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Jalil Abdul Muntaqim: Political Prisoner Since 1971

Jalil Muntaqim has spent forty one of his sixty years locked behind bars, paying a heavy price for his participation in the Black Liberation Movement, a struggle he has never abandoned, even behind bars.

A Youth of Concious 

Jalil, born on October 18, 1951, in Oakland, California, grew up in a family environment imbued with an awareness of the political battles of the day, of the history of Black people in amerika and the struggle for freedom that has been waged on this continent for centuries. As he has explained,

My mother taught us [my sister and I] that we are African. She made that a very important lesson for us; she said, “You are African, don’t let anybody call you anything other than that.” … In our house we used to have pictures of H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X – so these individuals, these were our icons in the household …

In the 1960s Jalil attended high school in San Jose, California, where he earned a scholarship to an advanced high school math and science program. He also received a summer scholarship for a San Jose State College math and engineering course. Jalil participated in NAACP youth organizing during the civil rights movement. In high school, he became a leading member of the Black Student Union, often touring in “speak-outs” with the BSU Chairman of San Jose State and City College.

As he has stated in the documentary Jalil Muntaqim: A Voice for Liberation:

The assassination of Martin Luther King, that’s one thing that impacted me. The other thing that really impacted me was the 1968 Olympics when John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their fists in protest – that was significant. John Carlos used to be one of my math tutors, so the culture, the African culture and the politics and the time, the struggle that was going on, the civil rights movement that was going on at that time, being a part of that and being impressed by that – and then, on the other hand seeing the Black Panther Party taking this other stroke after the death of Martin Luther King – after his assassination I began to realize that maybe this non-violent protest thing in not going to be all that there’s going to be in order to make real changes in this country.

The Dark Day

Two months shy of his 20th birthday, Jalil was captured along with Albert “Nuh” Washington in a midnight shoot-out with San Francisco police. When Jalil was arrested, he was a high school graduate and employed as a social worker.

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Posted by on May 22, 2012 in Biographies, Campaigns

 

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The End of Tolerance: Statement Discussing the Labour-ConDem Witch-Hunt against the Muslims of Britain

When I read the news earlier today that Umar Uthman, more commonly known as Shaikh Abu Qatada, had been arrested pending deportation on the basis of “diplomatic assurances” from the torturers haven of Jordan, I could scarcely believe my eyes. How far down the road of racism and bigotry has this country gone, MPs seeking to satisfy a baying conglomerate of media and public, eager to take their frustrations of a declining country out on a 52 year old disabled man who they wish to suffer in the most despicable ways.

Not enough was it for them to keep a man without charge for 11 years in captivity, denying him the most basic rights and freedoms, simply because of a despotic government seeking to blame him for their peoples anger against so-called “King Abdullah”. Shaikh Abu Qatadah spent years in a small unit of eight people for no crime or charge, but instead because a foreign dictator demanded his deportation. Britain has now it seemed pandered to a man whose prisons torture 66 in 100 prisoners (Human Rights Watch, 2008). Worse is that this so-called Government of the United Kingdom seems to be encouraging it.

Now, there are those in the blackshirts who might say that he deserves it, where were the rights of the victims, and all the rest of the claptrap that the media likes to wheel out. In the midst of a drunken haze, it could look like a half-point, until we look at the history of the man called Abu Qatada and we see that he has never been involved in any crime.

The solitary charge, for which Theresa May now takes Torturer-in-Chief Abdullah’s words at face value, is one of conspiracy to attack civillians in Jordan in 2000. The only evidence in this Al Qaeda plot (which I am sure will come out in that bastion of virtue, the Jordan Military Court) is an alleged intercepted conversation between Abu Zubaydah and one other individual. The fact that Abu Zubaydah (who still remains without charge in Guantanamo Bay) has been declared by the USA NOT to be a member of Al Qaeda is irrelevant to the wheels of justice in the paranoid terror state of Jordan. More importantly, there is no record of Abu Qatadah knowing any of these individuals, of speaking to these individuals, or indeed any evidence whatsoever of his involvement in any plot (and it is extremely spurious there was never a plot in the first place).
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Posted by on May 3, 2012 in News Items

 

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Abu Qatada A Step Closer to Freedom (But Still a Prisoner of the UK System)

The fifty-one year old Omar Othman, Abu Qatada al-Filistini, a Palestinian refugee with Jordanian nationality  has spent the last six years in various maximum security prisons for Category A offenders. Since his original detention in October 2002, every attempt to deport him to Jordan has been frustrated. The law lords ruled three years ago that he could be sent back but the Strasbourg decision overturned that ruling.

The Home Office clashed openly with judges on Monday when it criticised a decision to free on bail, Abu Qatada, who is accused of posing a grave threat to British national security. The decision by Mr Justice Mitting will see Abu Qatada, once described as Osama bin Laden’s righthand man in Europe, walk out of Long Lartin maximum security prison in Worcestershire after more than six and a half years in detention without trial – the longest period in modern times [see footnote].

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) has imposed some of the most draconian bail conditions seen since 9/11, including a twenty-two hour curfew, but this did little to assuage the anger of the Home Office ministers or politicians from all parties at the decision.

The clash takes the battle between politicians and the judiciary into new territory as Abu Qatada is a major international terror suspect. He was first detained without trial in Britain under the quashed Belmarsh regime nearly a decade ago, in October 2002.

The decision taken by the high court judge at SIAC follows the ruling by the European court of human rights that he could not be deported toJordan because he would face a “flagrant denial of justice” – a retrial based on evidence obtained through torture. Abu Qatada had been detained under immigration laws for the past six and half years pending his deportation to Jordan. Read the rest of this entry »

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2012 in Bushara, News Items

 

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Morocco condemns Ali Aarrass to fifteen years imprisonment on torture evidence

On 24 November 2011, the trial of Ali Aarrass (a Belgian citizen) finally took place before three judges of the Rabat (Morocco) court sitting at Salé. But despite the absence of any objective evidence,[1] including statements from his alleged accusers, Ali Aarrass was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment, solely on evidence obtained by torture.

Without addressing any of the legal and factual arguments which the defence team mounted over three hours of oral submissions and in writing, the judges reached their decision in barely an hour. Worse still, although the hearing was scheduled to resume at 4pm, the magistrates didn’t wait but pronounced their sentence in the absence of the defence lawyers, Ali Aarrass’s family and many supporters. Ali Aarrass found himself facing the judges alone to hear their iniquitous verdict. Even the interpreter had not been brought back to court, so Ali Aarrass did not understand the judgment, which had to be translated for him by his lawyers in the cells of the court. The defence team could only interpret this as another way of putting pressure on Ali Aarrass. After suffering torture, punitive conditions of detention and then extreme isolation, Ali Aarrass is not permitted any confidential interview with his lawyers.

It’s worth recalling that at the same time, the Moroccan authorities have refused to investigate Ali Aarrass’ complaint of being tortured during his police detention. Elementary measures should have been taken before rejecting the complaint as unfounded; Ali Aarrass should have had a proper hearing, he should have been allowed to confront all the officers who were involved with him during his police detention, expert medical evidence should have been sought and his medical condition compared with his Spanish medical records … but nothing was done. Is this surprising? Not really. The same judges presided in the ‘Belliraj affair’ and handed down extremely heavy sentences despite persistent allegations of torture and numerous violations of fair trial processes, recorded both by NGOs[2] and official observers.[3]

Shamefully for Morocco, its judges persist in practices which violate the most fundamental human rights. The judges have even been disowned by King Mohamed VI, who has pardoned several of those sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment in the ‘Belliraj’ case.

Will justice ever prevail in Morocco? Whether or not, the fight continues for Ali Aarrass, who has already lodged a complaint with the UN Committee Against Torture and the Committee on Human Rights.

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[1] The Moroccan file contains nothing: no search warrant of Ali’s home, no phone intercepts, no forensic evidence …

[2] In particular the Arab Commission on Human Rights, ‘Report on the trial of six political prisoners in Morocco – the Belliraj affair’, 10 December 2009. 

[3] Such as the Belgian consul, and see the wikileaks document from the US ambassador in Rabat, ‘Landmark terrorism case raises human rights’.

Source

 
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Posted by on December 18, 2011 in News Items

 

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Moazzam Begg on His Detainment & Refusal of Entrance to Canada

Why is Canada acting like a Guantánamo Bay camp guard?

This week, I became the first ever former Guantánamo prisoner to have stepped on North American soil as a free man.

Since my return from Guantánamo in 2005, I have travelled the world extensively and been welcomed by ordinary people, as well as world leaders, to talk about the effects of detention without trial and the uncontrolled abuse of power exercised during the US-led “war on terror”. And I’ve had meetings with some of the most powerful political figures in Europe, including Britain, and have delivered speeches in front of presidents and prime ministers. These countries include France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Slovakia, Poland, South Africa, Kenya, Malaysia, Iran, Pakistan, UAE, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan – and Libya, where I met with some of that country’s new leaders, who had themselves been victims of US- and British-instigated rendition. I have not been hindered when entering any of these countries.

What I hadn’t done, however, is to take my message toNorth America, where, undoubtedly, I believe it matters most. Despite having had a book published there, I’ve never been to theUS – althoughAmerica has been to me. Notwithstanding numerous videolink lectures I’ve given to American colleges and institutions, I was not prepared to risk a visit to theUS. And I’m certain the feeling is mutual, at least on a governmental level.

Canada, on the other hand, was a different matter – or so I thought.  Read the rest of this entry »

 
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Posted by on October 15, 2011 in News Items

 

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Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman: August 2009 (An Address to the Muslims)

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds. And may the blessings and peace be upon the unlettered Prophet. And to proceed…

As-Salamu ‘Alaykum Wa Rahmat Allahi Wa Barakatuh,

I begin my words by praising Allah, the Most High, for His great favours and His grand, sweeping bounties, because, by Allah, He has been generous to me with many gifts and bounties, which I’m unable to enumerate, nor am I able to extend (suitable) praise for it nor to fulfil my gratitude towards them. The greatest of them was that which I was afflicted with in His path from imprisonment, confinement and harm, then I was given in these six years bounties and gifts the likes of which, had I spent all of my life outside of the prison, I would not have attained them, so the gift of prison then the many gifts within it, took place through His praise, His virtue and His choosing.

In the first three years, I completed the memorization of the Book of Allah, the Most High, along with lengthy contemplations about it, which helped me in writing a number of books, the most beautiful of them, in my opinion, was the book: “Fann al-Qira’ah” (”The Art of Reading”), which is a book in which I hoped to narrate my experience with the great endeavour of reading, so that the person may reach through it, to what which I labelled: “Al-Qira’ah al-Jadaliyyah” (”Forensic Reading”), in which I mentioned many of the dreams, advice and conclusions, so that the reader may reach to the exaltation of Allah, the Great, and His glorification. And I wanted to make the reading of religious material a scientific (style) of reading, just as I wanted to make reading – any reading – to be a religious-based reading through its correct meaning. In other words, that the ‘Ubudiyyah (servitude of worship) would be completed for Allah, the Most High. I hope from Allah, the Most High, that He will make its distribution easy, because I believe that nothing has been written like it before on this topic.

And while inside, I also wrote the book: “Limatha Intasarna? ” (”Why Were We Victorious?”) I clarified in this book the meaning of victory from the Book of Allah, the Most High, and I discussed the status of the Jihadi movements; specifically and its effects on the world in general. And in it, I came to the certain conclusion that we are living in a victory, because the grid line for the Ummah (nation) of Islam is on the rise and the line of Kufr (disbelief) is descending and falling. And within this book there are many hypothetical debates with the defeatist side within the Islamic ranks.

From the first day of my first imprisonment – three years – I recorded my thoughts and my dreams and likewise that which I saw with my eyes and that which I remembered from the stances (of men) in a manner such as “Sayd al-Khatir” (”Capturing Ideas”), which I named “Shatharat Min al-Fikr Wal-Hayyat” (‘Fragments From The Ideology and Life’), with which I filled three notebooks.

From that which kept me busy for a long while was the understanding of “Al-’Aql” (i.e. the Intellect). And it is from the matters, which have specific ties to the Qur’an, as it was not mentioned in the Qur’an as an independent entity, rather it was mentioned as a possessive action: ﴾…Ya’qilun (those with intellect)﴿.
So I wrote a paper, which I called “Al-Farqu Bayn al-’Aql ash-Shi’ri Wa’l-’Aql al-Jihadi ” (”The Difference Between the Poetic Intellect and the Jihadi Intellect”). And that was through following what He, the Most High, said in Surat Ash-Shu’ara’:

وَالشُّعَرَاء يَتَّبِعُهُمُ الْغَاوُونَ﴿

As for the poets, the erring follow them.﴿

And in those days I recorded some memories, which I did not complete, and I named it: “Wa Fi Balmarsh Kanat Lana Ayyam” (”And In Belmarsh We Experienced Days”). And the last of what I wrote there was “Al-’Arba’un al-Jiyad li-Ahl al-Tawhid Wa’l-Jihad ” (”The Forty Steeds For the People of Tawhid and Jihad “) and it is the only one, which Allah, the Most High, decreed to be released to the brothers.  Read the rest of this entry »

 

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