An American Muslim Journal

U.S. calls on Syria to release young blogger | Reuters

(Reuters) - The United States condemned Saturday what it said was Syria's "secret trial" of a young blogger and called for her immediate release, saying allegations of U.S. espionage connections were baseless.

"The United States strongly condemns Syria's secret trial of blogger Tal al-Molouhi," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in a statement, saying baseless allegations of U.S. connections had resulted "in a spurious accusation of espionage."

"We call on the Syrian government to immediately release all its prisoners of conscience; and allow its citizens freedom to exercise their universal rights of expression and association without fear of retribution from their own government," he said.

via www.reuters.com

First things first - I am fully supportive of our call to free Tal al-Molouhi and I abhor the use of any secret legal proceedings.  Furthermore, while I don't know much about spies outside of Robert Ludlum and Tom Clancy novels, it seems to me rather unlikely that a high school student would be a spy.

But if the Syrians suspect al-Molouhi of this crime then allow the trial to be a public proceeding with all the necessary safeguards(including those additional ones needed to protect minors).  With a secret trial the Syrian public and the world has no way of knowing whether the proceedings were fair or not.

It's situations like this where the diminution of our (America's) moral authority hurts.  Our use of secret evidence, closed trials, military trials, use of sealed evidence, limited cross examinations of foreign operatives who give evidence for the government's case in chief and the collection of evidence through unconstitutional means are some of the things America has been doing more and more of in the 1990s onwards (and particularly egregiously after 9/11/01).

Even on our worst days I think America's standards for justice are better than Syria's, but the perception of the proverbial "pot calling the kettle black" taints our messages.

Hopefully, with the winds of change gusting in the Middle East, Syria will re-think its actions and reverse course on what its done to Tal al-Molouhi.

 

Curfews and crackdowns in order to return "normalcy" in Kashmir?

The Hindu reports that Indian leaders plan to strictly enforce curfews on the Kashmiri people until things returned to normal**.  The curfew will be enforced by the Indian Army.

I'm going to quickly reiterate my question from this morning's post - why is the military operating as a police force?  India is supposed to be a free and democratic society, and since India claims this land as its own (thereby making its inhabitants its citizens, right?), it seems counter-productive to deploy the military.

The violence and conflict in Kashmir aren't new.  They've persisted for decades.  The Indian government has had ample time to develop a law enforcement force that can address the unique needs of this region while the Army addresses the rag-tag insurgents holed up in the mountains.  A more nuanced strategy seems in order.  Instead, India is bringing in a disproportionate response to the underlying threat (and don't forget that the current unrest stems from the murder of a civilian at the hands of the Indian Army).

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly said (per The Hindu):

a stern message should go to miscreants that law and order would be restored and the vicious cycle of violence would be broken by dealing strictly with them.

I presume that P.M. Singh is speaking of the most recent uprising among the Kashmiri civilian population.  It would be better for all of the people of that region if he were to concentrate on the broader and bigger issues of violence (including the extrajudicial killings and disappearances perpetrated by India's military against the Muslim Kashmiri population).

The current tactics seemed to be aimed at restoring the status quo rather than forging a real solution to the lingering injustices in Kashmir.

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** What constitutes "normal" in Kashmir?  For more information on the violence and human rights abuses taking place in Kashmir please visit Human Rights Watch now.

Shame on us for betraying our values, shame on us for our hypocrisy: the torture of Maher Arar

It is a fact that our government - first through former President Bush and now through President Obama - is complicit in the kidnapping and torture of an innocent man.  It is also a fact that our government, through President Obama's Department of Justice and the U.S. Supreme Court, refuse to make amends for this egregious violation of our values and principles.

In the last few days the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from Mr. Maher Arar.  Mr. Arar filed suit to seek redress for our government's illegal and immoral acts against Mr. Arar.  Now, with the U.S. Supreme Court denying to hear Mr. Arar's appeal, the dismissal of his lawsuit by the lower courts will stand.

Today's New York Times editorial summarized it best:

The Supreme Court’s refusal to consider the claims of Maher Arar, an innocent Canadian who was sent to Syria to be tortured in 2002, was a bitterly disappointing abdication of its duty to hold officials accountable for illegal acts. The Bush administration sent Mr. Arar to outsourced torment, but it was the Obama administration that urged this course of inaction.

I for one do not want this stain on my conscience so I am going to speak out.  That is the least I can do.  If I fail to even speak out then I am tacitly lending my support to the kidnapping and to the torture.  You know, like President Obama has done.**

But about more then just feeling good about myself.  I feel compelled to speak out because I know that the world watches us very closely.  One thing that I've learned from recently becoming networked with family members abroad is the perception the world has of the United States.  Sure, we've heard about how people around the world view us and world affairs very differently then we view ourselves and these same matters. But as of late I've read first-hand, and much to my dismay, the negative perception that my friends and family abroad have of us.

It's hard to criticize the misdeeds of other nations when we don't have our own house in order.  This latest news of the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear Mr. Arar's appeal and of President Obama's advocacy through his solicitor general in support of former President Bush's policies is being consumed by readers via the internet and in particular through the 500 million or so Facebook users where this issue is being discussed.

If we love our freedom and our system of government, then we need to defend it.  At the very least we can speak out against this miscarriage of justice.  At the very least we can use our rights to free speech, assembly and the right to petition our elected leaders and demand that the U.S. Congress and President Obama fashion a resolution to Mr. Arar's grievances.

Mr. Arar, speaking through his attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said this about the latest developments:

Today's decision eliminates my last bit of hope in the judicial system of the United States. When it comes to ‘national security’ matters the judicial system has willingly abandoned its sacred role of ensuring that no one is above the law.  My case and other cases brought by human beings who were tortured have been thrown out by U.S. courts based on dubious government claims. Unless the American people stand up for justice they will soon see their hard-won civil liberties taken away from them as well.

Mr. Arar can't be any more clear - he is asking us to stand up in defense of our civil liberties.  He is asking us to get up out of our chairs and sofas and actually take some action.  It's not about standing up for him.  It's about standing up for ourselves.

How long are we going to let this go on?  How long are we going to let our government chip away at our civil liberties?  Shame on us if we don't stand up and take positive action to reclaim our country from the not-so-slow slide towards a more police-like state.  Shame on us if we lose our compassion for others and for one another.  Shame on us if we allow extrajudicial renditions and torture to be done in our names.

We are better than this but we've got to shake free from the complacency brought on by the many challenges and diversions of our own lives and think more broadly and more long term.

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**It's very hard for me to write this about President Obama because I had such hopes and expectations of him during that long, long campaign and into the inauguration.  To say that I am disappointed with my president is an understatement.  May God Guide him and help him to make better decisions henceforth.

Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman: Young, headstrong, sometimes right, sometimes wrong - but 4 years in jail? That is unjust!

I believe in the freedom of expression.  God created humanity with the power to think and the freedom to exercise that power.  Expression is the articulation of person's thoughts and beliefs and he or she must be largely free to do so.

Freedom of expression is not an absolute right though.  There are limits.  American secular law (as well as other nation's laws) creates numerous exceptions to the freedom of expression.  Essentially these exceptions are the result of a balancing between one person's freedom of expression and his obligations to others.

Freedom is at the core of Islam.  And while a Muslim majority state may develop laws to protect (or regulate) the right of free expression based on the principles and commandments of the Quran (and as expounded upon by the Sunnah), God does not prohibit an individual's right to think and believe and express himself.  I'm sure there are many Muslims who would like to muzzle anti-Muslim and anti-Islam expressions but such beliefs run afoul of Islam's core value of freedom.

Blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, then 22, was arrested in 2006 and charged with publishing opinions aimed at disturbing public order, insulting the head of state and defaming Islam. He was expelled from al-Azhar University, Egypt's most prestigious seat of Islamic learning.

via Reuters

I've read some of what Kareem wrote.  He must not have been attending classes at Al-Azhar University because his understanding of Islam is deranged.  I am speaking in particular about his March 25, 2005 blog post entitled "The Naked Truth about Islam..." (it was originally written in Arabic) which has been reproduced, along with his other writings, at FreeKareem.org.

This blog post is the product of a frustrated, angry and demoralized person.  It seems to represent a mix of disgust over some very disgusting things (the looting and pillaging of Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt in 2005) and his angst over studying Islamic Law when that was not what he wanted for himself.  Remember, he was only 21 when he wrote "The Naked Truth about Islam..." and he wrote it a day after seeing some truly horrible things.  I think that's a lot of mitigation.

But regardless of the existence of mitigating factors, Kareem should not be imprisoned for his words.  That is wrong and it is un-Islamic.

In my professional life I've been assailed for holding very strong views on the freedom of expression.  Even to this day people try to use what I've said and what I've done vis-a-vis the freedom of expression to attempt to smear my reputation.  Most recently some extremist Muslims have taken to "outing" my support for freedom of expression in support of allegedly anti-Muslim/anti-Islam speech by sending annonymous emails to my mosque and to the leaders of other mosques in my community.  So, I understand the vitriol that is directed at Kareem as he languishes in an Egyptian prison, jailed for his words.

Thankfully, I live in America and so far most of our civil rights and civil liberties are intact.  So I am going to exercise those rights to speak out for Kareem.  I don't like what he said and I don't share his opinions, but I cannot sit silently while he is imprisoned for his ideas.  That is neither humane nor Islamic.

Visit FreeKareem.org and find out about what has happened to Kareem.  In his case the Egyptian dictatorship is using Kareem's words about Islam as cover to suppress his other, more political commentaries about the Hosni Mubarak regime.  But rest assured that there are extremist Muslims running around in our own communities with some narrow understandings of Islam and these folks too would be keen and eager to mete out similar punishments to those of us who challenge their rigid set of interpretations.

So, regardless of what you think of Kareem's ideas, you should consider adding your voice to help all people around the world who are oppressed for their beliefs and for their words.  Kareem is among them.

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Note: I realize that there are many other individuals throughout the world who are being held by oppressive forces simply because of what they believe and this blog post is in now way suggesting that this person's plight is more or less important than the others.