Political Prisoners in the United States by Dr. Agha Saeed, AMA Chairman

Dear Bothers and Sisters, in particular, Sister Sara, Sister Cynthia, and Sister Fowzia,
Assalamu Aliakum
I am going to limit my comments to 3 brief points
1. Today, both Pakistan, the country of my origin, and the US, my adopted homeland, are in deep turmoil. Yet there is one major, substantial, significant and consequential difference between the two.
To paraphrase Prof Ali Mazrui, one of the most profound thinkers of this age, while Pakistan is a “pre-democratic” country that is slowly transforming itself into fledgeling democracy, the US is fast becoming a “post-democratic” country, a country that is beginning to shed the foundational features of democracy, namely, habeas corpus, due process and equal justice.
2. The negative consequences for Muslims, Christian Arabs, Sikhs, and others did not begin on Sept. 11, but only intensified.
The Secret Evidence clause in 1996 Anti-Terrorist Act had already compromised civil rights for Muslims. For example, my good friend Dr Mazen al Najjar was kept imprisoned in the United States for 3 1/2 years without a trial.
This attack on fundamental human rights was sustained by the 1999 Supreme Court decision in ADC vs. Reno, which stipulated that anyone who is not a citizen has no protection against selective persecution.
Thus the constitutional protection afforded to “person” were made available only to the US citizen.
But since 9/11, the US has gone from secret evidence to no evidence at all and to open racism.
As a consequence, dozens of Muslim American political prisoners are languishing in US prisons.
Today, while our most highly respected Sister, Dr. Aafia, is the most prominent “prisoner of war”, Dr. Sami Al-Arian is the most distinguished “political prisoners in the United States,
The basic crisis of civil rights today is not airport profiling but the denial of due process and of equality before the law. The most central issue is the profiling of Muslim-Americans’ thoughts, consciences, and beliefs.
Yet, the heaviest blow to democracy has been dealt by a Democratic President: exactly a year ago, in December 2011, President Obama had signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which allows the US military to arrest any US citizen without explanation and hold them indefinitely without trial.
It also gives the US president the power to order execution of any US citizen without trial. He has exercised that power to order the execution of three Muslim Americans. The US military has executed those order without a moment’s hesitation.
3. There have been positive post-9/11 signs as well including a more than 300 percent increase in conversion to Islam.
This is seemingly counterintuitive, but can be easily traced to the global interest in Islam.
Today, the entire world is having a conversation about Islam, with many finding it has much to offer. The Qur’an is the most read religious text and Rumi, the most widely road poet in the north America.
The last decade has forced Muslims to come out of their cocoons and learn about other struggles. It has cemented the relationship between immigrant Muslims and American Muslims.
Today, we are participant-observers to the emergence of a truly “consequential” coalition between Muslim Americans and a wide array of fellow Americans, such as Congressperson Cynthia McKinney and Ms Sara Flounders
Allow me to conclude with a quote from an article in the Washington Report, dated November, 2002.
“Dr Saeed called those Fellow Americans “who have sacrificed their political careers through commitment to principles and dignity, such as Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA),” and Mr Ramsey Clark, the foundation of the coalition and the “most honorable people in this country.”
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1 Comment
Dr. Saeed’s article is succint and raises some very important points about the future of democracy in the U.S., egregious, unlawful human rights violations, including murder without trial ordered at the highest level. The article also offers valuable insights into the systematic deprivation of Muslims in pre- and post-9-11.