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Muslims harrassed before election { October 12 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_260859.htmlhttp://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_260859.html
FBI seeks to interview 44 Muslims from area
By David Conti
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
The FBI wants to interview 44 area Muslims for any information they have that might help authorities uncover a possible terrorist attack targeting the Nov. 2 presidential election.
Agents are conducting similar interviews nationwide.
The FBI told the Islamic Council of Greater Pittsburgh last week that the 44 Muslims are not being investigated for any crime, according to a council advisory. However, those who have violated a visa can be arrested and deported.
Muslim leaders said they were told that about 30 people face deportation, but they don't know how many violators are on the FBI interview list.
A Pittsburgh civil rights lawyer who participated in Oct. 4 talks between the council and the FBI said Islamic leaders are concerned the government is adopting heavy-handed tactics that could backfire.
"There's concern nationwide that the war on terror could turn into a war on dissidence, that people will be detained without cause," said Witold "Vic" Walczak, legal director for the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
FBI officials and U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan discussed with Islamic council leaders their plans for the interviews.
"We reached out to them to let them know what's going on and that we're not going behind their backs," said FBI Special Agent William Crowley, a spokesman for the agency's Pittsburgh office, who declined to say if any interviews have taken place or what type of information the FBI is seeking.
He also would not say how the 44 Muslims were selected.
Islamic Council President Clifton Slater and Nusrath Ainapore, outreach director at the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, where the meeting took place, declined to speak with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The advisory urged area Muslims to know their legal rights.
"If you are approached by the FBI, you may refuse to be interviewed. If you choose to be interviewed, we strongly urge you to obtain a lawyer before the interview," the advisory said.
"The Islamic Council of Pittsburgh does not condone terrorism, and if these interviews will help prevent it, we will certainly help, but we will use all the means at our disposal to protect the civil rights of all Muslims under the laws and the Constitution of the U.S.," the council advisory stated.
Washington, D.C., attorney Nawar Shora, the director of law enforcement outreach for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said his group has received no complaints since the FBI's so-called "October Plan" began.
"The information we got from FBI headquarters was that all the field offices were instructed to reach out to community groups and keep lines of communication open," said Shora, a Muslim.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and other federal officials have been warning for several months that investigators have information that al-Qaida is planning a terrorist attack to disrupt the presidential election.
Buchanan and the FBI told the Muslim leaders that problems with visas and immigration status will be referred to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Shora said FBI officials told his group that all FBI offices will be doing the same.
"That just scares people away," Walczak said. "They won't get any information that way. We told them they should drop immigration prosecutions immediately."
Buchanan could not be reached for comment yesterday. Her office was closed, along with all federal offices and courts, in observance of Columbus Day.
Walczak said a previous FBI effort to interview about 300 Iraqi natives living in the region -- beginning in March 2003 -- went well with almost no complaints from the Arab and Muslim communities. Those interviews sought information to head off any terrorist retaliation for the war in Iraq.
Walczak attributed the smooth nature of those previous interviews to the Islamic Council encouraging cooperation with the FBI, and investigators agreeing to not use heavy-handed tactics.
Crowley said that same spirit of cooperation should prevail in the new interviews.
"These are voluntary interviews. We are just asking for the Muslim community's help," he said.
Walczak said he is scheduled to represent an American-born Muslim in an interview with the FBI next week, the first local interview that he knows of. He did not identify the client.
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