<nettime> Re: FW: [sept11arrests] ADC Press Release-

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>]

In Yugoslavia that should be an expected event - plainclothes were 
everywhere. And they never had to aplogize for acting improperly. 
Maybe if Bush stays in power as long Tito did, they won't have to do 
so here as well.

ivo

On 16 Mar 2004 at 19:18, Maglich, Marko wrote:

Sometimes there is a little good news.
-----Original Message-----
From: Kareem Shora [mailto:kshora@adc.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 12:42 PM
To: Issues re Sept 11-related arrests, detention
Subject: [sept11arrests] ADC Press Release-



ADC Press Release:
Pressed by ADC, US Army Concludes Special Agents Exceeded Authority 
at
UT Austin-

March 16, Washington, DC -- Army intelligence has determined that its
special agents acted improperly by questioning attendees of a Feb. 4
University of Texas at Austin Law School conference entitled, "Islam
and the Law: The Question of Sexism."  On Feb. 13, the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) sent a letter to the Army Office
of Public Affairs expressing concern about and requesting an
investigation of the incident.

According to law students who contacted ADC, the Army initially
explained their actions by saying that two Army personnel attended 
the
conference and reported "being approached by three Middle Eastern men
who asked questions that were 'suspicious in nature.'"  ADC advised
the Army that the personnel who attended the conference were in
civilian attire, did not identify themselves as representing the Army
during the event, and did not express any concern or report any of
their alleged suspccions to the conference organizers, UT Austin or
civilian law enforcement.  Further, ADC expressed grave concern about
the logic underlying these alleged suspicions.

Moreover, according to the law students who contacted ADC, Army
special agents subsequently demanded a list of conference attendees
and questioned several law students who reported feeling intimidated
and unnerved by the questioning.  ADC inquired how the Army could
possibly consider such questioning appropriate given that the event
was a civilian and public one held in an academic environment and
addressing a legal and academic topic.

On Wednesday March 10, ADC attended a federal interagency meeting
coordinated by the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.  
Prior
to the meeting, ADC requested that the Army send a representative to
address this issue.  The Army representative at the meeting confirmed
that the Army was aware of ADC's letter and that the Army 
Intelligence
and Security Command (INSCOM) had initiated an investigation into the
incident.

INSCOM has now announced that it has concluded its investigation,
finding that "the special agents and their detachment commander
exceeded their authority by requesting information about individuals
who were not within the Army's counterintelligence investigative
jurisdiction."  The Army further announced that in order "to prevent
this from happening again, INSCOM has provided refresher training on
the limits of Army counterintelligence investigative jurisdiction to
all counterintelligence personnel performing duties in the United
States."

ADC welcomes the positive response of teh US Army with regard to this
incident and hopes that the steps taken will ensure that such 
excesses
are not repeated in the future.

-----------------------------------------------------
Mark Your Calendar: ADC 21st National Convention;
June 10 - 13, 2004
-----------------------------------------------------
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
Legal Department
4201 Connecticut Avenue
Suite 300
Washington, DC  20008
phone 202-244-2990
fax 202-244-3196
legal@adc.org
http://www.adc.org


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