ICPJ Asks FBI for investigation into spying at mosques
In the wake of local and national reports of FBI spying in mosques, the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice has issued a request to Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate if the FBI is engaging in religious profiling.
Follow the link to read the full letter to Attorney General Holder.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Hon. Eric Holder
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
RE: FBI spying in Mosques
Dear Attorney General Holder:
Recently we at the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice have heard reports alleging that the FBI has been sending informants into mosques to collect information about who is attending and who is giving to charity.
We find these reports deeply disturbing and we request that you mount a full investigation into these allegations. As you know, there have been troubling reports that the FBI sent a convicted criminal to pose as an agent provocateur in several California mosques, including allegations that an FBI agent told one of the mosque attendees that the agency would make his life a “living hell” if he did not become an informant.
Here in Michigan, Dawud Walid of the Council of American Islamic Relations has reported hearing about efforts to infiltrate a variety of area mosques on what he dubs “fishing expeditions.”
If true, these reports would seem to indicate a practice of religious profiling on the part of the FBI. We at the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice oppose religious, ethnic and racial profiling. We have seen how it threatens civil rights, weakens communities, and sows mistrust.
We do support FBI efforts to bring criminals to justice and to prevent crime, but they should not single out communities based on how they pray, the color of their skin, or their national origin.
We urge you to order a full investigation into these allegations and to conduct a thorough review of FBI and Department of Justice policies regarding racial, ethnic, and religious profiling to ensure that they protect groups from inappropriate surveillance.
Sincerely
Chuck Warpehoski
Director
UPDATE: Attorney General Eric Holder recently released this statement on treatment of Muslims:
Statement of Attorney General Eric Holder on Department of Justice’s Outreach and Enforcement Efforts to Protect American Muslims
Thursday, June 4, 2009
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement relating to President Obama’s historic speech today in Cairo, Egypt:
“The President’s pledge for a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim community takes root here in the Justice Department where we are committed to using criminal and civil rights laws to protect Muslim Americans. A top priority of this Justice Department is a return to robust civil rights enforcement and outreach in defending religious freedoms and other fundamental rights of all of our fellow citizens in the workplace, in the housing market, in our schools and in the voting booth.
“There are those who will continue to want to divide by fear – to pit our national security against our civil liberties – but that is a false choice. We have a solemn responsibility to protect our people while we also protect our principles.”
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-090604.html