John Conyers: Hearing on Civil Rights since 9/11

Link to CSPAN VIDEO: http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Current_Event&Code=108_Cong&ShowVidNum=6&Rot_Cat_CD=108_Cong&Rot_HT=&Rot_WD=&ShowVidDays=15&ShowVidDesc=&ArchiveDays=30

Wednesday, October 13

Bitchin' and You Will Be Too!
by pissed off patriciaForgive any typos etc. I may make as I type this. My hands are still trembling from the words I just heard on TV. By sheer chance I turned to C-SPAN this afternoon and came in, in the middle of a live broadcast of a hearing. This was the Civil Rights and Liberties After September 11, hearing. At the time I tuned in John Conyers was chairing the hearing. He is the Judiciary Committee ranking member. Many of the panelists were attorneys representing various civil rights and civil liberties organizations.What these panelists were saying made cold chills run up my back as they described different civil rights abuses and how the government is basically ignoring them in the name of fighting terrorism. It was all so frightening that it was difficult to listen to and believe. Then another panelist spoke. Her name is Tasneem Abu-Ali.Miss Abu-Ali is twenty two years old, an American citizen born in Texas and she is Muslim. Her brother, Ahmed, was arrested in June of 2003 in Saudi Arabia. Her brother who is also is an American citizen, was studying in Saudi Arabia at the university. During one of his finals, he was arrested and placed in a Saudi prison. Seems the FBI had asked the Saudis to do this. To make a long and sadly awful story short, in May of this year a grand jury found no charges against Miss Abu-Ali's brother but her brother is to this day still in the Saudi prison. It has been confirmed to her that while in prison he has had his fingernails torn off as he was tortured.When I listened to her story I began to cry. I was crying for so many reasons. This was my country, my government and I was appalled because since this is America, this is America's shame. The Saudis have apologized to Miss Abu-Ali's brother for his arrest but due to the influence of our government, they cannot allow him to go free.If you get an opportunity to see a rerun of this hearing, please watch it. If everyone in the United States saw this program, I cannot believe the bush administration would get one single vote on November 2. We have not only outsourced torture, we are condoning it and we should all be so ashamed.THIS IS A MUST READ ABOUT THIS CASE
Go here and read about Ahmed Abu-Ali's case. Elaine Cassel has all the facts on this case.
Go here and take action.