|
Six never planned to commit terrorism Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20031201/1051591.asphttp://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20031201/1051591.asp
FOCUS: WAR ON TERROR
Sentencing debate rages over 'Lackawanna Six'
By DAN HERBECK
News Staff Reporter
12/1/2003
They never built a bomb, never hijacked an airliner and, as far as the U.S. Justice Department can determine, never made any plans to commit an act of terrorism.
But the local Yemeni-Americans known as the "Lackawanna Six" are all going to prison, in a case that has ignited much debate over the Bush administration's war against terrorism.
The sentencings will begin Wednesday afternoon when Mukhtar al-Bakri appears before District Judge William M. Skretny.
Under federal sentencing guidelines, al-Bakri is expected to be sent to federal prison for 10 years. In the following two weeks, the others will be sentenced, and when it is all done, the six are expected to receive sentences that will total at least 52 years.
All six have admitted that in spring 2001, they traveled to Afghanistan, received training at a camp run by the al-Qaida terrorist network and heard speeches by al-Qaida's leader, Osama bin Laden. The men have never been accused of planning or engaging in any act of terrorism.
The prosecution has been hailed as a triumph for law enforcement by President Bush, U.S. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, but critics call it an example of America putting people in jail for "thought crimes" and "guilt by association."
"It's the first time in American history where people are going to prison for going to a training camp," said David D. Cole, a Georgetown University law professor who recently published "Enemy Aliens: Double Standards and Constitutional Freedoms in the War on Terrorism," a book about how the war on terrorism has affected civil liberties. "It's wrong. . . . It's unconstitutional."
Cole said the prosecution of the six Yemeni-Americans - al-Bakri, 23; Shafal A. Mosed, 25; Faysal H. Galab, 27; Sahim Alwan, 30; Yahya A. Goba, 26; and Yasein A. Taher, 25 - is one of the most controversial cases in the country, especially for those who think that the federal government has gone too far with its anti-terrorism efforts, at the expense of civil liberties.
"Nationally, this is considered a very important case. The government presents this case as one of its major victories over terrorism. They call these guys a "sleeper cell,' " Cole said. "But all over the country, I hear people asking, "Is this the best the government can do?' "
Cole said he believes that the section of law used to convict the six men is unconstitutional and will be struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court within the next couple of years.
Proactive action defended
Many people in law enforcement disagree with that view. They say that tough, aggressive, proactive prosecutions such as the Lackawanna case represent America's best hope of avoiding another nightmare such as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"America is in a war against terrorism. Law enforcement has to take preventive actions," said Jeremiah W. Doyle Jr., a retired FBI agent who teaches a course on terrorists in the Buffalo State College criminal-justice program.
There is nothing un-American or unconstitutional about putting people in prison for training with the most vicious terrorist organization in the world, Doyle said.
"Since 9/11, the public not only expects you to catch terrorists, but to catch them before they act," the former FBI agent said. "After finding out these guys had gone to Afghanistan and trained with terrorists, could our government have just sat back and done nothing about it?"
Lackawanna's large Yemeni community has found itself in an unpleasant spotlight since the night of Sept. 13, 2002, when a huge team of federal agents swooped into the city, searching homes and arresting suspects.
The six men were charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization, part of a federal statute enacted after the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995.
Earlier this year, all six men pleaded guilty in federal court.
As their sentencing dates approach, the mood in Lackawanna is subdued. Many in the community say they are tired of talking about the case and are looking forward to the day when it disappears from news reports.
"Everybody's got mood swings. At times, I am glad that the sentencing date is approaching and soon will be behind us," said Galab's brother, Moses Galab. "At other times, I have a sad feeling.
"A lot of people - and not just Muslims - feel these guys got a raw deal. I think millions of people would agree with me that our Constitution is being tampered with."
Federal court officials planned extra precautions for security, but Dr. Khalid J. Qazi, president of the American Muslim Council of Western New York, does not expect any protests or incidents at the sentencings.
"I think the Muslim community at large is going to leave this case to the people in the federal court system. The case has gone through the appropriate legal process. It hasn't been tried in secrecy," Qazi said.
"But obviously the families (of the defendants) have some concerns and trepidation about these sentencings."
Some people close to the six men worry about their safety because they have assisted the United States in its investigations of al-Qaida.
In recent court papers, prosecutor William J. Hochul Jr. asked Skretny to give all six men credit for giving full cooperation to investigators in debriefings after making their guilty pleas. Hochul said the men have provided information about al-Qaida's methods of recruitment, training and communication, and locations of its "guest houses" in the Middle East.
Such cooperation was required by the terms of their plea deals.
"(Goba) identified and described in detail a number of (al-Qaida) leaders, trainers and recruits," Hochul said in one court document. "This information has been used by the Government to advance the goal of this country to prevent, investigate and prosecute further terrorist activities which may be committed in this District and elsewhere."
Under federal sentencing guidelines, al-Bakri, the first of the six scheduled for sentencing, is expected to be sent to prison for at least 10 years. Goba is also expected to get at least 10 years, with Alwan facing at least nine. Mosed and Taher face at least eight years, and Galab at least seven.
Long after Skretny sentences the last of the group - Alwan, on Dec. 17 - questions are likely to linger:
• Are Americans now so fearful of terrorism that they send people to prison because they associate with terrorists?
• How should America deal with people who travel across the globe, train in secrecy with the world's most dangerous terrorist group and then return to this country?
• If the Lackawanna Six truly meant no harm to America, why didn't they come forward and contact police about their al-Qaida experience, especially after 9/11?
"Everyone close to these guys claim they are good, true-blue American citizens," Doyle said. "If that is true, why didn't any one of them call the FBI after 9/11 and say, "I have some information for you about Osama bin Laden and his training camps'?"
Elaine Cassel, a Virginia lawyer and civil rights advocate, calls the Lackawanna case "one of the worst examples of the vengeful Bush and Ashcroft battle against terrorism."
"It's like the movie "Minority Report,' " Cassel said. "The idea is, "Let's go out and arrest people before they actually commit a crime, or even think of a crime.' "
2 courts overturn statute
Cole is one of the attorneys involved in a legal challenge aimed at striking down the section of law that led to the imprisonment of the Lackawanna men.
Two federal courts have found the law unconstitutional, but those decisions are not binding on the Buffalo case, Cole said.
The key to the Lackawanna case is the government claim that the six men gave material support to al-Qaida by providing "personnel" for training, Cole said.
Cole is working with the Humanitarian Law Project, an organization that is challenging the law in a federal court in California.
"Ultimately, if this issue of providing personnel gets put before the Supreme Court, I think it would be found unconstitutional," Cole said. "And if that happens, it would put the convictions in Lackawanna into question."
Federal prosecutors have repeatedly expressed the view that the law is constitutional.
"I'm confident that the statute will survive," said U.S. Attorney Michael A. Battle. "The only way we're going to make it a fair fight against terrorists, and the only way we can prevent being sucker-punched as we were on 9/11, is to have tools like this law to work with."
e-mail: dherbeck@buffnews.com
|
|
