[2562] in peace2
ACTION FOR AMER JUBRAN MAY 28TH AND MAY 30TH (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Anton F Van Der Ven)
Thu May 22 19:37:51 2003
Message-Id: <200305222337.TAA137313@lattice.mit.edu>
To: peace-request@MIT.EDU
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Mime-Version: 1.0
Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 19:37:01 -0400
From: Anton F Van Der Ven <avdv@MIT.EDU>
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
***Please forward widely***
AMER JUBRAN'S TRIAL; NEW PHONE AND LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN; LEGAL
UPDATE
Mr. Jubran's trial is scheduled for July 24th.
We need your presence at his trial and your support in our renewed
phone, letter writing, and fax campaign the week of May 26th.
If you are not familiar with Mr. Jubran's case or the details of his
defense, further information can be found below or at
www.amerjubrandefense.org.
* News from the campaign:
- Amer Jubran's hearing is scheduled for Thursday, July 24th at
1 PM. Please come to support Amer at his hearing at the JFK
Federal Building in Government Center in Boston. For details, please
see www.amerjubrandefense.org
- Based on the success of our last two phone-in campaigns, we are
organizing two phone-in days to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (BICE) WEDNESDAY MAY 28th and FRIDAY MAY 30th. (INS no
longer exists. The office we wish to contact now falls under the BICE a
bureau of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.) The BICE office
number is the same (617) 565-4214 and other numbers (local senators) are
listed below.
- In light of the illegal aspects of his arrest and detention, Mr.
Jubran filed a formal complaint with the INS Regional Office in
Boston on January 30th and forwarded complaint letters to the Regional
District Director on February 5th. To date, he has still not received a
response to this complaint. When you call the INS offices, please ask
what specific actions the INS has taken to respond to the formal
complaint filed by Mr. Jubran on January 30th. Has there been a formal
investigation? Have the INS agents involved in his arrest been
questioned or received any formal reprimand?
- Phone calling tip: The office administrative assistant you speak
to may tell you that they are not at liberty to discuss Mr. Jubran's
case with you or that they have received too many phone calls to respond
to you individually. Nevertheless, please be sure to register your
concerns with Mr. Steven Farquharson (Interim Director) and Ms. Paula
Grenier (Public Affairs Spokesperson). If you are not forwarded
directly to Mr. Farquharson, ask for Paula Grenier's voice mail box.
She has been filing reports on the number and content of calls received
regarding Mr. Jubran's case.
- Please continue writing and faxing letters to the Bureau of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the week of May 26th. It is
most strategic to fax letters on our phone in days (MAY 28th and MAY
30th.)
* Background on the case:
On the morning of November 4, 2002, well-known Palestinian rights
activist Amer Jubran was arrested by INS agents at his home in
Cumberland, Rhode Island. Only two days earlier, Mr. Jubran had
helped to lead a march for Palestinian rights in Boston-the first
demonstration organized by the New England Committee to Defend
Palestine, a group which he had helped to create. The details of his
arrest make it clear that he was targeted for his political activism and
outspokenness:
· The arrest was a joint operation carried out by agents of the FBI
and what was then the INS.
· The FBI attempted to question Mr. Jubran about his legitimate
political activities and explicitly threatened him with indefinite
INS detention if he refused to 'cooperate.'
· The arrest took place only after Mr. Jubran insisted on his right
to have a lawyer present for this attempted interrogation.
The INS proceeded to hold Mr. Jubran for 17 days at the Adult
Correctional Institution in Cranston, RI, without bail. They informed
his lawyer that they intended to hold him 'indefinitely,' but refused
to cite any charges or infractions of INS regulations that would warrant
such detention. After a concerted international campaign of public
pressure, the INS finally agreed to hold a bond hearing. Mr. Jubran
was released on minimum bond on November 21.
The BICE (a bureau of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security now
dealing with immigrant detention and deportation), however, has
continued its illegitimate harassment. Mr. Jubran now faces a BICE order
of deportation based on false allegations of technical violations in his
green card status. At a pre-trial hearing on February 27, 2003, at the
JFK Federal Building in Boston, the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization
Service made clear its intention to continue its politically motivated
prosecution of Palestinian human rights activist Amer Jubran. Appearing
before INS Judge Leonard Shapiro, the government prosecutor revealed it
had no witnesses and would rely on an immigration technicality in its
effort to have Mr. Jubran deported. Mr. Jubran now faces a full-blown
deportation trial on July 24.
Regarding the illegal aspects of Mr. Jubran's arrest and detention,
he filed a formal complaint with the INS Regional Office in Boston on
January 30th and forwarded complaint letters to the Regional District
Director, Mr. Farquharson, on February 5th.
Amer's formal complaint to the INS can be found at
http://www.amerjubrandefense.org/INS_Complaint.html
* Talking points:
Please call the BICE and express your continued concerns
about Mr. Jubran's case and his upcoming trial July 24th. Mr. Jubran's
prosecution has been illegal and illegitimate since it began; in
light of this, the charges should be dropped immediately.
- --Briefly identify the important facts in the case
- --Stress the fact that the INS and FBI collaborated to target a
political activist and violated due process while doing so
- --Demand that the BICE end its politically motivated deportation
proceedings against Amer Jubran
- --As mentioned above, inquire after the status of the complaint
proceedings, specifically has there been a formal
investigation? Have the INS agents involved in his arrest
been questioned or received any formal reprimand?
- --If you have already written a letter or called previously,
please make reference to this and express your dissatisfaction
if the Boston INS or BICE has failed to respond to your concerns
- --Identify any important qualifications or community standing which
you may have
* Letter Writing
A deluge of letters to the INS--demanding that Amer Jubran either
be released immediately or that he be charged openly and a bond
hearing be set--helped win his release from indefinite INS
detention. The campaign must be continued to put an end to the
illegitimate BICE proceedings against him. Addresses and fax numbers
can be found below.
* Addresses
Send your letters to:
Mr. Stephen J. Farquharson
Interim Director
Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Room 1700, JFK Federal Building
Boston, MA 02203
And please CC copies to:
Michael Garcia, Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
425 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20536
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
2400 JFK Federal Building
Boston, MA 02203
Phone (617) 565-3170
Senator John Kerry
One Bowdoin Square, Tenth Floor
Boston, MA 02114
Phone (617) 565-8519
Senator Lincoln Chafee
RI: 401 453 5294
Fax: 401 453 5085
170 Westminster St. Suite 1100
Providence RI 00903
www.chafee.senate.gov
Senator Jack Reed
RI: 401 943 3100
Fax: 401 464 6837
201 Hillside Rd, Suite 200
Cranston RI 02920
jack@reed.senate.gov
And finally, please send a copy to us:
Amer Jubran Defense Committee (c/o NECDP)
P.O. Box 755
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Please let us know if you are willing for us to post your letters
online and, if you can, please e-mail copies of letters to
ajdc@amerjubrandefense.org.
* Petition
A petition is available for groups who want to give their support. If
you represent a group who might be interested in signing a petition
demanding that the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement stop
its attacks against free speech and political organizing, please contact
us at petition@amerjubrandefense.org
* Funds
Money is needed to help cover the costs of what is likely to be a
protracted legal battle. Checks can be made out to "Amer Jubran
Defense Committee" and mailed to the address above.
* Organizing
Please consider helping with the work of the Amer Jubran Defense
Committee. Our meeting time/location are posted on our website
weekly at www.amerjubrandefense.org. We plan to hold ongoing events and
actions to build public awareness of this case and to organize an
effective pressure campaign. We are also committed to helping to
build a larger movement in response to the plight of all immigrant
detainees and against growing political repression in this country.
Contact us for more information about weekly meetings and public events.
For more information on how to help, please visit
www.amerjubrandefense.org
email: ajdc@amerjubrandefense.org
_______________________________________________
Jubran-coordinators mailing list
Jubran-coordinators@amerjubrandefense.org
http://www.amerjubrandefense.org/mailman/listinfo/jubran-coordinators
______________________________________________________________________
This email was bcc'd to peace-announce and greens-announce
