The U.S. to use Patriot Act II to further violate human rights

WASHINGTON, May 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In one of the cells of the free democratic United States, an Egyptian citizen is fighting for his freedom after he was abducted and held without charge only because he took a “wrong” turn.

Abdelrehim Kewan insists that all he did was take a wrong turn last October and stop at Camp Pendleton to ask for directions, reported the cantonrep.com website Thursday, May 1, revealing the story of the Egyptian citizen.

“The 36-year-old Egyptian got more than he bargained for: an indefinite stay in a jail cell and trouble from a federal government under heightened alert after the 9/11 terrorist attacks,” the website said.

Kewan’s problems began when the Marine base included his name in a report Camp Pendleton is required to file with San Diego’s federal Joint Terrorism Task Force. Any unauthorized person who approaches the gate is included in the report, it added.

Two weeks later, immigration agents showed up at Kewan’s apartment in San Diego to question him about his stop at the base. They noted that his immigration status was in limbo and led him away in handcuffs, according to arrest reports. Kewan lives alone; his family is in Egypt.

Since October 25, Kewan has been held without bond at the San Diego Correctional Facility on Otay Mesa. No criminal charges have been filed against him.

Neither FBI nor military officials suggest that he was anything more than a lost motorist when he arrived at Camp Pendleton’s gate, according to court documents.

Danger To Community

But a judge is unconvinced Kewan’s story is true. The judge has characterized Kewan as a “danger to the community” and has jailed him indefinitely until his immigration status is resolved.

For now, Kewan sits in a medium-security prison, the website said.

“I have lost time from my life for no reason,” he said. “They put me in jail like a criminal; I am not a criminal. Every day I think about what happened. How I took a wrong turn and asked for directions. I believe this is happening because I am an Arab and Egyptian.”

Immigration officials have been reluctant to give Kewan the benefit of the doubt, noting that at least 100 Middle Eastern men have been questioned for approaching Camp Pendleton entrances since Sept. 11, 2001. Only Kewan has been detained, according to records and interviews.

Hundreds of Middle Eastern and North African men, some just 16, have been hauled into custody across southern California during the month of December, enraging civil liberties groups and drawing comparisons with the internment of tens of thousands of Japanese Americans during WWII.

Under federal law, immigrants can be detained while awaiting processing if they are deemed a flight or security risk.

Kewan has no criminal record, but he could face deportation if a separate immigration judge denies his petition for permanent residency or a green card.

The homeland security measure passed recently by Congress has sparked a flood of criticism from privacy and civil liberties advocates, who argue that the bill may move the U.S. closer to a police state.

The bill sought by President George W. Bush, advocates a massive government reorganization to create a new Department of Homeland Security, and gives the agency powerful new tools to thwart “potential terrorist attacks”.

But some critics fear the measure also may increase secret surveillance and reduce privacy protections that Americans have taken for granted.

The measure “potentially allows the federal government to maintain extensive files on each and every American without limitations,” said Senator Russ Feingold, who voted against the bill.