news
Conviction Without Charges: Arab-American Discrimination
Posted on January 03, 2005
The freedom of US citizens is becoming more and more restricted. Since the War on Terror began, racial profiling and discrimination towards Arabs has drastically increased. In the most extreme cases, the US government has turned their backs on the torture of Arab-American citizens. By using foreign countries as a scapegoat, the government has been able to defy its own laws. Many citizens are currently being held in prison without mention of charges or a proper trial. In Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Abu Ali, a US citizen from Virginia, was arrested a year and a half ago. He continues to be detained and has not yet received a proper trial or reason for detainment. His parents have sent numerous pleas to the US government to help free their son and the government has not responded. This failure to take action is rooted in the government's involvement in the incarceration of Abu Ali. Abu Ali's parents have discovered overwhelming evidence that the US played a large role in the arrest of their son. "Saudi officials have reportedly described the detention as an American concern and have said that they would release Abu Ali if the U.S. requested it."
Unjustified detention has also occurred right here in the United States. Many Arab-Americans have been mistaken for terrorists and arrested. In one such case, a family was arrested. Due to the prisons lack of attention to medical conditions and loud cries of help, the mother passed away while in custody. After about a year, the father and 19 year old daughter were released. The family had no connection to terrorist organizations and were simply Arab. In Day of Remembrance, Cynthia Fujikawa connects this story and discrimination towards Arab-Americans to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. We must prevent history from repeating itself.
Read Outsourcing Detention by Joanne Mariner to learn more about the detention of Ahmed Abu Ali.
Watch Day of Remembrance
Take Action through the Arab-American Anti Discrimination Committee
Read Supreme Court Upholds Detention of US Terror Suspects Without Charges and NYCLU/ACLU File Brief on Padilla Case: Detention Without Charges Violates His Rights to learn about past convictions similar to Abu Ali’s.