Rabih Haddad, a 41-year-old Muslim relief worker from Lebanon, was held in solitary confinement for four months at the Metro Correctional Center in Chicago without ever having been charged for any serious crime. In December of 2001, immigration agents took him into custody and imprisoned him after they suspected that he was involved with terrorist groups. His wife and four children were granted minimal contact as the reasons for his incarceration were kept secret.
The Justice Department has at every turn suppressed public-records requests about the government's case against Haddad. The Justice Department argued that making his case public would \present a danger to national security."" The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied the government's request to suppress Haddad's transcripts after U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the government to force them to open the hearings concerning Haddad. After pressure from legislators and anti-discrimination groups, Haddad was taken out of solitary confinement in March and was moved into the general prison population.
The federal government partially made public the records of their case against the Muslim cleric. Transcripts of his past immigration hearings were made public, but a detailed account of the charges made by the FBI was not included. The Justice Department continues to seek to close his future hearings from the public. A spokesperson for the department told The New York Times April 21, ""We will ask the court to close the hearing and enter evidence without public disclosure."" Many of the documents that were made public offered no clear evidence of wrongdoing.
Haddad's lawyer, Ashraf Nubani, contends that his defendant has been harshly punished for being a Muslim cleric. Haddad is the chairman of the Global Relief Foundation, a Muslim charity whose assets were frozen by the federal government. The relief foundation has denied it has ties with any terrorist organization and is suing several news media organizations for defamation, including The New York Times Company. A civil rights lawsuit has also been brought against the U.S. government.
Thousands of Arab Americans and their families faced similar abuses by our government after Sept. 11. Racial profiling and justice for immigrants have been central issues attracting tens of thousands of demonstrators to the nation's capital since the detainment of more than 1,000 Middle Eastern immigrants. Just last weekend, more than 50,000 demonstrators marched onto the nation's capital to rally against racism and war. The march culminated in a massive rally near the White House that centered on rights for Palestinians and an end to U.S. military aggression in the Middle East and Colombia.
The battle for full human and civil rights is now emerging in Madison. On Saturday, April 27, several civil rights organizations will march on the Wisconsin Capitol to ""Defend Civil Liberties"" and ""End Racial Profiling."" Demonstrators will march in favor of passing the ""End Racial Profiling Act of 2001,"" a bill sponsored by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. Repealing the U.S.A. Patriot Act of 2001 will also be a focus of the rally as concerns across the nation have surfaced about the deliberate targeting of immigrants by government officials. Activists are also calling on elected officials of Wisconsin to enact statewide legislation to end racial profiling.
In the case of Rabih Haddad, campaigns from both community activists and legislators were vital to opening the issues of his detention to the public. The federal government was pressured to comply with due process legal rights that should be entitled to everyone. Our government should never have to hold anything secret from the public, especially if it involves human rights violations and unconstitutional detainment.
The demonstration Saturday, April 27, will begin at 12:30 p.m. at Brittingham Park on West Washington Avenue. It will then march via Park Street, Library Mall and onto the capitol steps of State Street at 2 p.m. where there will be speakers and music.
