Posted by Lilly from ? (160.129.27.22) on Wednesday, November 20, 2002 at 3:52PM :
ADC Update:
Know Your Rights Statement to Iraqi-American Community
In the past few days, several media reports have discussed a possible plan by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to monitor and interview Iraqi-Americans in an effort to identify potential threats to national security. According to media reports, this plan may involve tracking thousands of Iraqi citizens and Iraqi-Americans. These reports claim that the DOJ plans to begin voluntary interviews of Iraqi members of the Arab-American community asking them to report suspicious activity related to Iraq.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has received multiple inquiries from Iraqi-American organizations and individuals concerned with the potential use of national origin and/or ethnicity as the sole reason for questioning individuals as potential suspects. If correct, this proposed plan would ethnically profile thousands of individuals, including American citizens, which smacks of guilt by association and the incrimination of an entire ethnic population.
ADC emphasizes to members of the Iraqi-American community and the Iraqi-immigrant community that equal protection and due process rights are afforded to everyone, including non-citizens, in the United States. ADC would also like to advise anyone who is contacted by law enforcement authorities concerning this matter of:
1) The right not to answer questions without the presence of an attorney.
2) The absolute discretion whether to submit to any voluntary interview.
3) The absolute discretion in selecting the date, time, and location of any voluntary interview as well as who may attend the interview and what questions to answer during such a voluntary interview.
Additional useful know your rights information may be obtained by reviewing the legal services section of the ADC website at http://www.adc.org/legal.
ADC urges anyone who is contacted by federal authorities concerning this matter to report the incident to ADC by calling (202) 244-2990 or via email to legal@adc.org.
-- Lilly
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