Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women

I don't usually forward around petitions, but in this case, I feel that not challenging the use of SAMs (especially when there is a tiny chance of their being lifted at the end of the month) basically condones and beings the process of normalizing their use.

More information is below and at: http://www.educatorsforcivilliberties.org/index.html

URGENT ACTION NEEDED

It would indeed be ironic if, in the name of national defense, we would sanction the subversion of…those liberties…which makes the defense of this nation worthwhile. --Chief Justice Earl Warren, 1967

Syed Fahad Hashmi is a 28-year-old Muslim American citizen currently being held in solitary confinement in a federal jail on two counts of providing and conspiring to provide material support – and two counts of making and conspiring to make a contribution of goods or services – to Al Qaida. If convicted, he faces seventy years in prison. Hashmi came to the U.S. from Pakistan with his family when he was three and grew up in Flushing, Queens. He majored in political science at Brooklyn College and then attended the London Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom where he received his MA in international relations. In June 2006, he was arrested by British police at Heathrow Airport (he was about to travel to Pakistan, where he has family) on a warrant issued by the US government. In May 2007, he was extradited to the U.S., where he has since been held in solitary confinement under Special Administrative Measures (SAM) at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.

The U.S. government claims that testimony from Junaid Babar is the "centerpiece" of its case against Hashmi. The government alleges that during February 2004, Babar, also a Pakistani-born US citizen, stayed with Hashmi at his London apartment for two weeks. According to the government, Babar stored luggage containing raincoats, ponchos, and waterproof socks in Hashmi's apartment and then delivered these materials to the third-ranking member of Al Qaida in South Waziristan, Pakistan. In addition, Hashmi allegedly allowed Babar to use his cell phone to call other conspirators. Babar, who has pleaded guilty to five counts of material support for Al Qaida, has agreed to serve as a government witness in terrorism trials in Britain and Canada as well as in Hashmi's trial. Under a plea agreement reported in the media, Babar will receive a reduced sentence in return for his cooperation.

The Conditions

The conditions of Mr. Hashmi’s pre-trial detention are draconian. He is subject to a regime of severe isolation. Under the SAMs imposed by the Attorney General, Hashmi must be held in solitary confinement and may not communicate with anyone inside the prison other than prison officials. He is subject to 24-hour electronic monitoring inside and outside of his cell and 23-hour lockdown. He has no access to fresh air, and must take his one-hour of daily recreation - when it is given - inside a cage. Family visits, which were not granted for many months, are limited to one person every other week for one and a half hours; they cannot involve physical contact. Mr. Hashmi may write only one letter (of no more than three pieces of paper) per week to one family member. He may not communicate, either directly or through his attorneys, with the news media. He may read only designated portions of newspapers - and not until thirty days after their publication - and his access to other reading material is restricted. He may not listen to or watch news-oriented radio stations and television channels. He may not participate in group prayer. While the Attorney General claims that these measures are necessary because "there is substantial risk that [Hashmi's] communications or contacts with persons could result in death or serious bodily injury to persons," he was held in a British jail with other prisoners for eleven months without incident.

These Special Administrative Measures undermine Mr. Hashmi’s right to a fair trial: they threaten his mental state and ability to testify on his own behalf; the severity of their constraints casts a pall of suspicion over him, effectively depicting him as guilty before he even enters the courtroom; [PC1] and by prohibiting Hashmi's attorney from conveying the content of his conversations with Hashmi to outside experts, they impair Hashmi's right to counsel. They also rise to the level of cruel and unusual punishment.

History of Special Administrative Measures

The government’s ability to impose Special Administrative Measures was established in 1996. Since 9/11, it has been dramatically expanded. SAMs can now be imposed for a year; previously it was 120 days. The standards for their imposition – and conditions for their renewal – have been relaxed. Previously, renewals required an intelligence agency head to “certify that ‘the circumstances identified in the original certification continue to exist.’” Now, renewals “may be based on any information available to the intelligence agency,” whether that information confirms the persistence of the original circumstances or not. Of 201,000 prisoners currently within the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, fewer than fifty are presently being held under SAMs. [PC2]

Take Action

The Special Administrative Measures imposed upon Mr. Hashmi expire in October. We are calling on all concerned people to ask the Attorney General not to renew them.

To send Attorney General Michael Mukasey and US Attorney for the Southern District Michael Garcia an email asking the federal government to lift the SAM on Syed Hashmi, go to:
http://www.educatorsforcivilliberties.org/liftthesam.html

For more information on the case, visit www.educatorsforcivilliberties.org or www.freefahad.com.