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Rabih
Haddad, head of the Global Relief Foundation
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DETROIT,
Michigan, August 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A U.S. federal
appeals court Monday, August 26, ruled that the Justice Department
violated the U.S. Constitution by holding closed-door immigration
hearings for the head of a Muslim humanitarian organization, who was
arrested after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals - upholding a lower court ruling - said
the secret hearings violated the First Amendment by excluding the news
media, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Circuit
judge Damon Keith said the government should be required to account
for its decisions to deport and exclude certain people and that
national security interests would be equally well served by arguing
for closed hearings on a case-by-case basis.
“The
Executive Branch seeks to uproot people’s lives, outside the public
eye, and behind a closed door. Democracies die behind closed doors.”
The
ruling came in the case of Rabih Haddad, a Detroit-based Lebanese man
who heads up an Islamic charity accused of funneling money to
so-called “terrorist” organizations.
Haddad
was detained in December 2001 for having overstayed his tourist visa.
He
remains in custody and all his immigration proceedings have been
conducted in secret in accordance with a directive issued by chief
immigration judge Michael Creppy September 21, according to court
papers.
The
Creppy directive ordered immigration judges to close special interest
cases to the press and public in the interests of national security.
But
several newspapers, the Detroit Free Press among them, went to court
to get access to the hearings involving Haddad, who oversaw the
Bridgeview, Illinois-based charity, Global
Relief Foundation Inc (GRF).
On
September 12, 2001 the GRF condemned the attacks in the World Trade
Center and Pentagon. Less than two weeks later, it was listed by ABC
News’ Good Morning America during a live broadcast as a charity
which has been closed by the United States for alleged terrorist
support.
On
October 4, 2001 the U.S. newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, published an
article saying that closure of GRF and other Muslim charities by the
US government is imminent due to alleged terrorist fundraising.
The
New York Times, Boston Globe, Associated Press, and the New York Daily
News also published similarly defamatory articles.
On
November 15, 2001 GRF sued the NY Times, Associated Press, ABC, Inc.,
New York Daily News, Boston Globe, Hearst Communications, Inc. and
affiliated reporters for each of these publications in federal court
in Chicago seeking $20 million in damages.
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The
GRF provided emergency relief to crisis regions such as
Afghanistan |
On
December 14, 2001 the U.S. Department of Treasury blocked GRF’s
assets and records of GRF, and the FBI raids our office. The
Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) detained GRF Chairman
Rabih Haddad on alleged immigration violations, even though he filed
the necessary paperwork under the LIFE Act to remain in the U.S.
pending his work authorization, GRF says on its website.
NATO
troops in Kosova raided the GRF office in Pristina, seized all of
GRF’s files in those offices, and took into custody two of GRF’s
workers, Dr. Abdulraziq and Ahmed Said. NATO troops also questioned
GRF’s Albanian workers and seized its files.
NATO
later returned GRF’s Albanian and Kosovar documents and cleared its
name there.
After
five weeks of unlawful detention, Abdulraziq and Said were released
and completely vindicated by NATO. However, no apology was made,
even though the employees were tortured, kept in awful conditions, and
forced to sign statements in English and Albanian, languages neither
understand, according to the GRF website.
In
February 2002, GRF was informed by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern
District of Illinois that neither GRF nor Chairman Rabih Haddad were
targets of a criminal probe by a Chicago-based federal grand jury
which continues to investigate terrorism finance.
Earlier
in June 2002, U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen denied the
preliminary injunction requested by GRF in February to unfreeze our
assets and records. Immediately afterwards, GRF appealed to the 7th
Circuit Court of Appeals, repeating arguments that the freeze violated
numerous constitutional provisions
On
their website, the GRF, which is one of the largest Muslim
humanitarian organizations in the United States, says that its mission
is to “to provide care, support and relief to people in need
throughout the world” through emergency relief, medical aid,
advancement of education, and development and social welfare.
GRF
also says it is committed to the spirit of service which embraces the
values of compassion, action, sound management, and community, among
other things.
It
has been working in crisis-stricken regions such as Bosnia, Kashmir,
Turkey, Kosova, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Chechnya, India, Ethiopia,
and Macedonia.
The
Global Relief Foundation conducted a blood drive last September to
provide emergency aid for the victims of the disasters at the Pentagon
and New York’s World Trade Center.
In
a letter to
their supporters, the GRF says, “Our worldwide operations, which
have now been frozen for 6 months, have always been monitored by
internationally-recognized standards.
“The
Wall Street Journal recently reported that countries like Belgium have
refused to honor the freeze of GRF, citing the Bush’s
Administration’s lack of evidence,” the letter said.
“We
are in the business of helping innocent victims of war, famine and
other hardship. The last thing we as an entity and committed
humanitarians is to create more needless victims.”
