HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
>Date: Mon, 01 Jul 2002 15:48:05 -0500 >From: Cameron McLaughlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Rolf Martens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: Fwd: FBI torture of Muslims in US > >The New York Times ran a story about the guy whose jaw was broken >and then was refused medical care, but I haven't been able to find it. It >may be archived already or has been pulled. > >Here is another account of Pakistani detention from that same >FreePalestine digest (2666): > >>Saturday, 29 June, 2002, 19:44 GMT 20:44 >>UK Pakistanis tell of US prison horror >>Observers say anti-US feeling is likely to rise >>By Owais Tohid BBC reporter in Islamabad Pakistanis repatriated in >>recent days say they have suffered months of "degradation" and >>"abuse" in prisons across the United States. >>I was shackled and handcuffed - completely bound - and questioned >>as if I were an associate of Osama Bin Laden >>Mufeed Khan >>Los Angeles resident >>Some 131 Pakistanis, many who had lived in the US for years, were >>deported and flown home two days ago - most charged by US >>immigration with overstaying their welcome and having invalid >>documents. All were detained in the months after the 11 September >>attacks on New York and Washington last year. The deportees >>arrived in Islamabad late on Thursday aboard a chartered Portuguese >>airliner, and were allowed to go to their homes. >>Pakistan is co-operating with America... and America in return is >>treating Pakistanis as terrorists >>Jahanzeb Zulfikar >>Iowa resident >>They accuse the US of forcibly sending them back following 11 >>September, and say the treatment meted out to them in prisons >>and in detention was inhuman and unjust. "I was treated as a >>terrorist. I was psychologically tortured in the prison," 35-year-old >>Mufeed Khan told the BBC on Saturday. "I was shackled and >>handcuffed - completely bound - and questioned as if I were an >>associate of Osama Bin Laden." >>Dream sours >>Mr Khan had lived in America for 11 years and ran a small >>business in Los Angeles before his detention in February this >>year. US attorney-general has led crackdown >>"For me America was the dreamland. I used to think that I was >>lucky to live in a liberal and democratic country. But the dreamland >>became hell for me after 11 September," he says. "Even if I was >>not carrying valid documents to stay there, I did not deserve such >>treatment. "I was treated badly because I am a Muslim. "Carrying >>a Muslim name should not be a crime. Not every Muslim is an >>extremist or a terrorist." >>'Injustice' >>Like Mr Khan most of the deportees complained of ill treatment by >>the US authorities. Before 11 September we were Pakistani >>Americans - now we have become aliens who want to destroy >>America >>Arshad Mehmood >>Chicago resident >>Jahanzeb Zulfikar, 28, is one of them. He had been detained since >>April. He says he went to the US on a student visa when he was >>just 17 years old, and was living in Iowa. "I never thought I would >>be put through such mental torture. My rights were abused, m >>dignity violated and self-respect insulted and compromised in the >>detention centre," Mr Zulfikar told the BBC. "Pakistan is co-operating >>with America in its fight against terrorists - and America in return is >>treating Pakistanis as terrorists. "Isn't this injustice?" >>Tough laws >>In the aftermath of 11 September, strict legislation regarding >>immigration was introduced in the US. It gave sweeping powers to >>law enforcement agencies to detain people without charge. Many, >>even within the US, say the measures are "draconian". Hundreds of >>thousands of Pakistanis are still living in America. Since the 1980s, >>going to America has been a dream for many teenagers who want to >>make their fortunes in the United States. The exodus continued until >>recently. Many families have moved in their entirety, and are living >>there illegally. >>'Friend of Osama' >>But those who have been deported say the US authorities want to >>demoralise and discourage Pakistanis from staying in America. >>Pakistan has been integral to the coalition against terror. This will >>influence public opinion Mohammad Riaz, analyst Arshad Mehmood, >>who lived in Chicago for almost a decade, has now been sent back. >>"For them (the American authorities) every Pakistani is now an >>activist of the Taleban or a friend of Osama. They do not want us to >>live over there. "Before 11 September we were Pakistani Americans - >>now we have become aliens who want to destroy America," Mehmood >>says. "They have deported me and allowed my wife and two children >>to stay in America. "Obviously we cannot live our lives like this. Soon >>my wife and children are coming to Pakistan," he says. >>'Betrayed' >>Pakistani officials say they are expecting more Pakistani deportees >>from America. The families and friends of those detained or deported >>are embittered by these accounts. There already exists anti-American >>sentiment in certain elements of society. Observers believe these >>accounts will further spur such feelings, even among those who were >>not initially hostile. "Most of these people are educated. They moved >>there for better economic opportunities," says one analyst, Mohammad >>Riaz. "Now people hear of them being treated as criminals. "They will >>feel betrayed, since Pakistan has been integral to the coalition against >>terror. This will influence public opinion." > >-- >"I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and >real freedom of discussion as in America." --Alexis de Tocqueville > >"There is no country in which people live under more overpowering >compulsions... You must wave, you must shout, you must go with the >irresistible crowd: otherwise, you will feel like a traitor, a soulless >outcast, >a deserted ship high and dry upon the shore...In a country where all men >are free, every man finds that what most matters has been settled for >him beforehand." --George Santayana > >"Gradually but unmistakably America is showing signs of that arrogance >of power-the tendency of great nations to equate power with virtue and >major responsibilities with a universal mission-which has affected, >weakened and in some cases destroyed great nations in the past. In >so doing, we are not living up to our capacity and promise as a >civilized example for the world; the measure of our falling short is the >measure of the patriot's duty of dissent. And, in a democracy, dissent >is an act of faith." --J. William Fulbright --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
