the
longest cases I ve seen of a stateless alien who is undeportable, says
Shayana Kadidal, lead attorney for the habeas petition and William Kunstler
racial justice attorney at the CCR.
Abdel-Muhti, to date, cannot be deported because he is a stateless
Palestinian who cannot return to the West Bank under Israeli law.
Abdel-Muhti left Ramallah in 1960; Israel refuses to repatriate
Palesti-nians who did not register with Israel at the time of the 1967
occupation. Since Abdel-Muhti was not there to register, he does not have
the Israeli registration ID required to make him eligible for repatriation.
The government has kept Abdel-Muhti detained by a range of administrative
stays and other delays, to include moving the trial from NJ to PA.
This
shift entailed acquainting a new judge with the case, which alone took six
months. The government also charges Abdel-Muhti with refusing to cooperate
with his own deportation.
The government argues it does not know for sure
who Abdel-Muhti is, and says that Abdel-Muhti has directly contributed to
the government s confusion by merit of the bewildering array of
identity-related documents he has submitted (over the years) regarding his
case. The government says this constitutes a refusal to cooperate and
therefore is reason for his continued detention.
But Kadidal says this argument does not hold. Non-cooperation is generally
refusal to cooperate with consular officials, failure to provide birth
certificates or other documents. Here he has produced a Jordanian birth
certificate at age 13 in order to go to Honduras.
The government has had
ten years to check out the validity of it. They wanted additional time: we
question this. The government has failed to advise him as to what he needs to do to get
out of indefinite detention.
The basic rub is: the government isn t giving
him an out. They haven't stated the cooperation they require so the
petitioner has the keys to freedom in his own pocket, said Kadidal. Fogel
says that he is glad the judge did not appear to fall for what he says was
a curve ball - however clumsy - on the part of the government.
US Assistant Attorney Daryl Bloom submitted an unexpected affidavit at the
outset of the hearing saying that recent agreements between Israel and the
United States indicated that Abdel-Muhti s repatriation was very likely
possible in the reasonably foreseeable future and that his continued
detainment was therefore warranted.
There is a new procedure for the repatriation of Palestinian individuals
from Israel, Bloom told the court. After he had explained the terms of the agreement, however, Judge Kane was
left with many questions. You must agree 23 months is a long time to hold someone who has not been
charged with a crime, Kane said.
I want to know ... how soon is this
likelihood? When will the determinations be? When will he be deported?
Those are two questions I wish I could answer, said Bloom. Bloom explained that the US was at the whim of Israel, that these things
were unpredictable and sometimes time-consuming, but that he anticipated
the reasonably foreseeable future meant somewhere around 90 days. Kane,
however, remained unconvinced.
I have to say, a year ago or two years ago
the reasonably foreseeable future might be acceptable to the court, but
after 23 months, the government needs to produce something firmer. How many
days, months, years? Kane asked.
Kadidal says that whatever the new agreements might be, the core issue -
the preconditions for obtaining travel documents - did not change. While he
said he was a little bit shocked by Bloom s introducing himself, shaking
his hand, and then handing him the last minute documents, he said he
quickly realized the documents were merely more of the same. And in
retrospect, Kadidal says it was no surprise that the government had a
surprise.
To some extent, we expected them to have some kind of curveball
or something up their sleeve - otherwise why would they even bother arguing
the case? Jane Guskin, an activist from the Coalition for the Human Rights of
Immigrants (CHRI), condemned the quality of the government s presentation,
saying the surprising thing was that the government s case - to include the
new affidavit was so unconvincing.
Kadidal and Fogel say, however, that the real question is why Abdel-Muhti
is in jail at all. The real curious question in this case is that its
obvious there s some sort of directive from the people in Washington or the
Headquarters Post-Order Detention Unit.
They ve clearly got some reason to
be ticked off at him and want to keep him in this sort of situation. There
are very few if any Zadvydas cases that have lasted this long and under
such flimsy justification, says Kadidal, adding that the CCR picked up
Farouk s case because of the First Amendment implications and the
circumstances of his arrest.
Abdel-Muhti was arrested shortly after he
began arranging radio interviews (WBAI-FM) with Palestinians spokespeople
at a time when the Israeli military was invading West Bank cities and
towns. The timing of his arrest is just so suspect, says Kadidal.
He adds
activities such as this should not be grounds for arrest.
Aliens have First
Amendment rights just like US citizens.
Kadidal says that Abdel-Muhti s religion undoubtedly was central to his
arrest as well. It was clear from the moment he was arrested that he was
targeted because he was Muslim, The Absconder Task Force basically only
goes after Muslim men. While the government has maintained that Abdel-Muhti
s case is solely an immigration matter, deportation officers have indicated
differently in recommendations drawn up as part of the administrative
custody review process.
A November 25, 2003 report written by Deportation
Officer Ruben Perez, for example, says: Mr. Abdel-Muhti is a person of
international intrigue ... particularly concerning are reports of his
involvements with subversive organizations.
Perez went on to write
Abdel-Muhti is endorsing Anti-American rhetoric and has knowledge of
briefcase nuclear bombs in the US.
Correctional officers in Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, NY also beat
Abdel-Muhti on November 19th for having what were perceived to be
subversive materials in his cell.
The items in question were anti-war and
anti-racism materials - Abdel-Muhti s modest collection of leftist
publications. Fogel has few questions regarding Farouk s detainment. Given my experience
in other cases, I think that there is a particular reason they are holding
Abdel-Muhti and it has to do with his political activism.
I think they are
aware of his political activism and they want to keep him locked up for
that reason.
They won t admit it but I m pretty confident that that s the
reason in this case. Kadidal agrees that there appear to be no other answers for his arrest. We
don t have an explanation for it.
We don t know why they want to hang on to
this guy who has basically worked as a rug merchant and a warehouseman for
most of his life.
If Abdel-Muhti is judged not to be deportable and is released, Kadidal says
he will be eligible under the regulations to get a work authorization.
Kadidal says this is positive.
This puts him somewhat in a better position
and I think this is justified.
He s a stateless person. It s an accident of
history that he s in the predicament he s in now and yet the government
wants to hold this misfortune against him.
They want to punish him for
being forced to get by in this country in any way that he could, in the way
that a lot of illegal aliens are with the difference being that he doesn t
have a home to go back to.
(c) 2003 Saudi Gazatte
An Okaz Subsidiary. All rights reserved.
=========================================================
2. Herald News, 4/10/04
Judge orders activist released
Saturday, April 10, 2004
By SUZANNE TRAVERS
HERALD NEWS
Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a Palestinian activist who spent the past two years in
immigration detention after living for decades in the United States, was
ordered released by a federal judge in Harrisburg, Pa., on Thursday.
Abdel-Muhti, 56, has been jailed since April 2002, when he was arrested in
New York City on the basis of a never-enforced 1995 deportation order. He
was held for months in the Passaic and Hudson county jails before being
transferred to York, Pa. He then was returned to Hudson County Jail.
Abdel-Muhti, a talk show host on New York radio station WBAI, maintains that
he was detained by the government because he was arranging live interviews
for his show with Palestinians on the West Bank.
The government has been trying to deport Abdel-Muhti for years, but neither
the United States nor Abdel-Muhti has had success getting a country to
accept him, the judge found. Under immigration law, a detainee with a
deportation order is entitled to release if he has not been deported after
six months of detention.
U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane in Harrisburg said Abdel-Muhti must be
released because she determined there is no significant likelihood that the
government will deport him in the foreseeable future.
The judge ordered Abdel-Muhti, who attended the hearing in Harrisburg,
returned to the Hudson County Jail immediately after his March 30 court
session. However, his attorney, Shayana Kadidal of the Center for
Constitutional Rights in New York, said Friday that Abdel-Muhti had been
taken to Atlanta.
Kane described Abdel-Muhti as a "stateless man" who cannot remain in
detention because he is unlikely to be deported. The government's argument,
the judge wrote, was that it was Abdel-Muhti's fault that he could not be
repatriated. Kane, however, found that Abdel-Muhti made "substantial"
efforts to obtain travel documents to leave the United States.
Abdel-Muhti, who has produced a Jordanian birth certificate and provided
U.S. immigration officials with varying birth dates and nationalities, said
that because he left the West Bank before 1967, Israel will not issue travel
documents. He was born in Palestine in 1947, when it was controlled by Great
Britain, and immigrated to Honduras as a teenager.
Kane wrote that both Abdel-Muhti's and the government's efforts to obtain
travel documents from Jordanian, Israeli, Honduran and Egyptian governments
and Palestinian authorities had been "fruitless."
The government can appeal the case, Officer Kerry Gill, spokesman for the
Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Newark, said Friday.
"We have just received the judge's decision and are reviewing it. While we
have not made a decision, the government does have the right to appeal," he
said.
Kadidal said Friday that he had no information the government would stall
his client's release.
"We don't have any indication yet at this point that anything is going to
delay his release, but I'll believe it when I see it," he said.
Kadidal said the ruling appeared to ensure that Abdel-Muhti, although still
legally in violation of immigration law, would not be deported.
David Wilson, an activist with the Committee to Free Farouk Abdel-Muhti,
said he and other supporters were "delighted" by the decision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reach Suzanne Travers |at (973) 569-7167 or travers@northjersey.com.
http://northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y
3dnFlZUVFeXk2NTEyNjcz
=========================================================
3. El Diario-La Prensa, 4/10/04
El Diario/La Prensa (Nueva York)
sábado 10 de abril de 2004
http://www.eldiariolaprensa.com/noticias/detail.aspx?section=17&desc=Locales
&id=874445
No se halló un país que lo aceptara como repatriado
Ordenan liberar palestino
_________________________________________________________________
HARRISBURG, Pa./ap -- Una jueza federal ordenó la liberación de un
activista palestino a quien llamó "un hombre sin estado", diciendo que
el gobierno no probó que él tenía la culpa por el hecho de no haber
sido deportado.
Farouk Abdel-Muhti, de 56 años, ha estado encarcelado desde abril del
2002 bajo la base de una orden de deportación de 1995. Su arresto se
produjo un mes después de que comenzara a trabajar con una estación de
radio de Nueva York, coordinando entrevistas telefónicas en vivo con
palestinos en el Banco Oeste.
Jane Guskin, de la Coalición para los Derechos Humanos de los
Inmigrantes indicó que Farouk no ha sido liberado y por el momento se
haya recluido en una prisión en la cárcel federal de Atlanta.
Indicó que no han podido establecer contacto con el activista
palestino, pues en la prisión únicamente le dan cinco minutos a la
semana para hacer una llamada.
Precisó que los abogados de Farouk buscan su traslado a Nueva Jersey
para conseguir su liberación.
Abdel-Muhti había estado encarcelado por meses en las cárceles de
Passaic y Hudson, antes de ser transferido a Pennsylvania, luego
retornado a Nueva Jersey. El asistió a la audiencia en Harrisburg.
El gobierno ha estado tratando de deportar a Abdel-Muhti por años,
pero ni Estados Unidos, ni Abdel-Muhti han tenido éxito en encontrar
un país que lo acepte, dijo el juez.
El jueves, la jueza distrital federal, Yvette Kane, en Harrisburg,
dijo que Abdel-Muhti debe ser puesto en libertad en 10 días, porque
éste ha mostrado de que no existe mucha probabilidad de que el
gobierno lo deporte en el futuro cercano.
El argumento del gobierno, escribió la jueza, fue que era la culpa de
Abdel-Muhti el que no hubiera sido repatriado.
Pero Kane encontró que Abdel-Muhti hizo esfuerzos "sustanciales" para
obtener documentos de viaje para dejar Estados Unidos.
=========================================================
4. York Daily Record, 4/10/04
Muhti's team cheers ruling
The detained Palestinian is a man without a country, a federal judge ruled.
By CARYL CLARKE
Daily Record staff A federal judge's ruling to release Farouk Abdel-Muhti after nearly two
years' detention sets a precedent the government has tried to avoid, his
attorney said Friday.
Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a 56-year-old Palestinian, must be released within 10
days because it is unlikely the government will be able to deport him in the
near future, U.S. Middle District Judge Yvette Kane ruled Thursday.
"We are happy with the opinion," attorney Shayana Kadidal of the Center for
Constitutional Rights in New York said Friday.
He was especially pleased that Kane relied on the U.S. Supreme Court
decision prohibiting indeterminate detention.
The federal prosecutor could not be reached for comment Friday.
Muhti has been imprisoned in New York, the York County Prison and the Hudson
County Correctional Center in New Jersey.
In her 21-page order, Kane noted the "Kafkaesque exchange" between Muhti and
the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
No matter how earnestly he has tried to find a country to take him -
Honduras, Jordan, Israel and Egypt - immigration agents persistently asked
him to produce something more, Kane wrote.
"The law does not authorize ICE to continue Petitioner's detention until he
supplies answers it likes," the judge wrote.
She referred to the 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that permits confinement
when deportation will occur in the reasonably foreseeable future, but
prohibits detention beyond six months after a deportation order.
Kane did not consider Muhti to be a threat to society. She criticized the
government for repeatedly falsely describing him as a criminal convicted of
a sex crime. He was convicted in 1993 of harassment on charges filed by his
wife, the judge stated.
For more news visit ydr.com <http://www.ydr.com>.
5. Democracy Now, 4/12/04
Monday, April 12th, 2004
Palestinian Activist Ordered Released After Two Years in Prison Without
Charge
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A federal judge in Pennsylvania ordered the release of the Palestinian New
York activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti who had been jailed since April 2002 even
though he has never been charged with a crime. Abdel-Muhti was a prominent
activist in the New York area and could often be heard on Pacifica station
WBAI. We speak with his lawyer and hear an April 2002 interview with
Abdel-Muhti just before his detention.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Pennsylvania, a federal judge last week ordered the release of prominent
Palestinian New York activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti. Abdel-Muhti has been
jailed for almost two years even though he has never been charged with a
crime. As a Palestinian who came to the U.S. four decades ago, Abdel-Muhti argues
he is "stateless" and has no country to which he can be deported.
In April 2002, three New York police officers and an INS agent, all in
civilian dress, came to Abdel-Muhti's Queens apartment without a warrant.
They claimed they wanted to ask Abdel-Muhti some questions about September
11th. They said they believed there were weapons and explosives in the
apartment. When Farouk's roommate, Bernard McFall refused to open the door,
they threatened to break it down, entering without a warrant.
But Abdel-Muhti wasn't at home because he was at an early morning interview
at Pacifica station WBAI-New York. He learned of the raid from his son,
Tarek, and his roommate, Bernard McFall who works for the Environmental
Protection Agency.
He was detained on April 26, 2002 and has been in jail in various
facilities ever since, often in solitary confinement, subjected to
extensive interrogation, and often been denied food. His supporters
consider him to be a political prisoner.
Jeffrey Fogel, one of Farouk Abdel-Muhti's lawyers and the legal director
for the Center for Constitutional Rights. Farouk Abdel-Muhti, interviewed by Democracy Now! in April 2002, right
before being detained.
To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, click here for
our new online ordering or call 1 (800) 881-2359
=========================================================
6. Democracy Now, 4/13/04
Tuesday, April 13th, 2004
EXCLUSIVE: Farouk Abdel-Muhti Set Free After Two Years in Prison
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Palestinian activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti was released from jail Monday night
nearly two years after he was detained by U.S. immigration officials. He
was never charged with a crime. In a national exclusive, Democracy Now!
speaks with Abdel-Muhti in his first interview as a free man. He discusses
his release, his struggle for freedom and the conditions of his detention
which included 8-months of 23-hour lockdown in solitary confinement.
[Includes rush transcript] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prominent New York Palestinian activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti was released
Thursday and returned home nearly two years after he was detained by U.S.
immigration officals. He has never been charged with a crime. A Pennsylvania federal judge last week ordered his release.
In April 2002, three New York police officers and an INS agent, all in
civilian dress, came to Abdel-Muhti's Queens apartment without a warrant.
They claimed they wanted to ask Abdel-Muhti some questions about September
11th. They said they believed there were weapons and explosives in the
apartment. When Farouk's roommate, Bernard McFall refused to open the door,
they threatened to break it down, entering without a warrant.
But Abdel-Muhti wasn't at home because he was at an early morning interview
at Pacifica station WBAI-New York. He learned of the raid from his son,
Tarek, and his roommate, Bernard McFall who works for the Environmental
Protection Agency.
He was detained on April 26, 2002 and jailed in various facilities ever
since, often in solitary confinement, subjected to extensive interrogation,
and often been denied food. His supporters considered him to be a political
prisoner. As a Palestinian who came to the U.S. four decades ago,
Abdel-Muhti argued he is "stateless" and has no country to which he can be
deported.
Farouk Abdel-Muhti
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
RUSH TRANSCRIPT This transcript is available free of charge, however donations help us
provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV
broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution. Donate - $25, $50, $100, more...
AMY GOODMAN: As we bring you this national broadcast exclusive, Palestinian
activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti is out of jail after almost two years. He was
never charged with a crime, a prominent Palestinian activist in the New
York area has just returned to New York. We welcome him to "Democracy
Now's" airwaves. Welcome to "Democracy Now!," Farouk Abdel-Muhti. FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Thank you very much, sister and comrade Amy Goodman,
and thank you for "Democracy Now!" and all of you that support me, because
I feel myself part of you in the struggle what is today continuing for the
constitutional rights and for the rights of the people in the nation and
overseas is linked one to the other ones. We have to admire people like you
with the continuing struggle for our rights. Yes, I win my freedom
yesterday at 3:30. I was in a box in a place called United States
penitentiary. It is a big penitentiary located 15 minutes from the airport
of Atlanta, Georgia. After that they moved me from there to the office of
the INS. And INS tells me you have to go to Reagan airport with visa and
then you have your freedom. They give me papers to sign. I think the paper
is from the Israeli embassy to sign about my papers, because according to
them, they say it's possible that you can be - Israel is going to decide to
accept Palestinians. After they put me in the airport to the airplane, I
moved from there to Reagan Airport in Washington, and after from there, I
come in US Airlines, and I arrived in La Guardia airport at 10:00. My
friends, and my family, and the people that support me, and, you know,
support my freedom, what I think my freedom and my rights is to some -- is
supposed to be part of the examples in the struggle for justice and
equality and rights in this society of the United States, what is built up
for all different communities and all different ethnics to create a new
society with democracy and rights.
AMY GOODMAN: Farouk Abdel-Muhti, for those people who don't know your
story, quite a remarkable one, again, you were detained on April 26, 2002,
almost two full years in jail.
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you go back in time and talk about what happened? Talk
about, even going back to the raid on your apartment when you were on
Pacifica station WBAI's airwaves with us on "Wake-up Call."
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Yes, when I was in WBAI Pacifica station on "Wake-up
Call" in the morning, the task force came, and it was in the beginning of
the month of April, they were looking for me. They were there, coming
together in my house. They harassed my son and harassed the person that
lived there, Bernie McFall. After that, they asked for me. My son and
Bernie called me (at) WBAI, and after that we talked to everybody in the
radio what had happened. After the 26th of the month, they come back, and
they break the deal, because already my lawyer speak with him, so I can
meet him two weeks after. We called him after two weeks. My lawyer called
him, in that time, and after that, what happened, the officer said, "Well,
it's not the moment. We are going to tell you what day we can meet
together." And by surprise, the 26th of April in the morning, about 4:00 in
the morning, a taskforce with a lot of police with blue uniforms come in,
(18 ones) to the door and tried to break the door and after I asked my
lawyer and tell him, he tell me to open the door. When I opened the door,
they jumped over me and took my work permit. He said, you are under arrest
because your documents are not legal. You are illegal. And after they sent
me down the stairs and they tried to investigate me and talked about this
possibility that you will cooperate with us, and we can help you to get
out. After I reject all of these things. I tell them, you know, I'm 56
years old, and I am not coming to be a participator or snitcher about
myself or the society in general. After they took me to the federal plaza,
there in the federal plaza, the people left and after some of them attacked
me, and after 15 minutes, after the lawyer come and see me in my condition,
and move me - to Middlesex county jail in New Jersey, when I stayed there
for several months in that place, and was very difficult place because it
was deportation by wholesale of people from Pakistan and Afghanistan, and
majority are Egyptians being deported day-by-day by the airplanes, got
families and some of them, I think, even citizens in this country and move
me from there, and it was a protest outside. Jail is not supposed to
protest and they came in to harass me and harass other people with me. And
after these conditions, they give to me to be moved from there to the other
place, called the Camden County jail. In Camden County jail I stayed there
for one month, and I began to have problems with some of the guards. Some
of the guards came to the Pakistani inmate and took his Holy Koran and
threw him to the floor. After that, I told them, you are not supposed to do
these things. After the people, the majority of the inmates came together
and rejected that kind of action, and they wouldn't take directions to call
the INS to move me from there.
AMY GOODMAN: I'm going to stop you there just for 60 seconds, because we
have to go to break. We're talking to Farouk Abdel-Muhti. No, not in
detention, as he has been for the last two years. He is a free man right
now, as he talks about his trials in detention, not to be confused with a
trail where he was found guilty or innocent. He has never been convicted of
a crime, and now is he is free, as he talks about moving from the Camden
County jail to the Passaic jail, and what happened within. We're going to
come back with Farouk Abdel-Muhti, in this exclusive broadcast, his first
broadcast since he has been released, flown last night from Atlanta to New
York. This is "Democracy Now!" We'll be back in a minute.
AMY GOODMAN: This is democracy now!. The war and peace report. I'm Amy
Goodman. As we continue our conversation with Farouk Abdel-Muhti, the
Palestinian activist who has been jailed for almost two years, taken on
april 26, 2002, two weeks before, as he was broadcasting on Pacifica
station WBAI in New York with us on "wake-up call," H is apartment was
raided in Qeens by federal authorities. Several weeks later, they captured
him. He was imprisoned, and yet no charges were brought against him. In
jail for almost two years, and then released. A judge ordering his release
last Thursday night. He moved him from the jails in the New York area to
Atlanta and now flew him back from Atlanta as a freeman to New York. Farouk
Abdel-Muhti stays with us on the telephone. Welcome to democracy now!,
Farouk. You were describing moving from Camden to Pasaic, a Pakistani man,
his Koran being taken from him. You explaining to the guards the problem
with this, and then them moving you, you say, as a result of your
intervention?
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Yes. The result of my intervention and the warden had a
bad reputation in the state of Pennsylvania, people riot and American
Muslims rioted and he loss the job after he comes to be in the warden in
this county jail. After he sees my record, he called to I.N.S. and moved me
from there to -- the I.N.S. comes there to move me and take me to the other
place, what you can tell is the rat's place, because it's in Pasaic County
Jail, and it's a place very dirty. The place that leaks by the water from
the roof. The situation -- the food was terrible. And the conditions were
numerous against all of the inmates, and specifically the detainees from
the I.N.S.. were suffering lots in that place. After a while, the people
began to rise voices, and people -- there were people from more than 46
nationalities, more than 70 people signed to send to the human rights
organizations to talk about the situation this jail in Pasaic County Jail,
and after it happened, these thing, me and other people from middle east,
we make a hunger strike for eight days, and conditions -- I need my
release, an the other ones need the rights to move from there, because they
have got children to somebody from Lebanon whose name is Sadak, have a
daughter that just have three months and he is going to be deported, and he
would like to see his daughter. There are other persons from Egypt has a
daughter is one year and-and-a-half. We make -- we make a hunger strike. We
continued hunger strike. After that, -- after the I.N.S. itervened in the
question, and they moved us after eight days, they promised to move and in
the second week, moving to Hudson County Jil, and me, I stayed in that
place -- they put me in a separated place, you know, and it's not a
compliment, but I was by myself -
AMY GOODMAN: We are talking to Farouk Abdel-Muhti, he is just out of
prison, he just flew in late last night in jail almost two years. We are
asking you to stay with us, Farouk. Your attorney, Jeff Fogel is on the
line us with us. I want to continue talk with you about your experience.
Legal director, CCR. We talked with you yesterday as Farouk describes his
experience, how unusual is this, as he describes the people in jail with
him, almost two years without charges?
JEFF FOGEL: First, let me welcome Farouk. I haven't had the opportunity to
see him since he has been released, and he sounds much better than the last
time spoke to him.
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Thank you. Thank you my brother, and thank you my
sister, Amy Goodman and all of you from Democracy Now!.
JEFF FOGEL: I think Farouk was targeted as an issue from the start due to
his activism in the community. I think secondly, it is not unusual for
people who raise simple constitutional rights within the setting either of
a pre-trial detention, immigration detention or the criminal conviction to
be targeted by prison authorities as well. As I think I indicated yesterday
there are a considerable number of people upwards of 200 as a result of
immigration in jail, who have been convicted of nothing, who have been held
for extended periods of time. How badly, they have been treated compared to
Farouk, who was the subject of considerable abuse, harassment and so on, I
cannot say because I'm not so familiar with their cases. I think Farouk‚s
is a particular one, given the targeting as a result of his activism.
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Well, my brother, Sharif and sister, Amy Goodman, all
of you an Democracy Now!, and everybody who listens to my voice, really,
after this situation, the I.N.S. comes to me and I was thinking was going
to deal -- to give me my rights, you know, and they moved me from there
four hours and half to a place called York County Jail located in York. In
some of the areas of Pennsylvania state. I had been moved there, and when I
moved there, I stayed for one day, lockup, and the second day they put me
in the population, about two days in the population and the third day, they
say, oh, you have to move. They moved me in the solitary confinement, and I
stayed in solitary confinement in York County Jail for every day, 23 hours
and 15 minutes, and just 45 minutes to take a shower, collect call phone
and clean myself. The cell is a box, iron box, where you can see -- you
can't see anything. You close the -- you know, the food brings you from
down like we are dogs. You know, they are in this place. I suffer in there
eight months and ten days. I catch from there arthritis and gastritis -
AMY GOODMAN: I want to interrupt, Farouk, for one minute. You said you were
for eight months at the York jail.
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: In 23-hour-a-day lockdown?
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: 23 hours and 15 minutes locked down every day.
AMY GOODMAN: What was the rationale that they gave me locking you down,
again, no charges brought against you?
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Yes. There is no -- I was never given the reason at
this moment. Never opened it after that. When we are fighting, they were
fighting about my freedom and my right, and the situation is still never
give the answer why he put me in eight months and ten days in this
conditions. You know, I'm in this moment coming in the month of march, what
was the situation when the administration of bush is talking about the war
in the middle east and all of these things, and many of these guards take a
strong anti-Arab position there in the jail. They come to target me to just
to come to beat me up, but I don't get any opportunity to happen -
AMY GOODMAN: You were subjected to a lot of interrogation. What were they
asking you?
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Well, Amy, before one asked me you when I was arrested,
it was to cooperate with them to give information about Palestinians and
Muslim organizations and all of these things. You know, what is completely
is away from my side. Because I'm a man, activist for peace and justice and
democracy. I am not -- I condemn federalism. Some, you are a witness and
democratic and now-I was a witness when it happened there on 9-11. I worked
very hard to bring the Rabbis and the church and the iman. You know, I
include them to march in the front of the -- to protest who is more than
20,000 people, and, you know, I oppose any kind of terrorism because
myself, we are victims of terrorism, and -- in our country, and I oppose
any kind of -- any kind of this kind of terrorism, I believe in the social
and collective justice for anybody with the democratic principles -
AMY GOODMAN: Farouk Abdel-Muhti is our guest, not in detention, but as a
free man, he was released by immigration authorities last night after
almost two years in prison. They wanted to deport you. Why couldn't they?
Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a Palestinian activist.
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Well, to the one question, Jordan cannot accept me, and
the Palestinian Authority at the moment is not allowed to be as a people.
It can only be given documents to be accepted there after the agreement of
Oslo. The Palestinians live in Gaza Strip and West Bank, but I immigrated
before this accord. You know, after that, the situation is never -- in
Israel is not to accept me. The only solution is to give my rights to my
freedom, and we opened the habeas corpus, and the D.A. said what is the
rights? You cannot stay more than six months in the jail. I stayed about
two years to win my freedom.
AMY GOODMAN: Jeff Fogel, what about this issue of statelessness?
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Well, the question of the statelessness to this moment,
the last time -- in the last interview, the last decisions, what -- thanks
to my lawyer, Sean and Jeffrey from the Center for Constitutional Rights
was very good and a talented -
AMY GOODMAN: Farouk, let me ask Jeff Fogel about this issue of
statelessness.
JEFF FOGEL: The issue here in terms of repatriation is the fact that Israel
does not want any additional Palestinians moving into the occupied
territories. So, they have been adamant in basically refusing to cooperate
even with the United States, their close ally in repatriating people. So
that, in a sense, leaves Farouk in a stateless position, particularly since
he left the Occupied Territories before they were occupied, so does not
appear on any of what -- what is called the Israeli Registry of
Palestinians living in the occupied territory as of 1967. They claim to
have no record of him, notwithstanding his valid Jordanian birth
certificate. The bottom line is Israel doesn't want more Palestinians
around.
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: This is direct like brother Sharif has mentioned. This
has happened, and after that, I within my freedom, but at the same time,
the government sends a letter to Israel that they are going to accept
Palestinians. But after the judge in my case was given ten days do you be
free and it does not have any solutions, one of the two -- has to win the
freedom, you know that? And when the government never answered in ten days
is given the right to -- I win my freedom. Yes. And you know, like i
mentioned before, back to my condition in that jails, you know, after I
stayed eight months and continue days in solitary confinement, they moved
me to New Jersey to a jail belonging to the Bergen County jail, and in that
place -
AMY GOODMAN: Farouk, we only have ten seconds, your feels right now.
FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI: Well, about my feelings, really, I -- I still am in
pain, the pain is physical and sometimes spiritual. It's not easy, you pay
two reason for not any crimes in jail and are in eight different prisons,
counties and jails and penitentiaries. My hope -- my inspiration when i
speak to you gives me power to continue to speak for rights and justice.
AMY GOODMAN: Farouk Abdel-Muhti. I want to thank you for being with us.
To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, click here for
our new online ordering or call 1 (800) 881-2359.
See also the blog on Amy Goodman's book tour:
http://democracynow.org/book/blosxom.cgi
Amy found out the hard way about this hyper-security [in airports], as she
was subjected to a full search when she was found to be carrying a button that said, "Free Farouk and all Political Prisoners!" The full teardown ended when a Transportation Security Administration official noticed that she was carrying a book by Mumia Abu-Jamal. "Hey, how's he doing - is he ever gonna get out of jail?" asked the guard, pointing to Mumia's book. Then he whispered to Amy that he listened to /Democracy Now! /every day!
7. NY Times, 4/14/04
April 14, 2004
Stateless, Man Avoids Deportation From U.S.
By JANON FISHER
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when many Muslim men without proper
immigration papers were heading underground, Farouk Abdel-Muhti went on the
radio.
As the second intifada was beginning in March 2002, Mr. Abdel-Muhti, a
Palestinian rights advocate, took a job on the morning radio program
"Wake-Up Call" on WBAI-FM (99.5) in New York. Using his contacts in the West
Bank, he would set up interviews with people like the mayor of Ramallah for
the call-in program.
But that did not last long. On April 26, 2002, immigration authorities
arrested him on a 1995 deportation order. His supporters said he had been
singled out because of his outspoken support for Palestinian causes.
On Monday, after nearly two years, seven jails, months of solitary
confinement and a hunger strike, Mr. Abdel-Muhti was released by order of a
federal judge in Atlanta. Judge Yvette Kane ruled that as a Palestinian born
before the creation of Israel, Mr. Abdel-Muhti was stateless and could not
be properly deported.
Judge Kane chastened the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
calling their tactics "Kafkaesque" and noting in her order that the law did
not allow the agency to detain Mr. Abdel-Muhti "until he supplies answers it
likes."
Mr. Abdel-Muhti, however, could still be deported if an agreement is worked
out between Israel and the United States.
"He's still an illegal immigrant and theoretically still deportable," said
his lawyer, Shayana Kadidal of the Center for Constitutional Rights. By
Monday evening, Mr. Abdel-Muhti had landed at La Guardia Airport, where in
front of a group of friends and supporters, he bent down and kissed the
ground.
"I come to New York, and it is my duty to kiss the ground because I feel an
attachment to the place where I have fought for freedom and equality for 27
years," said Mr. Abdel-Muhti, who has been a longtime activist for the
rights of indigenous people and Palestinians. He has been arrested several
times for civil disobedience during public protests.
Daryl Bloom, the assistant United States attorney in Philadelphia who argued
the case for the federal government, said that he was not authorized to
speak about the case. Two calls to the United States attorney's office were
not returned.
Mr. Abdel-Muhti's lawyer and supporters said that his confinement was an
attempt to curtail his activism. "The reality was, he wasn't in hiding," Mr.
Kadidal said. "It was only after he started doing stuff on the radio that
they went after him."
At one point his case was transferred from Newark to Philadelphia in what
his lawyer said was an attempt to delay his case further.
Court documents show that the government's case weighed heavily on Mr.
Abdel-Muhti's history of disregard for United States immigration laws.
"A convicted criminal several times over, he has twice unlawfully re-entered
the United States after being deported, failed to surrender for his
deportation or to appear at deportation proceedings, and again and again
misrepresented under oath and in official documents his true identity and
nationality," wrote Thomas Calgani, an assistant United States attorney who
also worked on the case. In his brief to the court, Mr. Calgani catalogued
Mr. Abdel-Muhti's brushes with the law.
He pleaded guilty in 1993 to an attempted assault charge that arose from a
fight with his wife. He had also held seven different aliases and evaded
immigration authorities several times during his 27 years in the United
States.
Mr. Abdel-Muhti did not dispute the revelations. In the end, the decision
rested on his birth in Ramallah in 1947, the year before Israel was created.
But even with the threat of deportation still hanging over him, Mr.
Abdel-Muhti recited the same language of civil disobedience and civil rights
that he claims landed him in jail in the first place.
"It is a victory, but we have to continue this war for justice and
equality," he said. "No one wants to talk about rights because of the
martial law that rules this country."
=========================================================
8. Associated Press, 4/14/04 (two versions)
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-6/108192559676280.
xml
Palestinian activist freed after 2 years in U.S. jails
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Associated Press
Delighted to be free again, a renowned Palestinian activist knelt
down, kissed the ground and celebrated his release after spending
nearly two years in jails in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Farouk Abdel-Muhti, 56, sued the federal government in November 2002,
claiming it had held him far longer than its own standards allow. He
asserted that as a stateless Palestinian, there was no nation to which
he could lawfully be deported.
He was freed Monday night from an Atlanta jail and put on a plane to
New York, where he was met by friends several hours later.
"I kissed the land because I finally felt freedom," Abdel-Muhti said
yesterday morning. "This is a victory not for me, but for everyone who
is fighting for their rights, for social justice and democracy."
To immigrant rights advocates and critics of the Bush administration's
handling of civil liberties after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Abdel-
Muhti had become a symbol of the dragnet that took more than 1,200
people, mostly Arabs and South Asians, into custody.
He still faces deportation to the West Bank under an agreement the
United States recently reached with Israel to return Palestinians
there once Israel verifies that their names are on its population
registry of Palestinian territories, said his attorney, Shayana
Kadidal.
"But barring a sea change in the situation in the Middle East, he may
not be removable anytime soon," said Kadidal, of the Center for
Constitutional Rights.
Abdel-Muhti was born in 1947 in Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the
occupied West Bank of Jordan. He said he lived briefly in Honduras
without obtaining legal resident status, but authorities there could
not find any record of him having been there, and refused to take him
back now.
He came to the United States in the early 1970s, but overstayed his
visa, finding work as a vendor and advocating Palestinian causes. The
government tried to deport him as long ago as 1975, but could not
because Israeli officials could not find his name on a list of
residents of the occupied territories, according to court documents.
The government tried again to deport him in 1993, but was again unable
to find a country willing to take him, and released him on a $15,000
bond in 1994. He was to appear before an immigration judge in 1995,
but missed his court date because, he says, he was being treated in a
hospital emergency room at the time.
Because of the missed hearing, an immigration judge ordered him
deported when possible, but he had remained free until April 2002,
when federal agents seeking to question him as part of the
investigation into the World Trade Center attacks took him into
custody at his apartment in Queens.
He had been a regular guest of New York radio station WBAI, commenting
on Palestinian issues. Shortly before his apartment was raided, he was
at the radio station serving as a translator for Palestinian callers
to the show.
Abdel-Muhti said he suspects his detention and subsequent transfer
among jails in Passaic, Hudson, Camden and Middlesex counties in New
Jersey and York County in Pennsylvania was retaliation for his
criticism of the government's policies. He was sent to a jail in
Atlanta after a hearing in Pennsylvania.
U.S. immigration officials denied his allegation of retaliation,
saying Abdel-Muhti had violated the law by overstaying his visa and
was being treated no differently than others who had done so.
"After 9/11, they only wanted to hear one voice, one point of view,
like the Roman Empire," Abdel- Muhti said. "But my words came from my
heart. I had to speak out about what was going on in the Middle East.
We are looking for rights, justice and solutions."
His first meal after being released came from a nondescript Chinese
restaurant, a beef and rice dish that far surpassed what he was served
in jail.
"There was too much food, so I shared it with people," he said. "But I
was happy to eat it."
Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.
----------------------------------------------------------
Long-held Palestinian detainee released in U.S.
By The Associated Press
NEWARK, New Jersey - A Palestinian activist has been freed after
spending nearly two years behind bars on immigration violation
charges.
Farouk Abdel-Muhti, 56, sued the federal government in November 2002,
claiming it had held him far longer than its own standards allow. He
asserted that as a stateless Palestinian, there was no nation to which
he could lawfully be deported.
He was freed Monday night from an Atlanta jail and put on a plane to
New York, where he was met by friends several hours later.
"I kissed the land because I finally felt freedom," Abdel-Muhti said
Tuesday. "This is a victory not for me, but for everyone who is
fighting for their rights, for social justice and democracy."
To immigrant rights advocates and critics of the Bush administration's
handling of civil liberties after the September 11, 2001 attacks,
Abdel-Muhti had become a symbol of the dragnet that took more than
1,200 people, mostly Arabs and south Asians, into custody.
He still faces deportation to the West Bank under an agreement the
United States recently reached with Israel to return Palestinians
there once Israel verifies that their names are on its population
registry of Palestinian territories, said his attorney, Shayana
Kadidal.
"But barring a sea change in the situation in the Middle East, he may
not be removable anytime soon," said Kadidal, of the Center for
Constitutional Rights.
Abdel-Muhti was born in 1947 in the West Bank city of Ramallah. He
came to the United States in the early 1970s but overstayed his visa,
finding work as a vendor and advocating Palestinian causes. The
government tried to deport him as long ago as 1975, but could not
because Israeli officials could not find his name on a list of
residents of the occupied territories, according to court documents.
The government tried again to deport him in 1993, but were again
unable to find a country willing to take him, and released him on a
$15,000 bond in 1994. He was to appear before an immigration judge in
1995, but missed his court date because, he says, he was being treated
in a hospital emergency room at the time.
Because of the missed hearing, an immigration judge ordered him
deported when possible, but he had remained free until April 2002,
when federal agents seeking to question him as part of the
investigation into the World Trade Center attacks took him into
custody at his apartment in New York.
He had been a regular guest of New York radio station WBAI, commenting
on Palestinian issues.
Abdel-Muhti said he suspects his detention and subsequent transfer
among several jails in New Jersey and Pennsylvania was retaliation for
his criticism of the U.S. government's policies. He was sent to a jail
in Atlanta after a hearing in Pennsylvania.
U.S. Immigration officials denied his allegation of retaliation,
saying Abdel-Muhti had violated the law by overstaying his visa, and
was being treated no differently than others who had done so.
"After 9/11, they only wanted to hear one voice, one point of view,
like the Roman empire," Abdel-Muhti said. "But my words came from my
heart. I had to speak out about what was going on in the Middle East.
We are looking for rights, justice and solutions."
(c) Copyright Haaretz. All rights reserved
=========================================================
9. Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/15/04
Posted on Thu, Apr. 15, 2004
Freed detainee takes to airwaves with new perspective on liberty
Arrested in 2002 over a deportation order, he vouched for Palestinians - and
the Bill of Rights.
By Gaiutra Bahadur
Inquirer Staff Writer
NEW YORK - Farouk Abdel-Muhti began his second day as a free man in a radio
control room blocks away from ground zero, declaring on the air that
fundamentalists are the enemies of liberty everywhere.
Liberty is a principle that the 56-year-old Palestinian - arrested in April
2002 as part of a post-Sept. 11 crackdown on illegal immigrants - knows
something about.
For two years, he measured the limits of liberty precisely - from cell to
cell in New Jersey and Pennsylvania as the U.S. government sought to deport
him. He had nothing but time to read about liberty, and its place in the
U.S. Constitution, during eight months in solitary confinement in the York
County jail.
Last week, a federal judge in Harrisburg ordered Abdel-Muhti freed, saying
the U.S. government had broken its laws by holding him so long. The U.S.
Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional to hold detainees ordered
deported for more than six months unless there is "a significant likelihood
of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future."
Abdel-Muhti has contended that as a Palestinian born in the occupied West
Bank two decades before Israel assumed control of the territory, he is
stateless. U.S. District Court Judge Yvette Kane agreed.
"As a Palestinian, he is a man without a country," she said in a ruling that
contradicted arguments by U.S. officials that Abdel-Muhti had not cooperated
as they tried to get travel documents from various countries, including
Israel.
The judge said Abdel-Muhti could not be blamed because Israel does not list
him in its population registry and thus refuses to grant him a visa to
return to Ramallah. Many Palestinians ordered deported have been released
for that reason. As such, the judge described as "Kafkaesque" the insistence
by U.S. officials that Abdel-Muhti fill out a form to gain entry to the West
Bank. He completed such a form in 1975, and Israel rejected it.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesman, Bill Strassberger, maintained
yesterday that Abdel-Muhti had been uncooperative by lying about his name
and country of origin.
"If someone does not provide information to us, it may become Kafkaesque,"
he said. "It's not to our benefit to keep anyone in detention longer than
needed to remove them. If anything is Kafkaesque, it's through his
behavior."
Yesterday, as a guest on the alternative radio station WBAI-FM (99.5),
Abdel-Muhti indulged in something he had not done for 718 days. Headphones
clapped on, he talked to an audience.
While detained, that was what he despaired of having: an audience. His only
link to the outside world - while being shuttled from jail to jail, nine
jails in total - was the telephone. He could call only numbers that he had
memorized, because guards took his phone book. And he could call only those
that would accept collect calls.
"The first thing I had to do was let my mind go away from the iron box,"
Abdel-Muhti said. "Physically, yes, they cut me off. But I try never to let
them defeat me psychologically."
Abdel-Muhti had been working at WBAI for a month before his arrest. He had
helped Wake-Up Call, the morning program on which he was a guest yesterday,
to arrange interviews during the second intifada with Palestinians, such as
the mayor of Ramallah.
Abdel-Muhti entered the United States illegally in the 1970s and was ordered
deported in 1995. For three decades, he circumvented U.S. immigration laws.
But he did not come to the attention of authorities again until after Sept.
11. He said he was arrested in retaliation for his work as an activist.
Yesterday on the radio, he spoke about Iraq and Palestine and how the
response to the 9/11 attacks had been "a nightmare to immigrants."
"Somebody steal the Constitution and the Bill of Rights of this country," he
said in an interview afterward. "The U.S. in this moment can't be a model"
to the world, he said. "I pay two years in jails. This is a schizophrenic
meaning. But I believe in this society, and we can work together to bring
the Bill of Rights to be running this country."
Abdel-Muhti said he planned to return to the Queens apartment where he had
been staying with an activist friend when federal agents arrested him. He
has a son who is a U.S. citizen.
Over the years, he has sold neckties and rugs as a street vendor. He is
still an illegal immigrant without a permit to work. The WBAI stint,
scheduled to resume Monday at 8:30 with a program devoted to Palestine, has
always been unpaid.
Beyond that, he does not know what the future holds. He can still be
deported, though his attorney said that was unlikely.
Shayana Kadidal, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, said:
"I think it would take a huge change in the political situation in the
Middle East for him to ever be sent back."
However, immigration authorities maintain that Abdel-Muhti could be deported
soon, citing a recent agreement with Israel that allows for Palestinians in
their registry to be accepted as deportees.
"I would predict his stay in the U.S. is coming to a close," said
Strassberger, the Department of Homeland Security spokesman.
=========================================================
10. Socialist Worker, 4/16/04
http://www.socialistworker.org/2004-1/495/495_02_Farouk.shtml
Defeat the witch-hunters
By Lucy Herschel | April 16, 2004 | Page 2
IN A victory for all of the immigrant detainees in George Bush's "war on terror," a federal judge last week ordered New York-based Palestinian activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti to be released. As Socialist Worker went to press on April 12, 2004, Abdel-Muhti had been released from an Atlanta penitentiary and was scheduled to board a plane to return home to New York City.
Federal officials secretly moved Abdel-Muhti from detention in New York to Atlanta--more than 800 miles from his family, friends and legal team--on April 5, holding him there virtually incommunicado. His supporters only learned of Abdel-Muhti's whereabouts last weekend, when he was finally allowed to call.
Abdel-Muhti was first detained in April 2002, one month after he began to work at the left-wing radio station WBAI in New York City, arranging live interviews with Palestinians living in the West Bank. He has been transferred numerous times to keep him away from family and supporters, and he has been assaulted and harassed by guards.
After almost two years of stalling, the government finally had to respond to Abdel-Muhti's lawyers last month. U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane ordered authorities to free Abdel-Muhti, agreeing that he was a "stateless man" who cannot be deported to the Occupied Territories, as the federal government has argued.
In her decision, Kane cited "the numerous letters of support and affidavits submitted in support of Petitioner." The Committee to Free Farouk Abdel-Muhti has organized rallies, letter-writing and other activities against this unjust detention. Abdel-
Muhti's release marks a tremendous victory against the Bush administration's war on immigrants and activists.
For information as it becomes available, call the Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti at 212-
674-9499, e-mail freefarouk@yahoo.com, or go to www.freefarouk.org on the Web.
=========================================================
11. NY Press, 4/21/04
[First paragraph of cover article, about Amy Goodman]
article:http://www.nypress.com/17/16/feature/feature.cfm
BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER
A Q & A with Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman.
By Alexander Zaitchik
AMY GOODMAN isn't the type to make a big deal of her own birthday. Intensely private with a Spartan work ethic, the founding host/ /of/ Democracy Now!/ would rather talk about news bias in America, then talk about it some more.
"I've never seen anyone work harder at a job," says colleague Juan Gonzalez. But when Goodman turned 47 on April 13, she found herself in front of a capacity crowd at Cooper Union's Great Hall, a crowd singing that corniest and most unserious of tunes-"Happy Birthday." The night was billed as celebrating a dual release: the release of Goodman's first book, and the release of /Democracy Now!/ contributor Farouk Abdel-Muhti from federal custody, where he had spent two years without trial and without being charged with any crime. When the singing subsided, Goodman blushed and quickly deflected any merrymaking onto this week's 55th anniversary of Lew Hill's inaugural broadcast on KPFA, Pacifica Radio's first station.
=========================================================
12. The Militant, 4/27/04
The Militant--April 27, 2004--Palestinian militant wins release from U.S. prison
X-URL: http://www.themilitant.com/2004/6816/681602.html
Vol. 68/No. 16 April 27, 2004
Palestinian militant wins release from U.S. prison
(front page)
BY SAM MANUEL
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Farouk Abdel-Muhti walked out of prison April 12,
two days after a U.S. judge ordered his release. The Palestinian
militant has faced deportation since he was arrested by immigration
cops in New York in April 2002.
For the past two years Abdel-Muhti, 57, has been locked up in
immigration jails in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. During this time,
the cops repeatedly harassed and threatened him, including by putting
him in the "hole." But their efforts to isolate and break him failed,
as the Palestinian revolutionary continued to speak out from behind
bars and to win international support for his fight to be released.
On April 10 U.S. district judge Yvette Kane ordered the Bureau of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) to free him within 10 days.
The conditions of his release include reporting regularly to
immigration officers, defense committee spokesman David Wilson told
the Militant. Back in New York, Abdel-Muhti appeared on WBAI radio the
day after his release.
After the judge's ruling, U.S. marshals flew the Palestinian to the
federal prison in Atlanta without the knowledge of his attorneys. For
four days he was kept incommunicado, until he was able to make a
five-minute phone call and reach members of his defense committee.
Abdel-Muhti, a longtime defender of Palestinian self-determination,
was arrested on April 26, 2002, by immigration and FBI cops who
claimed they were acting on the basis of a 1995 order to deport him
either to Jordan or to Israel. For 250 days he was held in solitary
confinement. The Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti
organized protests and a petitioning campaign for his release.
The judge's decision to order his release centered on whether he was
deportable in the "foreseeable future." In an earlier case the Supreme
Court set six months as a "reasonable" time for the government to
carry out a deportation order after appeals are exhausted. If that is
not possible, the government is required to provide a reason to
continue to keep them in jail. Failing that, they must be released
subject to conditions.
The judge rejected the government's argument that Abdel-Muhti should
remain in an jail because he had supposedly refused to cooperate with
the government to establish his identity or obtain travel documents
from Israel, Jordan, or the Palestinian National Authority. He had
"made a good faith effort" with the government's requests, she said.
Abdel-Muhti was born in 1947 in the West Bank town of Ramallah, which
at the time was ruled by the United Kingdom under a United Nations
mandate. Because he left the West Bank before the Israeli occupation
began in 1967, he cannot obtain travel documents from the Palestinian
National Authority, Jordan, or Israel.
The defense committee is planning to celebrate the release on April
26, the second anniversary of Abdel-Muhti's arrest. The committee can
be contacted at (212) 674-9499; e-mail freefarouk@yahoo.com.
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Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti
PO Box 20587, Tompkins Square Station, New York, NY 10009
Phone: 212-674-9499 * Email freefarouk@yahoo.com
Websites: www.freefarouk.org * freefarouk.netfirms.com
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