Dr. Al-Arian Transfered to Custody of Immigration Authorities on Friday

Dr. Al-Arian's hunger strike continues; he has lost 34 pounds. Please contact the Attorney General:

Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Fax Number: (202) 307-6777
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

To the Attorney General:

I am writing to request that you restore some degree of integrity to the justice system of our country by releasing Dr. Sami Al-Arian on 11 April 2008, as agreed to by both Dr. Al-Arian and the US Government in April of 2006.

Dr. Al-Arian's case has made me lose a great deal of faith in the justice system of our country. It used to be the one branch of government that I was taught to believe was governed by principles. It turns out that this same justice system is willing to keep a man in prison for two and a half years after a jury of his peers failed to convict him of a single charge.

This is not the justice system that I grew up respecting.

I demand that:

1. Dr. Al-Arian was promised release and expedited deportation in 2006. This must be honored immediately.

2. The Department of Justice must cease abusing it's power through continual grand jury subpoenas and new criminal charges.

3. Given Dr. Al-Arian's hunger strike, there are serious concerns about his health. He must be released and allowed to return to his family for humanitarian reasons.

4. Dr. Al-Arian's imprisonment, and the US Government's abuses of power, have come to the attention of the entire world. His release may restore some level of respect for our institutions in the world view, as well as at home.

PLEASE ALSO CONTACT

1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Immigration Field Office
Vincent Archibeque
Acting Field Office Director
2675 Prosperity Avenue
Fairfax, VA. 22031
Phone: 703-285-6200

2. Honorable Judge Gerald Lee
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA 22314
Fax: (703) 299-3339

UPDATE:

Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
April 12, 2008

Dr. Al-Arian Placed in Punitive Detention

VIRGINIA-- At 1 a.m. on Saturday, Dr. Sami Al-Arian was moved by hostile prison guards from a regular holding cell at the Howard County Detention Center in Jessup, Maryland, to the "Special Housing Unit." The SHU is an extremely punitive and restrictive section of the prison where inmates are placed in solitary confinement 23 hours a day, usually in freezing temperatures.

Prisoners are normally moved there for violating prison rules. However, in the case of Dr. Al-Arian, he has always been placed there without reason or any explanation. In the SHU, prisoners are subjected to continuous, deafening alarm sounds and have little contact with the outside world. With no medical supervision, this is an extremely dangerous place for Dr. Al-Arian to be during his hunger strike, which is on its 41st day. Dr. Al-Arian was also held in solitary confinement for 37 months before and during his trial. This was a deliberate attempt by the government to break him down physically and psychologically and to prevent him from preparing for his trial.

Amnesty International has written several letters decrying the prison conditions of Dr. Al-Arian, calling his treatment "gratuitously punitive" and "inconsistent with international standards for humane treatment."

The Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace urges all conscientious individuals and organizations to contact the Howard County Detention Center and call for humane treatment of Dr. Al-Arian. We also call on media outlets to cover these abuses, which so far have received no attention.

TAKE ACTION

Call the Howard County Detention Center and ask that Dr. Al-Arian be removed from the Special Housing Unit, where he does not belong, and that the prison ensures he is given proper medical treatment during his hunger strike. The number is (410) 313-5200.

see the Free Sami Al-Arian website for more information.