The U.S.
Treasury Department has de-listed Muhammad Salah as a "specially designated
terrorist," lifting onerous restrictions on the Palestine-origin American now
living in Bridgeview, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The move
comes two months after Muhammad Salah filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago
challenging the constitutionality of the economic sanctions and on the eve of a
deadline for the Treasury Department to file an answer to the lawsuit in court,
according to the paper.
In
September last, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) joined a lawsuit challenging
the federal government's restrictions on their First Amendment rights to engage
in "coordinated advocacy" with Salah, whose situation cried out for public
attention, advocacy and resolution.
The
lawsuit also asserted that Salah's Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights had been
violated and requested relief. Just prior to the government's s November
6 deadline for responding to the legal challenge, the Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFCA) quietly announced his removal from the list.
The
suit challenged the government's power to impose arbitrary restrictions on the
groups' First Amendment rights to follow their conscience and raise public
awareness about government actions they believe to be unjust.
"This
is not only a victory for Mr. Salah and his family -- it is a victory for all
communities. A strong message was sent, and that is all Americans are
entitled to their due process and essential rights. Mr. Salah suffered at
the hands of the government for nearly two decades, and we are happy to see
this matter finally put to rest. It is our hope that the federal
government takes a close look at their designation process and ends or
drastically eliminates the process, understanding the ramifications it can have
on the innocent, such as Mr. Salah," sais Abed A. Ayoub, the ADC Legal
Director.
"AFSC brought this case as a last resort, after OFAC failed to respond to
reasoned appeals to a sense of justice and simple humanity. We are pleased to
have been a part of a case that forced the government to retreat from this
arbitrary use of a demonizing label," Shan Cretin, AFSC's General Secretary
said.
"A government must not be allowed to cultivate a climate of fear as
justification for denying basic rights to a scapegoated group. Unfortunately,
the U.S. has a history of exploiting fears around security as an excuse for
selective persecution of Japanese-Americans, Native Americans, Jews, civil
rights advocates, political dissidents, and most recently, US citizens and
residents of Arab descent," Shan Cretin said and added: "We are dismayed
that it took 17 years, but celebrate this victory with Mr. Salah and his
family."
According to the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR):
"The lawsuit stemmed from events in 1995, when Mr.
Salah was classified by the Treasury Department as a "specially designated
terrorist," under Executive Order 12947, signed by then President Bill Clinton
and designed to target groups and individuals considered to be interfering with
the Middle East peace process.
" Mr. Salah received no notice of any
charges against him, nor any opportunity to defend himself. There was no trial
or hearing of any kind. In fact, Mr. Salah and his family only learned of the
imposition of the designation when Mr. Salah's wife, Maryam, attempted to
withdraw funds from her bank account and was told that the account was frozen
at the U.S. government's direction. The designation runs to perpetuity and, but
for this litigation, there is no way to overturn the arbitrary restrictions
they impose on Mr. Salah's basic life activities.
" At the time of the Treasury designation,
Mr. Salah was incarcerated in an Israeli military prison, charged by an Israeli
military court with providing support to Hamas in the early 1990s. At the time,
no law barred Americans from supporting Hamas. Following 55 days of intense
interrogation, including sleep deprivation and physical brutality, Mr. Salah
pled guilty to the charge and entered into a plea agreement. He was released in
1997 and returned to his home in the United States.
" When, in 2005, the U.S. government
charged Mr. Salah in a criminal trial with supporting Hamas, a jury acquitted
him. Despite his acquittal, his designation as a "specially designated
terrorist" remained.
" Matthew Piers, who has represented
Mr. Salah since shortly after his designation, said, "Since he was released by
the Israeli military justice system, Mr. Salah has been made to suffer in a
manner that is contrary to our constitutional principles and completely
unjustified by anything he has ever been accused of, let alone found to have
done. Justice has now been done, but it comes very late in the day. The
government should not be in the business of imposing such draconian penalties
on individuals without criminal trial."
The civil advocacy groups, ADC and AFSC, argued that the government's treatment
of Salah amounted to unnecessarily sweeping, cruel, and arbitrary punitive
actions that were an egregious affront to the basic values of justice. The ADC
and AFSC are celebrating with Muhammad Salah and his family after the U.S. this
week removed him from the "Specially Designated Terrorist" list after 17 years
of persecution, an ADC press release said.