Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
May 11, 2006
Dr. Al-Arian Suffers Under Deplorable Prison Conditions

Tampa-

The persecution of Dr. Sami Al-Arian in the U.S. prison system
continues. Last Thursday, May 4, Dr. Al-Arian was hauled from Orient
Road Jail in Tampa at 3:45 a.m. to a federal prison in Tallahassee,
Florida. He was placed in the Special Housing Unit (SHU), a section
of the prison reserved to temporarily house convicted inmates who
violate prison rules. Prison administrators said they received a
letter, believed to be from federal marshals, which contained the
ridiculous allegation that Dr. Al-Arian is a danger to other
inmates. This claim was made to justify the torturous conditions
under which Dr. Al-Arian has been placed in Tallahassee.

Dr. Al-Arian’s family, supporters and all people of conscience would
be shocked and outraged by this claim because Dr. Al-Arian is a well-
known community leader, respected professor, and political prisoner,
who not only has no connection to violence but was acquitted by 12
jurors of any connection to violence after a 6-month trial last
December. Even the government conceded in its plea deal with Dr. Al-
Arian that he has no connection to violence.

Once again, Dr. Al-Arian is being held in solitary confinement, a
constant in his three and a half year imprisonment. Violent,
hardened criminals are given more rights and treated more humanely
than Dr. Al-Arian. He is clearly being subjected to especially harsh
conditions because of his political beliefs, ethnicity and religion.
It is further evident that this vindictive treatment is a deliberate
attempt to break him physically and psychologically.

Furthermore, as he has no watches or clocks, Dr. Al-Arian feels
disoriented and cannot properly carry out the five daily Muslim
prayers. He was only able to leave his cell twice in one week for
one hour each; the law states that inmates in solitary confinement
must be given one hour a day. He was allowed only one phone call
with his family, exactly a week after he was moved. His family was
extremely worried and distraught when they did not hear from him for
a week. Moreover, Dr. Al-Arian was not able to contact his
attorneys, nor were they able to reach him to discuss pressing legal
issues with deadlines that passed during the week he was deprived
from communication.

In the course of his detention and during the critical time
preparing for his trial, Dr. Al-Arian spent 27 months in the SHU
unit of Coleman Federal Penitentiary. The legal limit of placing
regular inmates in the SHU is one year. Again, the stark discrepancy
in treatment undoubtedly demonstrates that he is being singled out.

Conscious of the infamously abusive treatment of conditions in
Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prison, the international community is
closely watching the treatment of political prisoners in the United
States. The discrimination against Dr. Al-Arian and other political
prisoners in the U.S. and their excessively harsh treatment will
embolden dictatorships to do the same, and remain a dark spot in
this country’s human rights record.
—
To write to Dr. Al-Arian:

Dr. Sami Al-Arian (#40939-018)
FCI TALLAHASSEE
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
501 CAPITAL CIRCLE, NE
TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301
—
ACTION ALERT:
To protest the abusive conditions against Dr. Al-Arian:

E-MAIL, CALL and WRITE Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

E-MAIL: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

PHONE: 202-514-2001 and 202-353-1555

MAIL: U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Paul Perez, Chief Prosecutor. Emails can be sent to
steve.cole@usdoj.gov
Ask that it be forwarded to Paul Perez.

Amnesty International, Southern Office:
730 Peachtree Street NE
Suite 1060
Atlanta, GA 30308
phone: (404) 876-5661
fax: (404) 876-2276
1-866-A-REGION
aiusaso@aiusa.org

End.