BloodEclipse
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FBI accused of violating American Muslim civil rights with spying
Judge orders FBI to disclose Muslim spying files
CAIRO (AlArabiya.net)
A federal judge ordered the FBI Monday to disclose within two weeks records of Muslim activists and groups who accused the agency of spying on and interrogating them in the aftermath of a controversy involving FBI informants and California mosques that prompted Muslim groups to sever ties with the federal agency.
Judge Cormac J. Carney demanded to review 100 pages of FBI documents on 11 Muslim groups and activists who accused the FBI of sending undercover agents into mosques, pressuring Muslims to become informants, labeling civil rights advocates as criminals and spreading misinformation.
They (the records) do concern investigations of others because they were identified through cross references and the plaintiffs were not the subjects of those investigations.
Marcia Sowles, Department of Justice attorney
Carney also advised the FBI that records must include any electronic surveillance it has on the Council on American-Islamic Relations but said he would determine whether the records should be released for public scrutiny or remain protected under federal law for national security reasons.
The Department of Justice, however, cited national security concerns in its warning that not all information was game and that the FBI may choose to shield some information from public scrutiny once Carney has reviewed the records.
"They (the records) do concern investigations of others because they were identified through cross references and the plaintiffs were not the subjects of those investigations," Marcia Sowles, an attorney from the Department of Justice, told the judge.
Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union however said the Justice Department’s of s reluctance was merely a pretext for hiding proof of civil rights abuses.
I'm very pleased to see the American judicial system works to the advantage of the average American -- even if the defendant is the government.
Hussam Ayloush, CAIR executive director
"There's a reason why they don't want to disclose this information," ACLU attorney Jennie Pasquarella was quoted as saying after the court hearing. "It will show why they've surveilled people and we think it might show they're surveilling people on the basis of their religion."
Muslim groups have been battling the FBI since 2006 over the release of records they believe will prove the domestic intelligence agency infringed on their civil rights by unconstitutionally targeting them based on religion and racial profiling.
Attorneys for the ACLU filed a number of lawsuits against the FBI and the Department of Justice in Southern California under the federal Freedom of Information Act on behalf of five individuals who alleged the agency failed to turn over records they requested a year earlier related to their own activities.
The FBI complied at first, releasing some records but holding back the larger portion of the documents, claiming they were beyond the scope of the plaintiffs’ request.
Carney told the FBI to bring the records for his review to determine whether their redaction was necessary.
Hussam Ayloush, CAIR executive director for the greater Los Angeles area, applauded the Judge’s decision.
"I'm very pleased to see the American judicial system works to the advantage of the average American -- even if the defendant is the government," he said.
Suspicion of Muslims came to the fore in February after an alleged informant said he worked for the FBI from July 2006 to October 2007 to infiltrate the Orange County Islamic community and identify and thwart terrorist operations. The informant, Craig Monteilh, described how he used concealed audio and video equipment to record thousands of hours of conversations with Muslims in homes, restaurants and mosques.
The incident revealed the extent to which the FBI was covertly monitoring Muslims and their places of worship in Southern California mosques while forcing the faithful to spy on fellow worshippers and culminated in a Muslim coalition announcing they were to sever ties with the FBI three weeks ago.
Right now there are a number of [Long Island] mosques under surveillance by law enforcement agencies.
New York Representative Peter King
New York Rep. confirms mosque surveillance
On Monday, CAIR’s New York chapter prompted a response from the FBI to New York Rep. Peter King’s remarks that “a number” of district mosques were indeed being monitored.
King confirmed in an interview with Newsday that the surveillance of mosques had been going on for “four or five years.”
"Right now there are a number of [Long Island] mosques under surveillance by law enforcement agencies,” King said in response to CAIR-NY statement a week earlier, which called on other representatives to reject King’s claim that “very few Muslims come forward to cooperate with the police.”
I haven't seen this story in any US media. I wonder if the ACLU would look into the monitoring of the TEA Party movement by the FBI? Fat chance huh?
