”Challenging U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11”
A. Basic Rights Of All Peoples Under U.S. Jurisdiction
- Right Not To Be Killed Or Disappeared
- Right Not To Be Tortured
- Right Peaceably To Assemble And Petition The Government
- Right To Equal Protection Regardless Of Race Or National Origin
- Right To Equal Protection For Women
- Right To Free Exercise Of Religion
- Right Of The Media To Report Facts, And Not Be Killed
- Right To Privacy From Surveillance
- Right Of Libraries Not To Report On Readers
- Right Of Universities To Accept Foreign Scholars And Students
- Right To Travel
4. Right To Equal Protection Regardless Of Race Or National Origin
After 9/11, discrimination on the basis of race and national origin increased markedly across the U.S. against “Arabs,” “Middle Easterners.” Attacks on “Latinos” and “Blacks” were under-reported.
Basic U.S. law forbids the denial of “equal protection” (U.S. Constitution Fourteenth (and by court decision, Fifth Amendment). It requires the U.S. “to promote...human rights...for all without distinctions...” U.N. Charter Articles 55 and 56, and CERD.
There were 751 active hate groups at the end of 2003, up from 471 in 1997, And U.S. Operation TARMAC caused the arrest of 700 “Latinos” but no terrorists.
The U.S. Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Civil Rights Commission took no effective measures to stop these practices.
Racial Profiling of California Congressman and Others: Darrel Issa, et al.
(Nicole Davis, "The Slippery Slope of Racial Profiling," Color-lines, Dec. 2001, http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12079 accessed July 1, 2004; Mark Sherman, "Rep. Issa Says Airline Kept Him Off Flight Due To Lebanese Heritage," Associated Press, October 26, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/ 2001/10/26/national1618EDT0700.DTL accessed July 1, 2004.)
Hate Attack Against Mexican American Teacher: Robert Soza
("Caught in the Backlash: Stories from Northern California," ACLU of Northern California, 2002-3, http://www.aclunc.org/911/backlash/soza.html accessed August 7, 2004.)
Operation Tarmac Arrested 700 Latinos, No Terrorists: Juana Jimenez, et al.
("Operation Tarmac: Overkill?" The Austin Chronicle, March 14, 2003, http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2003-03-14/pols_naked6.html accessed July 1, 2004; Kelli Arena and Terry Frieden, "Operation Tarmac Airport Sweep Widens," CNN, Apr. 24, 2002, http://www.cnn.com/2002/TRAVEL/NEWS/04/24/airports.sweep/?related accessed July 1, 2004; Ben Ehrenreich "Operation Tarnish," LA Weekly, Oct. 25-31, 2002, http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/49/news-ehrenreich.php accessed July 1, 2004; Operation Tarmac' Hits Texas," Resource Center of the Americas, no date http://www.americas.org/item_8921 accessed August 7, 2004; The White House, "White House Overview of Fair and Secure Immigration Reform," U.S. International Information Programs, January 7, 2004, http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/Archive/2004/Jan/07-872560.html accessed August 7, 2004; Fact Sheet: ICE Worksite Enforcement," U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, no date, http://www.ice.gov/graphics/news/factsheets/IceWorkEnforcement.htm accessed August 7, 2004.)
Many More Hate Crimes Against "Arabs" and "Muslims": Charlotte Islamic School, et al.
("Hate Crimes Ballooned After 9/11," L.A. Daily News, Sept. 9, 2002, http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E24809%257E848962,00.html accessed August 7, 2004; Cristina C. Breen, "Immigrants Face Changes Since 9-11", The Charlotte Observer, Sept. 4, 2002, http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/3997100.htm?1c accessed July 2, 2004; Anthony Spangler, "Hate Crimes against Arabs, Muslims Ease," Star-Telegram, June 2, 2003, http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/5995368.htm accessed July 2, 2004; Heidi Khaled, "Religious Freedom and the War on Islam," The Irvine Progressive, May 2003, http://irvineprogressive.com/vol1issue2/op5.htm accessed July 2, 2004.)
Greek-born U.S. Citizen Professor Investigated: Tony Koyzis
(Eric Bradley, "University Professor Was Investigated Under PATRIOT Act," The Oshkosh Northwestern, March 10, 2003, p.1, section C.)
Police Falsely Accuse and Jail Middle Eastern Men: Tarek Albasti, et al.
(Michael Moss, "False Terrorism Tips to FBI Uproot the Lives of Suspects," The New York Times, June 19, 2003, http://foi.missouri.edu/terrorintelligence/falseterrorism.html accessed July 2, 2004.)
INS Ousts Lebanese-U.S. Citizen Supervisor: Simon Abi Nader
(Karl Ross, "Employee Sues Over Demotion," Miami Herald, May 9, 2003, http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/5892633.htm accessed July 2, 2004; Simon Abi Nader v. United States Attorney General, et al., 03-CV-60781, [S.D. FL] July 30, 2004.)
Transportation Security Agency Screens Out 25, 000 Non-Citizens: Erlinda Valencia, et al.
("Caught in the Backlash: Stories from Northern California," ACLU of Northern California, http://www.aclunc.org/911/backlash/valencia.html accessed July 2, 2004; David Bacon, "Screened Out," The Nation, May 12, 2003, http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030512&c=3&s=bacon accessed July 2, 2004.)
Thousands of Workers File Discrimination Complaints with EEOC: Karim El-Raheb, et al.
("Egyptian Manager Fired Because of National Origin, EEOC Says In Post-9/11 Backlash Discrimination Lawsuit," The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, July 10, 2003 http://www.eeoc.gov/press/7-10-03.html accessed July 6, 2004; Report: "Muslim/Arab Employment Discrimination Charges Since 9/11," The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, Dec. 2, 2002, http://www.eeoc.gov/origin/z-stats.html accessed June 11, 2004; Race/Color Discrimination Statistics," Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, page updated January 6, 2004, http://www.eeoc.gov/types/race.html accessed August 7, 2004.)
U.S. Government Racism Plagues the Border: Ophelia Rivas, et al.
("United States Border Patrol Mexico-Arizona Border Fencing Project: Facts About the Fence," Latin American Working Group, http://www.lawg.org/docs/what%20is%20the%20fence.pdf accessed July 26, 2004; Brenda Norrell, "Tohono O'odham and Yaqui: No more walls," Indian Country Today, July 20, 2004, http://www.indiancountry.com/?1090337206 accessed July 26, 2004; Julia Dietz, "Fencing Proposal Threatens Human Life, Environment," Journal of the Religious Task Force on Central America and Mexico, May/June 2003, http://www.rtfcam.org/report/volume_23/No_2/article_6.htm accessed July 26, 2004; Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, International Court of Justice, 2004, 9 July, General List No. 131; Jennifer Allen, "Justice on the Line: The Unequal Impacts of Border Patrol Activities in Arizona Borer Communities," Border Action Network, http://www.borderaction.org/BAN-Justice.pdf accessed June 28, 2004.)
U.S. Practices Deny Equal Protection to African Americans
(Sherrel Wheeler Stewart, "Blacks Deaths in Iraq War Exceeds Rate in Vietnam," BlackAmericaWeb.com, March 17, 2004, http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/deaths accessed July 1, 2004; Juliana Maantay, "Addressing Community Concerns: How Environmental Justice Relates to Land Use Planning and Zoning," National Academy of Public Administration, July 2003, http://www.napawash.org/Pubs/EJ.pdf accessed August 7, 2004; Deanne M. Ottaviano et al., "Environmental Justice: New Clean Air Act Regulations & The Anticipated Impact on Minority Communities," Paper delivered at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Conference, Washington, DC, June 2003, p 7; Luke W. Cole and Shelia R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement, [New York University Press, 2001], pp. 34-35; Theodore Cross and Robert Bruce Slater, "How Bans on Race-Sensitive Admissions Severely Cut Black Enrollments at Flagship State Universities," Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Winter 2002/2003, Issue #38, http://www.jbhe.com/features/38_race_sensitive.html accessed July 1, 2004.)