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MAS protests detention of American in Saudi Arabia AMP Report WASHINGTON, June 17, 2004- A US Muslim group today protested the detention of a US national who has been held in Saudi Arabia for more than a year, saying he had been jailed at Washington's request and could be tortured. Dozens of people took part in the Muslim American Society's demonstration in front of the State Department and sent letters to President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell to explain their concern for Ahmed Abu-Ali, 23, who was born in the United States and is an American citizen. The group said in a statement that, according to Saudi officials, Abu-Ali was being held at US authorities' request, without formal charges. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters that Washington was aware of the detention and indicated that US consular officials in Riyadh made regular visits to the prisoner. Ahmed-Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen who grew up in Falls Church and enrolled at a Saudi university, has been imprisoned since June 11, 2003. Although an FBI agent testified later last year that Abu Ali had links to the defendants in the so-called Virginia jihad network, no public charges have been filed against him, and Saudi and U.S. authorities have not offered any explanation for his detention. Last week, an FBI official told members of the Falls Church mosque where Abu Ali worshipped that he did not know why the student was still in jail. Ahmed-Abu Ali's family, which gave interviews last fall about the case, has argued that he should be brought home to face trial in a U.S. court if he has done something wrong. Yet the family has been told repeatedly by FBI agents and federal prosecutors that they have no reason to file charges against him, his sister said. On June 11, 2004, Muslim American Society Freedom sent letters to President George W. Bush, the Secretary of State Colin Powell, and 91 members of Congress calling for the immediate and safe release of Abu-Ali. The MAS letter, among other things, said:
Letter delivered to State Department Meanwhile, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad today delivered the following letter to State Department officials following a meeting with Secretary of State Powell: Honorable Colin L. Powell June 17, 2004 Dear Secretary Powell: Thank you for meeting with us today at the State Department. I appreciate the opportunity. I am writing to you on behalf of America’s largest Muslim advocacy and civil rights organization with regard to the case of Ahmed Abu Ali, an American citizen held in Saudi Arabia. I hope to secure your intervention in this case in order to obtain the immediate release of Ahmed, who has been held in al-Ha’ir prison in Riyadh for nearly a year without charge and without access to a lawyer. As you may know, Ahmed, 22, was arrested by Saudi authorities on June 11, 2003, while taking one of his final exams at Medina University, where he was studying on a scholarship. According to his family, Ahmed was interrogated by Saudi police and the FBI extensively in the past year. According to the U.S. consul visiting Ahmed, at one point the FBI threatened to designate him an “enemy combatant”. Matthew Gillen, Director of Consular Affairs in Saudi Arabia at the State Department, recently agreed to meet with Ahmed’s family, two lawyers, and a small delegation from CAIR. Mr. Gillen confirmed that Ahmed has not been charged by Saudi Arabia or the U.S., and that Saudi authorities are no longer investigating him. At the same time, it was relayed to the family’s former lawyer that the FBI is no longer investigating Ahmed and does not have any plans to charge him if he is released by Saudi authorities. Mr. Gillen shared an email sent to him by Mr. Glatz, the U.S. Consul appointed to Ahmed’s case, which stated the following, “SBU Col Al-Qahtani commented to Conoff that he understood that Abu-Ali could be rendered to American authorities at anytime if the USG made a formal request. He added that he understood that if Abu-Ali were deported from Saudi Arabia he would not want to return to the U.S. but has been thinking of traveling to Sweden.” When asked whether the State Department would send a “formal request” to Saudi Authorities, Mr. Gillen responded that he will be filing a letter of protest that will go through your good office in Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When Ahmed’s family asked him whether he wanted to travel to Sweden, Ahmed told them that he had never said such a thing. Ahmed Abu Ali has not been afforded his due process rights as a U.S. citizen. He has not been charged with a crime, permitted to see a lawyer, or given a trial. He has been in detention for almost a year. Ahmed now refuses to see his consular officer, Mr. Glatz, because he has lost all faith in him to ensure his rights and safety. According to Mr. Gillen, a new consular officer cannot be provided for Ahmed. We hope this is not the case. The State Department’s role is to monitor the health and well-being of a detainee, acknowledge and stop mistreatment, provide a list of attorneys, and generally maintain due process. Unfortunately, it has been unreliable on all these fronts. When Ahmed was first arrested, the family’s unrelenting requests to the agency to send a consul to check on Ahmed’s conditions were ignored until a lawyer threatened to sue the State Department for failure to ensure the safety and protection of a U.S. citizen abroad. It took a month after his arrest for a U.S. consul to visit Ahmed. The family’s own investigation showed that Ahmed experienced various forms of mistreatment during this time. In the past year, Ahmed informed his parents that he had lost a tremendous amount of weight and considered going on a hunger strike. When Ahmed’s family brought up these concerns to the U.S. Embassy, they were automatically dismissed. Indeed, there are troubling parallels between Ahmed’s case and the case of Maher Arrar, the Canadian citizen who was deported to Syria and is now suing the Canadian and U.S. government for allegedly subjecting him to torture. All that Ahmed’s family desires is their son’s safe return. I strongly urge you to intervene in securing the immediate release of Ahmed. In the interest of preserving human rights, ensuring justice, and maintaining good diplomatic relations, we trust you will find a positive resolution to this case. I look forward to hearing from you on this important and timely matter. Sincerely yours, Nihad Awad Source: CAIR/MAS/Media reports |