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An ACLU Report

AMERICA'S DISAPPEARED:

Seeking International Justice for
Immigrants Detained After September 11

"No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile."

- Article 9, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

"All persons deprived of their liberty shall he treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.

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Article 10, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

ome were startled awake by an early morning knock at the door. For others, it began with an ominous visit at work, a rough interrogation after a routine traffic violation or an order barked from a van to pull over to the side of the road.

In the days, weeks and months following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, hundreds of American immigrants were rounded up and detained, often under harsh or abusive conditions, in the name of keeping America safe. Not because of evidence (or even sound hunches) that they were involved in the terrorist attacks that brutally ended the lives of more than 3,100 people. Not because they were found to have tics to or even knowledge of terrorist groups who might threaten American security in the future.

Instead, hundreds of immigrants were arbitrarily snared in this dragnet, marked for arrest and thrown (literally, at times) in jail. The exact number is unknown, because the government refuses to release that information. They had one thing in common: Almost all were Arab or South Asian men, and almost all were Muslim.

The agents picked them up on the flimsiest of "tips" or as a result of chance encounters. One immigrant interviewed by the ACLU said a hospital co-worker gave the FBI his name because she thought he wore his surgical mask "more than necessary" at work. Another said he was arrested when agents came to his apartment looking for the previous tenant. They settled for him instead.

These sweeps and arrests were accomplished through the arbitrary and haphazard enforcement of minor immigration laws. Indeed, on October 25, 2001. Attorney General John Ashcroft brandished this tactic as a weapon, in a statement that effectively equated immigrants with terrorism: "Let the terrorists among us be warned," he said. "If you overstay your visa – even by one day - we will arrest you..."

Once arrested, many immigrants were labeled "of interest" to the September 11 investigation and thrown into legal limbo detained for wecks or months in connection with a criminal investigation, but denied the due process rights that they would have been entitled to had they actually been charged with crimes.

Speech given at the US Conference of Mayors. Recounted in the April 2003 report of the Inspector General of the Justice Department. "The September 11 Detainees: A Review of the Treatment of Aliens Held on Immigration Charges in Connect on with the Investigation of the September 11 Attacks," p. 12.

AMERICA'S DISAPPEARED

The Office of the Inspector General Reports

In June 2003, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Justice issued a 200page report, titled "The September 11 Detainees: A Review of the Treatment of Aliens Held on Immigration Charges in Connection with the Investigation of the September 11 Attacks." The report was prompted by complaints made by individuals and advocacy groups about the September 11 detentions and about the secrecy surrounding them.

Because the OIG is part of the Department of Justice, it had access to high-level Justice Department officials who had been responsible for the government's immigration and investigative policies after September 11. The OIG report is the most comprehensive report so far issued about the treatment of September 11 detainees.

The June 2003 OIG report confirmed the allegations that the ACLU and other civil rights organizations had been raising since the government first began rounding up Muslim immigrants after September 11. It found that the arrests were "indiscriminate" and "haphazard" and that the INS routinely arrested people who had no connection to criminal activity, let alone terrorism. The report stated:

Even in the hectic aftermath of the September 11 attacks, we believe the FBI should have taken more

care to distinguish between aliens who it actually suspected of having a connection to terrorism as opposed to aliens who, while possibly guilty of violating federal immigration law, had no connection to terrorism. (June 2003 OIG Report, 70)

The report also addressed the treatment that immigrants received after arrest. According to the report, immigrants were refused release on bond, denied access to counsel and to consular officials, interrogated about their religious and political views, and held in degrading conditions. In some cases, immigrants were verbally and physically abused. The report stated:

The evidence indicates a pattern of abuse by some correctional officers against some September 11 detainees, particularly during the first months after the attacks. Most detainees we interviewed at the [Metropolitan Detention Center] alleged that MDC staff physically abused them. Many also told us that MDC staff verbally abused them with such taunts as "Bin Laden Junior" or with threats such as "you will be here for the next 20-25 years like the Cuban people." Although most correctional officers denied such physical or verbal abuse, the OIG's ongoing investigation of complaints of physical abuse

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