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Situation worsens for WBAI reporter Farouk Abdel Muhti 1-16-03 |
To our many WBAI and Pacifica friends and colleagues: The following was is forwarded from the Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel Muhti, the Palestinian political prisoner and WBAI assistant producer held in Passaic, NJ under illegal INS detention since last April. Our colleague Farouk was not in good health even before the hunger strike, and now we are even more concerned about him and his six colleagues. Please let the INS know that you support their demands.
Bob Lederer
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From: nicadlw@earthlink.net (David L. Wilson)
[In addition to sending the letters, please join the weekly vigils for Passaic detainee Farouk Abdel-Muhti, Fridays, 12 noon, at the INS office at 26 Federal Plaza, Broadway and Worth (4/5/6 to City Hall/Brooklyn Bridge walk west and north, N/R/Q/W to Canal, walk west and south).] ACTION ALERT: Send letters or fax to:
Andrea Quarantillo
INS Detainees on Hunger Strike in Passaic County Jail As of 3pm Tuesday January 14, 2003, seven men detained by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) are on a hunger strike to protest their detention by the INS and their treatment in the Passaic County Jail. They say that they will continue their strike until the INS meets with them to discuss their complaints. The hunger strikers are demanding the release of 9/11 detainees, most of whom are not charged with crimes but are being held in prison while the INS attempts to deport them or resolve their status. They are demanding improvements in food, medical care, air quality and family visits, a resumption of the Friday Islamic services the prison provided until a month ago, and separate living quarters for Muslim detainees. Conditions at Passaic County Jail continue to worsen. The detainees say that the prison's food is insufficient, unpalatable and does not provide adequate protein and vitamins, leading to health problems, while the medical services are limited and slow; dental services do not go beyond the removal of teeth. The aging ventilation system also contributes to their health problems. 9/11 ("Special Interest") Muslim detainees demand separate living quarters. At present, they are experiencing xenophobia, abuse and threats from the general prison population, which are largely ignored by prison guards. The detainees want to be able to have physical contact visits with their families; currently they must talk to their wives and children through a glass wall. As a result, many young fathers have been unable to hold their newborn babies. The Campaign to Stop the Disappearances, Islamic Circle of North America - Relief, and the Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti express our solidarity with the detainees on hunger strike. We demand that Andrea J. Quarantillo - the INS District Director of New Jersey (Ph: 973-645-4421), Jerry Speziale, the Sheriff of Passaic County (973-881-4619) and Warden Charles Meyers - Passaic County Jail (Ph: 973-881-4591) be held accountable for the violation of detainees' rights and we urge all three to meet with the detainees and community organizations to discuss their needs immediately.
For more information, contact:
Please copy all correspondence to detentionalertnyc@yahoo.com Sample Letter: January 15, 2003
Andrea Quarantillo
Sent by fax only to 973-645-2304 Dear Ms Quarantillo, I am writing to express my support for the six hungerstrikers at Passaic County jail. Most of the demands they are asking for are already guaranteed under the INS standards for detention, and those which are not (such as adequate medical care) are basic human rights. I ask that you immediately grant these demands as follows:
1. improvements in food,
According to reports from the inside conditions at Passaic are continuing to worsen. The detainees say that the prison's food is insufficient, unpalatable and does not provide adequate protein and vitamins, leading to health problems, while the medical services are limited and slow; dental services do not go beyond the removal of teeth. The aging ventilation system also contributes to their health problems. As well, at present, the 9/11 detainees are experiencing xenophobia, abuse and threats from the general prison population, which are largely ignored by prison guards. The detainees want to be able to have physical contact visits with their families; currently they must talk to their wives and children through a glass wall. As a result, many young fathers have been unable to hold their newborn babies. We sincerely hope that you will not react to these reasonable demands by moving the detainees to another facility which either a)is further from their communities or b) does not meet these demands, and that you will not resort to retaliation or isolation to try to quell the hungers strike. I will continue to monitor the situation and to inform my community about your responses to this situation. Yours truly, [Your name] -------------------- 5 Passaic detainees begin hunger strike
By WAYNE PARRY
January 14, 2003, 5:47 PM EST NEWARK, N.J. -- Five Muslim detainees being held in the Passaic County Jail began a hunger strike Tuesday to protest their continued captivity and call for immigration officials to be punished for mistreating them. They include Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a Palestinian activist suing the government for holding him too long and claiming he must be allowed to remain in the U.S. Abdel-Muhti claims that, as a stateless Palestinian, there is no nation to which he can be deported. Through immigration advocates working for their release, the detainees issued a statement decrying conditions at the jail. "We denounce the gross violations of our human rights," they said. "We are being held without adequate ventilation, in unclean and unhealthy quarters. We are being denied medical care, visitation, and Islamic services. The food is completely inadequate and non-nutritious. We ask all people to defend our rights and to demand our freedom." The detainees demanded their immediate release, as well as the release of all detainees who have not been charged with crimes. Most of the detainees arrested as part of the government's post-Sept. 11 probe were held on immigration violations. They also demanded immediate hearings before an immigration judge. "They said they're sacrificing their bodies in order to gain their rights," said Namita Chad, of the south-Asian advocacy group DRUM. "They said they're going to continue the strike until someone from the INS meets with them." Bernard McFall, Abdel-Muhti's former roommate in Queens, N.Y., said the detainees began planning for the strike on Saturday. "His health was not that good before he went to jail," McFall said. "His blood pressure is high and he's not eating right or getting any exercise." Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale did not immediately return a message left with his office seeking comment. Kerry Gill, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's Newark office, said INS guidelines define a hunger strike as a refusal of food or drink lasting 72 hours or more. "At this time, no detainees in the Newark district have missed meals over a 72-hour period," he said, declining further comment. This is not the first time detainees have started a hunger strike to protest their confinement. In November 2001, a group of detainees in the Hudson and Passaic county jails refused food for several days at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The protest ended when INS officials met with detainees and promised to make whatever dietary and religious accommodations they could. Copyright (c) 2003, The Associated Press -------------------
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