A judge called an FBI operative a 'villain.' Ruling comes too late for 2 convicted in terror sting

BY MICHAEL HILL

Updated 3:59 PM GMT +10, August 8, 2023

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - In a scathing ruling last month, a judge said the FBI had used a "villain" of an informant to manipulate a group of Muslim men into going along with a fictitious plot to destroy military planes and synagogues in New York City's suburbs. She ordered three released from prison, saying "the real lead conspirator was the United States."

Now, a man convicted in another sting carried out by the same FBI operative says he hopes the ruling will prompt U.S. prosecutors to review the fairness of similar counterterrorism operations carried out in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

"Hopefully this will be the first step for the Justice Department to review all those cases of conspiracy and entrapment," said Yassin Aref, a former imam who spent 14 years in federal custody in a case involving a business loan made to an Albany pizza shop owner and a made-up story about a Stinger missile.

Aref and the shop owner were arrested in 2004 in one of several FBI stings carried out by a paid civilian operative named Shahed Hussain, whose work has been criticized for years by civil liberties groups.

Hussain entered the U.S with his wife and two sons in the 1990s afer he was accused of murder - falsely, he once testified - in his native Pakistan. He settled in the Albany area and was working as a translator when he got caught helping someone get their driver's license illegally. In exchange for leniency, he started working for the FBI.

American law enforcement at the time was on a massive hunt for terrorist "sleeper cells" planning attacks on U.S. soil. Hussain worked with the FBI to approach people suspected of being sympathetic to Islamic militant groups and see if they could be talked into an illegal act.

One target was a group of four men from Newburgh, New York, who were arrested in 2009, convicted of plotting deadly antisemitic attacks and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Courts has upheld their convictions, finding they knowingly became eager participants in a plot to plant explosives at a Bronx synagogue. But when three of the four applied for compassionate release, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon granted the request, saying the FBI had sent a master manipulator "to troll among the poorest and weakest of men for 'terrorists' who might prove susceptible to an offer of much-needed cash in exchange for committing a faux crime."

In a ruling July 28, McMahon called them "hapless, easily manipulated and penurious petty criminals" who had no connection to any terrorist group and had "never remotely contemplated" violent extremist before they met Hussain.

The ruling resonated with defendants and attorneys in a case Hussain helped build in 2004 against two men involved with an Albany mosque, Aref and former pizza shop owner Mohammed Hossain.

Posing as a successful businessman, Hussain befriended Hossain, eventually offering to lend him $50,000 for his struggling business. But he also told the pizza parlor owner the money would come from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile, imported from China, to a group that wanted to kill a Pakistani diplomat in New York City.

Hossain later said he thought the talk about an attack was a joke and that the missile he was shown was a plumbing supply. For religious reasons, he asked his imam, Aref, to witness the business transaction, much like a notary.

Aref and Hossain, now free after serving long prison terms for money laundering concealing material support for an attack with a weapon of mass destruction and giving material support to a terrorist organization, say they were innocent.

"I was a businessman taking care of my children," Hossain told the Associated Press.

Defense lawyers said they were manipulated to take part in a deal they didn't understand.

"The government wanted to make me something big, to make me look like danger," said Aref, speaking to the AP from his native Iraq, where he now lives. When the FBI was not able to find real terrorists, he said, "then they created one."

The FBI declined to comment. Emails seeking comment were sent to the Department of Justice and the regional U.S. attorney's office.

At the time of the arrests, then-deputy attorney general James Comey said "we are working very, very hard to infiltrate the enemy." After their convictions, then-U.S. Attorney Glenn Suddaby said the pair were "prone to support terrorism."

But the Albany case became a prime example used by critics who believed the government overreacted in its response to 9/11. In their view, Hussain was not informing on potential terrorists, but pushing people toward illegal behavior.

Judge McMahon described Hussain as "most unsavory," saying he encouraged his naive targets with rhetoric and a large cash reward.

McMahon's government-led conspiracy criticism is "exactly the argument we were making," said Terence Kindlon, the attorney who represented Aref. Kindlon called a "contrived case" tried amid rage over 9/11.

Hussain is believed to have returned to Pakistan, but he maintained a limo company in upstate New York that was operated by a son. In 2018, one of the company's vehicles wrecked while carrying a group on a birthday outing, killing 20. Hussain's son was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to at least five years in prison after prosecutors presented evidence that the company had evaded safety regulations.

The FBI said in a prepared statement that it did not take any action that allowed the limousine company to operate, "nor did we take any action to interfere with the prosecution of the case."

Contact information for Hussain in Pakistan could not be found.

Aref, 53, was deported after his prison sentence but says he bears no ill will. His appeals attorney, Kathy Manley, said legal appeals are exhausted.

Hossain, 68, was released in 2020 and lives in Albany. He no longer has the pizza place, but maintains a handful of rental properties. He said the experience has left him with lingering fears.

"If I look back and I'm thinking about what has happened," he said, "it just makes me numb."

New York: Albany mosque imam convicted of terrorism is deported back to Iraq

Yassin Aref, an imam at an Albany mosque convicted of terrorism in a post-9/11 FBI sting, was deported Sunday night, his son and lawyer said.

Aref, who is Kurdish, will return to Iraq after 13 1/2 years in federal prison and eight months in immigration detention in Pennsylvania.

His son Salah Muhiddin said he received a call from his father around 3:45 p.m. Sunday telling him that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Aref to pack up his belongings and prepare to leave. A little later, the messaging system that he uses stopped working and ICE's detainee locator stopped listing him as a detainee.

Muhiddin was expecting a call anytime Sunday evening to confirm Aref was at the airport.

"If everything goes smoothly, he should be back in his home country as a free man tomorrow," Muhiddin said.

Aref's long-term lawyer Kathy Manley said at a hearing in federal court arguing for Aref's release last Friday, ICE said Aref would be deported soon.

"We were asking for him to be released because we didn't know when he was actually going to go. They said you don't need to do that, he'll be deported next week," Manley said.

Aref, who was imam at Masjid As-Salam on Central Ave., was convicted in October 2006 by a federal jury in Albany of conspiring to aid a terrorist group with Central Avenue pizza shop owner Mohammad Hossain, an immigrant from Bangladesh. Their 2004 arrest was based on recorded information gathered during an FBI counter-terrorism sting involving money laundering to purchase a shoulder-fired rocket launcher.

Prosecutors portrayed Aref as a religious fanatic. But Manley and others believe Aref's arrest was a case of entrapment.

In a twist in the story last year, the FBI confidential informant in Aref's case, Shahed Hussain, was the owner of the limousine company involved in the Schoharie crash that killed 20. His son, Nauman Hussain, now faces 20 counts of second-degree manslaughter and 20 counts of criminally negligent homicide related to the Oct. 6 crash. Shahed Hussain is believed to be in Pakistan.

On Sunday, Shamshad Ahmad, president of Masjid As-Salam, said about Aref: "We all desired deportation. We wanted him to go back and start a new life. I think his life was closed as soon as he was arrested and charged."

Manley and Ahmad both said they feared for Aref's safety in Iraq if the authorities learn about his case. If he doesn't face trouble, Ahmad said: "I think he will have a new life, a peaceful life and purposeful life."

#1yrago Inside America's illegal "Little Guantánamos"

Prisoners in America's notorious communication management units (called "CMUs" or "Little Guantánamos") are making great strides in their legal action against the US government over the prisons' illegal status, the illegally discriminatory detention of people in CMUs based on their political or religious beliefs, and their inhumane treatment of prisoners.

In this long, excellent piece, Annie P Waldman tells the story of how the CMUs were opened illegally, without the requisite public comment period, and how they've been used as a gulag to punish political and religious prisoners -- more than 70 percent of those imprisoned in CMUs are Muslim -- under inhumane conditions.

Waldman profiles one of the CMU prisoners, Yassin Aref, who has only held his youngest daughter twice since she was five. A Kurdish anti-Saddam Iraqi refugee, he served as an imam after migrating to the USA, and was caught in an FBI terrorism sting in which he agreed to witness a loan involving an paid FBI informant who had told the counterparty (but not Aref) that the money originated with an arms sale. Aref is serving 15 years in the CMU under conditions amounting to

Aref is one of the CMU prisoners who are the named plaintiffs in a surprisingly successful lawsuit against the US government.

https://boingboing.net/2014/03/25/inside-americas-illegal-li.html

Muslim man spent 15 years in prison after post-9/11 crackdown | Islamophobia News

Muslim man spent 15 years in prison after post-9/11 crackdown | Islamophobia News

Chamchamal, Kurdish region of northern Iraq – For Yassin M Aref, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is a sad reminder of 15 lost years spent in American prisons. Aref, 51, a Kurdish man and former mosque leader at the Masjid As-Salam in Albany, the capital of New York state, was arrested in 2004 on a conspiracy charge brought by the FBI in a “sting operation”. He was accused of aiding…

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Muslim man spent 15 years in prison after post-9/11 crackdown

Muslim man spent 15 years in prison after post-9/11 crackdown

Chamchamal, Kurdish region of northern Iraq – For Yassin M Aref, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is a sad reminder of 15 lost years spent in American prisons. Aref, 51, a Kurdish man and former mosque leader at the Masjid As-Salam in Albany, the capital of New York state, was arrested in 2004 on a conspiracy charge brought by the FBI in a “sting operation”. He was accused of aiding…

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Muslim man spent 15 years in prison after the September 11 crackdown | Islamophobia News

Muslim man spent 15 years in prison after the September 11 crackdown | Islamophobia News

Chamchamal, Kurdish region of northern Iraq – For Yassin M Aref, the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks is a sad reminder of 15 wasted years spent in American prisons. Aref, 51, a Kurdish and former mosque chief at Masjid As-Salam in Albany, the state capital of New York, was arrested in 2007 on a charge of conspiracy by the FBI in an “operation.” infiltration ”. He was accused of…

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How did Ruby steal the hearts of millions of Egyptians?

Ruby in ‘Leh Bedri Keda’ music video

“Girl on the Bike”, or “Bike Singer” was the nickname the Egyptians gave to Ruby after her first hit song.Leh Bedri Keda‘, (why does he hide like this) where she appeared singing and dancing in a music video which the Egyptian public then considered sexually provocative. As many people loved her performance in the video, Ruby was seen as too bold and caused an unforgettable publicity, mainly among the older, significantly more conservative generation.

Ruby, whose real name is Rania Hussain Muhammad Tawfiq, began her career in shame as a model, and starred in several television commercials. He then got a role in the great Yusuf Chahin’s film.sockout hansawar‘ (Silence, We Are Shooting) in 2001.

In 2003, his first music video ‘Anta Aref Leh‘ Public opinion sparked an uproar as she appeared in a belly-dancing outfit that was deemed inappropriate by many. Although belly-dancing is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, dance styles in Egypt, in her case it was looked down upon. their major hitsLeh Bedri Keda‘ hit the screens in 2004, cementing her as a singer on the exercise bicycle.

Although there were a few singles she released in later years, as well as a film in which she appeared, ‘al wadi‘ (The Promise), with Egyptian actors Mahmoud Yassin and Asr Yassin; She made a stellar appearance on the television screen in her role as ‘Reda’.according to nisha‘ (Women’s Jail) in 2014. Reda was a young working-class woman who suffered from social inequality and ended up in a women’s prison in a fit of rage where she committed arson. Through this character, Ruby displayed a captivating performance as a talented actress.

Ruby as ‘Reda’ in ‘Sagan El Nessa’

Despite being inactive for a few years in music releases or television and films, Ruby was never forgotten. In contrast, people always celebrated his presence, even if it was only for a few minutes. When actress and presenter Esad Younis announced that she was one of his guests on the New Year’s Eve 2020 episode.sahibat al sada’, his loyal fans were excited.

In a world where Western and globalized beauty standards are rampant, a strong ‘popular’ feature of ruby’s popularity is its ability to evoke the ‘natural Egyptian beauty’. With wide and bulging eyes, attractive facial features and a tanned skin, rubies have always represented the most commonly associated beauty standards with Egyptian women.

In February 2020, she appeared in a TV commercial for Molto, alongside Egyptian actors Maged El Kedwani and Ahmed Malek. Though it was a creative advertisement with a catchy song, it grabbed the headlines. The last few seconds of the ad, where she danced, left everyone wondering when she would be back on screen singing and dancing. Similarly, in Ramadan 2021, he starred alongside Egyptian actress Dina El Sherbini in an advertisement for Fresh; Her appearance in the ad was one of the main reasons for the success and virality of the ad.

Ruby in Molto’s viral TV ad

There was a time in December 2019 when a viral video of Ruby dancing on stage in a dazzling gold outfit was seen across the country in what looked like an outdoor party, which was later changed to the 2019 Cairo International party. as was revealed. Film Festival 2019 closing ceremony. At the time, the 20s and 30s, who had watched Ruby’s rise in the early 2000s, were delighted to see how she became more beautiful with age, showing off the same dance moves that she once enjoyed when she was younger. But there was love.

On the other hand, this summer was like a return to fame for Ruby. Till now, two songs released by him as part of his mini-album, ‘hetta tanya‘(somewhere else) and’albi plastic‘ (My Heart is Plastic), playing in all Egyptian weddings and nightclubs this season. His successful comeback has been accompanied by several concerts in the Sahel and Alamin – some of the biggest concerts held this summer – with thousands in attendance.

One of Ruby’s concerts at the Sahel 2021 photo via filfan

The 39-year-old artist’s fame cannot be attributed to his voice as his voice is not generally considered distinctive, yet, he holds a place in the hearts of millions of Egyptians for his sensual dance moves, his lively spirit when performing maintains. , and his unquestionable belief in his talent.

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Just in time for your snow day, last night’s SNACKPOINT CHARLIE has marinated overnight in the Podcast-o-Matic and is ready to eat — presto! Serve yourself a heaping helping at https://wavefarm.org/wf/archive/7tg3xv or via the Wave Farm iPhone app

Photo: Konstantin Vikhrov https://www.instagram.com/begushiy_po_ebenyam/

Snackpoint Charlie - Transmission 056 - 2020.12.16 PLAYLIST

1) Cuasares - “Pentatonik” from AFRO-PROGRESIVO https://www.discogs.com/Cuasares-Afro-Progresivo/master/1342793 https://guerssenrecords.bandcamp.com/album/afro-progresivo

2) Hallelujah Chicken Run Band - “Kare Nanhasi” from TAKE ONE https://analogafrica.bandcamp.com/album/take-one-2

3) The Toreadors - “Gwinyitshe” from THEMBI / GWINYITSHE https://mrbongo.bandcamp.com/album/thembi-gwinyitshe

(underbed) Pinetop Gherkins - “Requiem Base IX”

4) Andelucious Ensemble - “Hassebni Khoud Krak” from LIVE AT MUSICA VESHEKET STUDIO, JERUSALEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-jzhHWkYoU

5) አሰለፈች አሽኔ እና ጌጠነሽ ክብረት (Asselefech Ashine & Getenesh Kebret) - “መቼ ነው (Metche New [When])” from አሰለፈች አሽኔ እና ጌጠነሽ ክብረት (ASSELEFECH ASHINE & GETENESH KEBRET) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIkLzjGJxAW/ https://www.discogs.com/Aselefech-Ashine-Getenesh-Kebret-Aselefech-Ashine-Getenesh-Kebret/release/3257202

6) Shina Williams & His African Percussionists - “Gboro Mi Ro” from AFRICAN DANCES https://shinawilliamshisafricanpercussionists.bandcamp.com/

7) Bombino - “Midiwane (live)” from LIVE IN AMSTERDAM https://afropop.org/articles/bombino-live-video-premier-timtar https://bombino.bandcamp.com/

8) Bounaly - “Takamba” from MUSIC FROM SAHARAN WHATSAPP 10 https://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/p/CI4IO-gFPCg/

9) The Jesters and Jeff Clark - “Traveling Broadens One” from LITTLE SONGS ON BIG SUBJECTS https://www.discogs.com/The-Jesters-And-Jeff-Clark-Little-Songs-On-Big-Subjects/release/7696866

10) Emsallam - “عارف إنك (Aref Innak [I Know You Are]) (ft. Adan Wakeem)” from DYSLEXIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbZEE5S_PLI https://emsallam.bandcamp.com/ https://www.keiferecords.com

11) Yallah Bye - “Fik Naani (You're My Burden)” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dTFhcYmeXI https://www.jawharmusic.com/yallah-bye http://jawhar.bandcamp.com/

12) René Ufer & Lilian Treiberg - “Kajakad (Seagulls)” from TILK! UNUSTUSTE https://www.discogs.com/Rene-Ufer-Lilian-Treiberg-Unustuste-Tilk/release/11840888

(underbed) Pinetop Gherkins -“Not Your Dad's Mellotron”

13) Wau Wau Collectif - “Salamaleikoum” from YARAL SA DOOM https://wauwaucollectif.bandcamp.com/releases

14) Corpse of Discovery - “Collapse of the Magnetosphere” from CORPSE OF DISCOVERY WITH BRYAN ZIMMERMAN https://corpseofdiscovery.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/p/CIZPpL6FsJ0/ https://wavefarm.org/ta/archive/works/hq9yp7

15) Fred Lonberg-Holm - “Untitled” from LISBON SOLO https://noticerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/lisbon-solo

16) Allen Ravenstine - “110 in the Underpass” from ELECTRON MUSIC https://allen-ravenstine.bandcamp.com

17) Raed Yassin - “A Fistful of Stardust” from ARCHEOPHONY https://akuphone.bandcamp.com/album/archeophony

18) Yma Sumac - “Magic” from LEGEND OF THE JIVARO https://www.discogs.com/Yma-Sumac-Legend-Of-The-Jivaro/release/1291553

19) Sosena Gebre Eyesus - “አስር አውታር - Aser Awetar” from SOSENA GEBRE EYESUS https://littleaxerecords.bandcamp.com/album/sosena-gebre-eyesus

20) R. Reger - “Improv #18 for VCS3, Arp 2600, Moog Voyager, Mellotrons, Rainstick and Singing Bowls” https://rregerakaashenactuariesofasgardreeg2600.bandcamp.com/track/improv-18-for-vcs3-arp-2600-moog-voyager-mellotrons-rainstick-and-singing-bowls

(underbed) 21) Zoviet France - “The Death of Trees” (excerpt) from SHOUTING AT THE GROUND https://www.discogs.com/zoviet-france-Shouting-At-The-Ground/master/26285

22) 김영동 (Kim Young Dong) - “방황 (Long Road)” from 먼길 (LONG WAY) https://www.discogs.com/%EA%B9%80%EC%98%81%EB%8F%99-%EB%A8%BC%EA%B8%B8/master/1357511

23) JACASZEK - “Dance” from MUSIC FOR FILM https://www.discogs.com/Jacaszek-Music-for-Film/master/1706940

London imam's conviction for supporting terror is upheld

London imam’s conviction for supporting terror is upheld

A US appeals court on Tuesday upheld the conviction and life prison sentence given to a London imam for supporting terrorism.

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals said there was overwhelming evidence against Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, 60.

The court also ruled that Mustafa’s 2012 extradition to the U.S. from England didn’t come with conditions preventing his incarceration at the Supermax…

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Churchill: After Schoharie crash, more doubts about imam's conviction

Churchill: After Schoharie crash, more doubts about imam’s conviction

Yassin Aref in federal prison in 2016 (Provided photo)

Yassin Aref in federal prison in 2016 (Provided photo)

Yassin Aref in federal prison in 2016 (Provided photo)

Yassin Aref in federal prison in 2016 (Provided photo)

Churchill: After Schoharie crash, more doubts about imam’s conviction

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Communications Management Units: Prisons for Victims of the Domestic War on Terror

by Helen Schietinger, organizer for Witness Against Torture

A Prison Just for Muslims

When the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) created the first Communications Management Unit (CMU) in 2006, nobody outside the prison bureaucracy — not the prisoners sent there, not their lawyers, not the public — knew of its existence.  It was a prison within a medium security prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where Muslim men, some convicted of “terrorism-related crimes,” were being quarantined from the general prison population and cut off from their families and their communities.  The CMU is housed in what had been a decrepit, abandoned building in the prison compound: the closed death row facility that formerly held Timothy McVeigh. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) began researching  its existence when prisoner after prisoner wrote letters to them desperately seeking help from behind bars to have contact with their loved ones.  CCR then mounted a legal challenge in 2010.

When other prisoners and the outside world noticed what was happening, both CMUs (a second opened in Marion, Ohio) quickly became labeled “terrorist units” by those in the general prison population. Thus the domestic myth was reinforced that the government is punishing and segregating Muslim terrorists.  In media coverage the CMUs were called Little Gitmo and Guantanamo North, given that they housed Muslim men, but this also mirrored the myth that the notorious, offshore prison is keeping “the worst of the worst” terrorists off the battlefield.

CMUs differ from Guantanamo in a very significant way, however.  All the prisoners in CMUs have been convicted of crimes (many on the basis of FBI-paid informants — more about that later), while almost all prisoners in Guantanamo have never been tried or convicted. The few convictions have been in “military tribunals” in which defendants are denied proper due process.

The BOP plays a cat and mouse game to avoid having to disclose information about or close the CMUs.  After being challenged on the basis of religious discrimination, the prison administration began admitting non-Muslim “balancers” to the prison: environmental activists, organizers for prisoner rights, others who might want to “recruit and radicalize others.” Thus the CMUs were expanded into prisons for political activists and dissidents.  However, even today 60% of the prisoners are Muslim, while only 6% of the overall prison population is Muslim.

The CMUs were established without the requisite public notification, and prisoners were transferred to the units without being told where or why they were sent there. They were given no process by which to be restored to the general prison population.  Their contact with the outside world was severely limited: they were allowed much less time than other prisoners to speak by phone or have visits from their immediate families and were denied all physical contact with their family members during visits. Communication with friends and relatives beyond their immediate families was severely limited.

As CCR began developing its legal challenges regarding due process and First Amendment rights violations, BOP made some changes, such as minimal increases in time allowed for visitation and documentation of the procedures for assignment to and discharge from CMUs.  Thus, with CCR and public scrutiny the situation of CMU inmates did improve.  However, implementation of these new procedures remain arbitrary or nonexistent according to prisoners’ attorneys.

CCR’s case against the CMUs returns to court this summer, having been remanded to the lower (district) court. The district court judge is currently considering whether CMU procedures violate due process, and a decision is expected any time.  According to CCR attorney Rachel Meeropol, “The [appellate] court’s decision makes clear that the BOP cannot simply send anyone they want to a CMU, for any reason, without explanation, for years on end.”

What is it like in a CMU?

Prisoners continue to suffer in extreme isolation in these unique U.S. prison units.  While the legal challenge drags along, several aspects of the prisoners’ situations make their lives miserable.

First, they are stigmatized as terrorists:

CMU prisoners, within the larger prison system, and their families, in the community, are stigmatized with the terrorist label, in broad brush strokes by the press and in vague but vivid innuendo by their prosecutors. The families bear the burden of the label terrorist in their neighborhoods, schools and mosques. Other prisoners and prison staff perceive the CMU prisoners as terrorists.  This has a chilling effect on personal relationships, cutting them off from society on multiple levels.

Media coverage of the CMUs has led the public to believe that the government is protecting them from Muslims who must be segregated because they might otherwise commit terrorist acts, even while incarcerated.  Meanwhile, non-Muslim home-grown terrorists go unnamed as terrorists on a routine basis: Dylan Roof, who slaughtered nine African Americans in their own church, or Craig Stephen Hicks, who executed three of his Muslim neighbors.  (In fact, Hicks is housed in a county jail and the investigation into whether it was even a hate crime is crawling into its third year.)  Jeremy Christian, who murdered two people and injured a third in Portland, Oregon while verbally assaulting a woman in a hijab, has been called a white supremacist, but major media has not labelled him a terrorist.

According to the FBI, domestic terrorism involves “activities dangerous to human life that violate state or federal law and appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population.”.  Terrorist acts against people of color and people who are Muslim in the U.S. are blatant and in-your-face, and they are not conducted in a vacuum.  On June 10th there were nationwide “Marches  Against Sharia” sponsored by the anti-Muslim hate group ACT for America.

Second, their rights and privileges are drastically and unreasonably curtailed:

As has been described, the government is holding CMU prisoners under more restrictive conditions and environments than the general prison population without justification based on their behavior.  Their communication with the outside world is extremely restricted.  For example, CMU prisoners can be limited to 45 minutes of phone calls a month, compared to 300 minutes that are allowed inmates in the Florence ADX Supermax prison. Visits can be limited to 4 hours a month, compared to 35 hours a month for prisoners in Supermax prisons.   Visitors can be limited, and the visits are severely controlled and monitored.  These are non-contact visits, even with family: the men are not allowed to be in the same room with or to touch, much less hug, their loved ones. All family visits are conducted with a thick plate of glass between the person and his spouse and children.  All visits must be conducted in English unless permission is granted 10 days in advance.  Even outgoing mail can be restricted to six pages of per month.  Moreover, speech is regulated. CMU prisoners have been put in solitary confinement (called the SHU for Special Housing Unit) for complaining about their prison conditions.  Finally, there is continual video surveillance throughout the facilities.

Third, many prisoners didn’t DO anything harmful:

The CMU prisoners whom I’ve read about were victims of “preeemptive prosecutions.”  They were either enticed by paid informants into participating in the planning of what were described in court as future, never-enacted crimes, or they were convicted on bizarrely flimsy grounds for criminal offenses they were allegedly going to commit.  These convictions have led to long sentences in federal prison.  The stories of two men, highlighted in the next section, illustrate this new mechanism for prosecution.

Stories of Injustice

Yassin Aref

Let’s look at the story of Yassin Aref, a Muslim cleric who came to the U.S. with his wife Zuhur and their three children from Iraq as Kurdish refugees seeking asylum in 1999.  After 2003, the FBI began monitoring him but could not find any wrongdoing. They then assigned a Pakistani informant named Shahed Hussain, known as Malik, to get involved with a local businessman named Hossain who was also a supporter of Aref’s mosque.  The plan was to get Hossain to arrange for Malik to borrow $50,000 to buy a missile launcher, using a code word for the weapon, and in exchange he would receive $5,000 for his business.  Aref’s sole role in the transaction was to serve as witness, or notary, to the loan, a common role for him as imam.

And this is the chilling result :

To outside observers of the case, the details that emerged during the trial were troubling. The FBI testified that Aref knew the code word, linking him to the conspiracy, but according to recorded conversations, there was no evidence that either Malik or Hossain informed him of the term. And though Malik had shown a fake missile to Hossain, the FBI decided against showing it to Aref because they worried that he would be “spooked.”

The case, observers noted, ultimately lacked definitive evidence that Aref knew the true nature of the transaction, and the jury was directed to ignore the motives of the FBI’s investigation. As Judge Thomas J. McAvoy instructed them, “The FBI had certain suspicions, good and valid suspicions for looking into Mr. Aref, but why they did that is not to be any concern of yours.”

“I’m not only surprised that the jury convicted him, but I’m sure the judge was surprised too,” says Stephen Gottlieb, a professor at Albany Law School and author of Morality Imposed: The Rehnquist Court and Liberty in America. “They basically turned two decent men into criminals.”

His attorney Manley believes he lost on emotional grounds. “I think the fear got to [the jury]. They ended up convicting him out of fear that he might be some kind of shadowy bad guy.” Steve Downs, another member of Aref’s legal team, attributes it to what he calls “the Muslim exception.” The emotion and politics of 9/11 had, they argue, altered the threshold for what constituted reasonable doubt.

Aref was convicted of providing material support to a terrorist organization by helping finance the purchase of the missile. Currently serving a 15-year sentence, he was in a CMU for four years but is now in a low security prison in Pennsylvania.

Rafil Dhafir

And then there’s the story of Rafil Dhafir, MD, an oncologist in upper New York State who ran a Muslim charity called Help the Needy (HTN) for thirteen years.  It raised millions of dollars to send to Iraq’s vulnerable citizens during the time of economic sanctions leading up to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.  He was arrested and accused of terrorism related to his charity, but was ultimately convicted of violating the economic sanctions against Iraq, money laundering, and Medicare fraud. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison and served several years of that sentence in the Terre Haute CMU.  Although no terrorism charges were ever brought against Dhafir, he is on the government’s list of successful terrorism convictions.

A comprehensive Truth-out article describes the use of Dhafir as an example of the government’s success in apprehending terrorists.  The media hysteria was fanned by politicians and law enforcement alike:

At approximately 6:30 AM on February 26, 2003, upstate New York oncologist Dr. Rafil Dhafir pulled out of his driveway in Fayetteville, heading to his practice in the underserved area of Rome; he has never returned. Just moments later, he was pulled over and arrested by two federal investigators and a New York state trooper on charges that he had violated International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by sending food and medicine for 13 years through his charity Help the Needy (HTN) to sick and starving Iraqi civilians. Back at the house he had just left, Mrs. Dhafir was now standing in her entryway with five guns pointed at her head after government agents broke down the door because she had failed to answer quickly enough.

The arrests were accompanied by a media circus: helicopters hovering over Dhafir’s house and all day-reports of the comings and goings of 80 federal agents. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that “funders of terrorism have been arrested” and Gov. George Pataki claimed the arrests proved the existence of “… terrorists living here in New York state among us … who are supporting or aiding and abetting those who would destroy our way of life and kill our friends and neighbors.”

According to a recent statement by Katherine Hughes, who has closely followed his case:

Dr. Dhafir is currently in his 15th year of a 22-year prison sentence for a crime he was never charged with in a court of law: money laundering to help terrorist organizations. His real crime was sending food and medicine, for 13 years, to sick and starving Iraqi civilians during the brutal US and UK-sponsored UN embargo on that country.

Dr. Dhafir is yet another Muslim man who was imprisoned in the CMU in Terre Haute, Indiana, another victim of the “War on Terror.”

Communications Management Units: Prisons for Victims of the Domestic War on Terror was originally published on Witness Against Torture

Jag har försökt göra en sammanställning över svenska IS-krigare som stupat. Ni får gärna komplettera/uppdatera listan. Jag har endast tagit med personer där det finns ett namn kopplat till uppgiften om att en person stupat. Abbas ?, Göteborg (Bergsjön), ?-2013 Abdeljalil Joumane, "Jalil", Göteborg (Angered), 1990-2014 Abdelkarim Khsassis, Göteborg (Angered), ?-2014 Abdul Ghameed Abbas, "Abu Bakr", Göteborg (Bergsjön), ?-2014 "Abu Mohammad al-Baghdadi", Stockholm, ?-2013 Abo Zubair, Stockholm, ?-2014 Adam Samir Wali, ?, ?-? Ahmed Hassan, "Abu Bilal Swedi", Fisksätra, 1989-2014 Alaa Yasin, "Alaa Lowlow", Göteborg (Bergsjön), 1990-2014 Ali ?, Göteborg (Angered), ?-2013 Bherlin Gildo, Göteborg (Hisings-Backa), 1978-2013 Bilal Sellman, "Abu Ismael", Stockholm (Alby), 1994-2013 El Moatassem Billah El Hassan, Borås, ?-2013 Farah Osman, Örebro, 1990-2015 Hamza Alisici, "Abu Amin", Göteborg, ?-2013 (ej svensk medborg) Hassan ?, Göteborg (Angered), ?-2013 Hassan Dib, Borås, 1993-2013 Jiro Mehho, "Abu Omar", Halmstad, 1976-2013. Jonas Aref El Hassan, Göteborg (Bergsjön), 1989-2013 Kamal Badri, "Abu Kamal", Göteborg (Bergsjön), 1990-2013 Liban Qadar, Örebro, 1991-2015 Moalim Khalid, ?, ?-? Moatasem Dib, Borås, 1994-2013 Mohammed Al-Hasan, "Abu Dharr", Göteborg, -2013 Monzer El Hassan, Borås, ?-2014 Muhamed Kopriva, "Abu Omar", Göteborg (Angered), 1991-2013 Muhammed Ali Al-Hassan, Trollhättan, 1991-2013 Nabil Sadek, Göteborg (Tuve), ?-2014 Nasir ?, Göteborg (Bergsjön), ?-2013 Omar Shahade, Göteborg (Angered), 1987-2013 Otman El Khamlichi, Stockholm (Tensta), 1979-2013 (ej svensk medborg) Taha Shade, "Abu Ibrahim", Göteborg (Bergsjön), 1987-2014 Yassin Ben Salah, Göteborg, ?-2013

Trump escolheu os países errados? Não é bem assim.

72 terroristas condenados vieram de um dos sete países temporariamente bloqueados

De acordo com as informações compiladas por uma comissão do Senado americano, pelo menos 72 pessoas condenadas por crimes relacionados ao terrorismo desde os ataques de 11 de setembro de 2001 eram provenientes de algum dos sete países relacionados na ordem executiva de Donald Trump sobre imigração.

Em junho de 2016, a Subcomissão do Senado para Imigração e Interesse Nacional divulgou um relatório sobre pessoas condenadas em casos de terrorismo desde 2001. Usando fontes públicas, porque a administração Obama se recusou a prover registros oficiais, constatou-se que eram estrangeiros 380 dos 580 condenados pela Justiça no período, por terrorismo. Foi feita uma lista contendo o nome dos criminosos, data da condenação, filiação a grupo terrorista, acusações criminais, pena, estado de residência e histórico de imigração.

A partir desses dados, o Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), uma entidade independente que faz pesquisas sobre imigração para os Estados Unidos, encontrou 72 indivíduos condenados por terrorismo cujo país de origem está na lista da ordem executiva de Trump: Iêmen, Irã, Iraque, Líbia, Síria, Somália e Sudão. Os pesquisadores do Senado não conseguiram obter informações completas sobre cada terrorista. Portanto, é possível que mais terroristas sejam originários desses países.

Os números por país são os seguintes:

Somália 20 Iêmen 19 Iraque 19 Síria 7 Irã 4 Líbia 2 Sudão 1 Total 72

Pelo menos 17 desses indivíduos chegaram à América como refugiados. Três entraram com visto de estudante e um com passaporte diplomático. 25 desses imigrantes se tornaram cidadãos americanos. Dez tinham permissão legal permanente de residência e quatro eram imigrantes ilegais.

Trinta e três foram condenados por crimes graves, como uso de uma arma de destruição em massa, conspiração para cometer um ato de terrorismo, apoio material a um terrorista ou a um grupo terrorista, conspiração para lavagem internacional de dinheiro, posse de mísseis ou explosivos e posse ilegal de arma automática.

Seguem alguns dados da lista dos 72 terroristas.

Nome País de origem Organização terrorista Issa Dorch Somália Al-Shabaab Basaaly Saeed Moalin Somália Al-Shabaab Ahmed Nasir Taalil Mohammud Somália Al-Shabaab Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud Somália Al-Shabaab Mohamed Osman Mohamud Somália Al-Qaeda Siavosh Henareh Irã Hezbollah Mahamud Said Omar Somália Al-Shabaab Manssour Arbabsiar (aka Mansour) Irã Qods Force (Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Mohanad Shareef Hammadi Iraque Al-Qaeda in Iran (AQI) Ahmed Hussein Mahamud Somália Al-Shabaab Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame Somália Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Waad Ramadan Alwan Iraque Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) Nima Ali Yusuf Somália Al-Shabaab Mohamud Abdi Yusuf Somália Al-Shabaab Amina Farah Ali Somália Al-Shabaab Hawo Hassan Somália Al-Shabaab Omer Abdi Mohamed Somália Al-Shabaab Mohamed Mustapha Ali Masfaka Síria Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development Pirouz Sedaghaty Irã Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Abdel Azim El-Siddig Sudão Islamic American Relief Agency Abdow Munye Abdow Somália Al-Shabaab Ali Mohamed Bagegni Líbia Islamic American Relief Agency Ahmad Mustafa Iraque Islamic American Relief Agency Zeinab Taleb-Jedi Irã Mujahideen-e-Khalz (MEK) Mohamed Al Huraibi Iêmen Hezbollah Yehia Ali Ahmed Alomari Iêmen Hezbollah Saleh Mohamed Taher Saeed Iêmen Hezbollah Mohammed Ali Hasan Al-Moayad Iêmen Hamas Mohammed Moshen Yahya Zayed Iêmen Hamas Salah Osman Ahmed Somália Al-Shabaab Mohammed Abdullah Warsame Somália Al-Qaeda Wesam Al Delaema Iraque Monzer Al Kassar Síria FARC Emadeddin Muntasser Líbia Mujahideen-e-Khalz (MEK) Nuradin M. Abdi Somália Al-Qaeda Yassin Muhiddin Aref Iraque Ansar al-Islam Saleh Alli Nasser Iêmen Monassser Omian Iêmen Sadik Omian Iêmen Jarallah Wasil Iêmen Elmeliani Benmoumen Iraque Ahmed Hassan Al-Uqally Iraque Abad Elfgeeh Iêmen Al-Qaeda and Hamas Aref Elfgeeh Iêmen Al-Qaeda and Hamas Ali Mohammed Al Mosalch Iraque Omar Abdi Mohammed Somália Rafil Dhafir Iraque Numan Maflahi Iêmen Al-Qaeda Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Hamdi Iêmen Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET) Mukhtar Al-Bakri Iêmen Al-Qaeda Enaam M. Arnaout Síria Al-Qaeda Mohamed Albanna Iêmen Nageeb Abdul Jabar Mohamed Al-Hadi Iêmen Hussein Al Attas Iêmen Al-Qaeda Mohadar Mohammed Abdoulah Iêmen Al-Qaeda Nabil Al-Marabh Síria Al-Qaeda Mohammed Husssein Somália Al-Qaeda Mohammed Ibrahim Refai Síria Omer Salmain Saleh Bakarbashat Iêmen Hadir Awad Síria Mustafa Kilfat Síria Mohamed Abdi Somália Kamel Albred Iraque Haider Alshomary Iraque Wathek Al-Atabi Iraque Hatef Al-Atabi Iraque Fadhil Al-Khaledy Iraque Mohammed Alibrahimi Iraque Haider Al Tamimi Iraque Ali Alubeidy Iraque Alawai Hussain Al-Baraa Iraque Mustafa Al-Aboody Iraque

Fonte: http://cis.org/vaughan/study-reveals-72-terrorists-came-countries-covered-trump-vetting-order

Revisado por Maíra Pires @mairamacpires

Trump escolheu os países errados? Não é bem assim. was originally published on Reaçonaria

http://www.change.org/petitions/a-victim-of-mistaken-identity

Yassin Aref, a Kurdish imam, was entrapped by a criminal con artist hired by the FBI. Despite no evidence that Yassin supported any terrorist activity, the post-9/11 climate made the jury afraid to acquit him or his co-defendant, Mohammed Hossain. (For more information on Yassin and his case, see this article in New York Magazine, 'Little Gitmo.' )

Through a recent FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) request, Yassin's defense attorneys learned about secret evidence that misidentified Yassin as an Al-Qaeda agent. This evidence, which led to his conviction, was apparently shown to the trial judge and appeal court, but not to the defense.

The government convicted the wrong man. Yassin is not a terrorist.

Now the defense has prepared a motion to reopen the case based on this dramatic new evidence of mistaken identity. We are asking you to sign a petition to the judge who will, we hope, consider this motion. The petition requests that the judge give serious consideration to Yassin's motion to reopen the case.

To publicize the importance of this motion, and to emphasize to the judge that Albany has not forgotten this case, Lynne Jackson, accompanied by other supporters, will walk 133 miles from Yassin's home city of Albany, New York to hand-deliver the petition to the judge, who is located in Binghamton, New York.

The "Journey for Justice" sponsored by Project SALAM (Support and Legal Advocacy for Muslims, www.projectsalam.org) will start at 6:00 PM on Friday, July 12, 2013 at the Masjid As-Salam in Albany, New York and end on Tuesday, July 23 at 11:00 AM at the Federal Court House, 15 Henry Street, Binghamton, New York.

Please sign our petition to the judge, asking him to seriously consider reopening Yassin's case.