|
American Muslims alarmed at the new
profiling policy
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
ccun.org, July 6, 2008
American Muslim community is alarmed at the proposed Justice
Department policy change that would allow the FBI to investigate
Americans without evidence of wrongdoing, relying instead on a
terrorist profile that could single out Muslims and Arabs.
Under the new guidelines, which are expected to be implemented later
this summer, the FBI would be permitted to consider race and
ethnicity when opening an investigation, according to an Associated
Press report.
Agents would also be allowed to ask open-ended questions about the
activities of American Muslims and Arab-Americans, and could
initiate an investigation if a person's employment or background is
labeled as "suspect" by government analysts looking at public
records and other information.
Currently, FBI agents need specific reasons ― like evidence or
allegations that a law probably has been violated ― to investigate
U.S. citizens and legal residents. The new policy, law enforcement
officials said, would let agents open preliminary terrorism
investigations after mining public records and intelligence to build
a profile of traits that, taken together, were deemed suspicious.
The policy changes would allow FBI agents to ask open-ended
questions about activities of Muslim- or Arab-Americans, or
investigate them if their jobs and backgrounds match trends that
analysts deem suspect.
Among the factors that could make someone subject of an
investigation is travel to regions of the world known for terrorist
activity, access to weapons or military training, along with the
person's race or ethnicity.
American Muslim organizations and civil right groups have expressed
deep concern over the proposed policy changes.
American Muslim Voice (AMV) founding Executive Director, Samina
Faheem Sundas, while expressing concern over the proposed policy,
said that the seven-million strong American Muslim community has
seen erosion of its civil rights in the post-9/11 America and
profiling of Muslims has now become institutionalized.
"Official profiling of Muslims and Arabs began with the Attorney
General Ashcroft's announcement in November 2001 to target about
5,000 young men of Middle Eastern and South Asian heritage who
entered the country in the last two years on non-immigrant visas but
who were not suspected of any criminal activity for questioning by
the federal government," she said.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) National
Executive Director Kareem Shora urged Americans not tolerate in any
way profiling based on race, religion, ethnicity, or national
origin. "We will continue to address this issue until we can
confirm that these new guidelines do not violate our constitutional
principles of justice, freedom, due process, and equality under the
rule of law," he added.
The Arab American Institute (AAI) President Dr. James Zogby said
that millions of Americans who, under the reported
new parameters, could become subject to arbitrary and
subjective ethnic and religious profiling. "This will
compromise basic civil liberties and constitutional protections,
having a negative impact not only on the affected communities, but
on the United States' overall effort to combat terrorism," said
Zogby.
The National Legislative Director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, Corey Saylor, said "Initiating criminal investigations
based on racial or religious profiling is both unconstitutional and
un-American." He said any new Justice Department guidelines
must preserve the presumption of innocence that is the basis of our
entire legal system.
"These guidelines seem to be emanating from the DOJ's criminal
division, which has failed to meet with our groups," said Salam Al-Marayati,
Executive Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). "If
implemented as described in media reports, these new guidelines will
make suspects out of our communities and strike a blow to more than
seven years of constructive engagement with law enforcement
officials."
The FBI will be allowed to begin investigations simply "by assuming
that everyone's a suspect, and then you weed out the innocent," said
Caroline Fredrickson of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Arab, Muslim and other civil rights organizations contacted John
Miller, FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs, to raise alarm
and opposition to any form of racial or religious profiling which
violate Constitutional principles of equal protection under the law.
Miller said that the Department of Justice is still in the process
of drafting the guidelines. "Any review and change to the guidelines
will reflect our traditional concerns for civil liberties, the First
Amendment, and our emphasis on using the least intrusive instigative
tools possible," he added.
He urged the civil rights group against jumping to conclusions,
especially those based on conjecture by people who have not seen the
new guidelines, since a final draft is not complete.
According to the AP report, Attorney General Michael Mukasey
acknowledged the overhaul was under way in early June, saying the
guidelines sought to ensure regulations for FBI terror
investigations don't conflict with ones governing criminal probes.
He would not give any details. "It's necessary to put in place
regulations that will allow the FBI to transform itself ... into an
intelligence gathering organization in addition to just a crime
solving organization," Mukasey told reporters.
The Associated Press said although the guidelines do not require
congressional approval, House members recently sought to limit such
profiling by rejecting an $11 million request for the FBI's security
assessment center. Lawmakers wrote it that was unclear how the FBI
could compile suspect profiles "in such a way as to avoid needless
intrusions into the privacy of innocent citizens" and without
wasting time and money chasing down false leads.
The denial of funding could limit the FBI's use of profiles, or
"predictive models and patterns of behavior" as the government
prefers to describe the data-mining results, but would not change
the guidelines authorizing them. The guidelines would remain in
effect until a new attorney general decided to change them.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Executive Editor of the
online magazine of American Muslim Voice:
www.amperspective.com
email: asghazali@gmail.com
==========================
CAIR Calls New FBI Profiling Policy 'Un-American'
Posted 7/3/2008 2:22:00 PM
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/3/2008) -
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today termed
"unconstitutional and un-American" a proposed Justice Department
policy change that would allow the FBI to investigate Americans
without evidence of wrongdoing and could permit religious and ethnic
profiling.
Under the new guidelines, which are expected to be implemented
later this summer, the FBI would be permitted to consider race and
ethnicity when opening an investigation. Agents would also be
allowed to ask open-ended questions about the activities of American
Muslims and Arab-Americans, and could initiate an investigation if a
person's employment or background is labeled as "suspect" by
government analysts looking at public records and other information.
The FBI currently needs specific evidence or allegations of
wrongdoing before it can investigate a U.S. citizen or permanent
resident.
SEE:
Terrorist Profile Could Single Out Muslims, Arabs (AP) "Any new
Justice Department guidelines must preserve the presumption of
innocence that is the basis of our entire legal system," said CAIR
National Legislative Director Corey Saylor. "Initiating criminal
investigations based on racial or religious profiling is both
unconstitutional and un-American."
He noted that top administration officials, including President
Bush, have in the past denounced such profiling.
Saylor urged Americans of all faiths and backgrounds to contact
the White House and their elected representatives to speak out in
favor of the protection of civil liberties.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 35
offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to
enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect
civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that
promote justice and mutual understanding
CONTACT:
CAIR National Legislative Director Corey P. Saylor, 202-384-8857,
E-Mail: csaylor@cair.com;
CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper,
202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726,
E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com;
CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787,
E-Mail: arubin@cair.com
http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?mid1=777&&ArticleID=25092&&name=n&&currPage=1
|
