More than 1000 Arab and Muslim detainees held 
without charges: reports of torture and death

The numbers of detainees being held without 
charges on the crime of being Arab or Muslim in 
the u.s. has grown to more than 1000 since 
September 11, with at least one Pakistani man 
dying in jail, after the federal government 
determined that there was "absolutely no links 
between him and terrorist attacks."(1)

Prison in the u.s. is frequently a death sentence, 
both for those convicted by the criminal injustice 
system and for those immigrants detained because 
the u.s. suspects them of violating the 
illegitimate u.s. borders. The recent detentions 
are part of a growing wave of fascism which has 
led to legislation cutting back on supposed civil 
rights of citizens and widespread surveillance and 
arrests of non-citizens. The detainees are being 
held without charges with secret proceedings, 
denied access to lawyers or contact with family, 
and the government is refusing to release any 
information about these people until they die in 
jail.

Further restricting the rights of the detainees, 
as of October 30 the federal government can listen 
in on conversations between lawyers and federal 
detainees, and read mail between them. Ashcroft 
railroaded this new regulation through the justice 
department without waiting for public comment. 
This applies to prisoners and detainees in federal 
custody (including those who have not been charged 
with a crime but are just being held on suspicion 
or immigration violations). Prior to October 30 
government officials could go to court and get 
permission for monitoring communication. With this 
new legislation they are free to decide for 
themselves when to impede on the constitutionally 
guaranteed rights to counsel and freedom from 
unreasonable searches and seizures.(2)

It appears that as many as half of the detainees 
have been cleared of connection to terrorist 
activity but they are still not being released.(1) 
The 42-year-old Pakistani man, Rafiq Butt, who 
died in an INS jail in Hudson County had been held 
there for three weeks, after being cleared of 
terrorist involvement, on the crime of overstaying 
his visa. Other detainees in the same facility 
report that all prisoners of middle eastern 
descent were forced to strip and then were blasted 
with cold air. One man tried to describe this and 
other abuse at the prison to his wife on the phone 
but had is collect call cut off by prison 
officials.(3)

After significant resistance from the FBI, Butt's 
body was returned home to Pakistan in late October 
where an autopsy was performed at Mayo Hospital 
Lahore. According to Butt's cousin "the autopsy 
report revealed marks on Rafiq Butt's body 
suggesting he had been subjected to severe torture 
before his death. The report found multiple 
fractures in his cousin's legs and chest, as well 
as deep bruises on the body."(4)

MIM is not surprised to learn that the people 
being detained because of suspicion of terrorist 
involvement (i.e. for being Arab or Muslim) are 
being tortured in u.s. prisons and jails. As we 
regularly report in Under Lock and Key, u.s. 
prisons are used as tools of social control and 
prisoners are frequently tortured and denied even 
their supposedly guaranteed legal rights. Join MIM 
in fighting this growing tide of fascism. Read 
this article 
(http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/mn/sept112001/t 
ext.php? mimfile=detainees.TXT) and circulate this 
petition demanding release of information about 
the detainees 
(http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/mn/sept112001/d 
etainees.PDF). 

Notes: 1. Washington post in ACLU press release 2. 
NYT 13nov01. 3. November 2001 Arabia Online Ltd. 
All rights reserved 4. IslamOnline 
http://www.khilafah.com/1421/category.php? 
DocumentID=2563&TagID=2