Court hearing scheduled for the 31st of March, insha’Allaah. Please make du’aa for the freedom of these brothers.

Urgent action required to help Ahmed Belbacha

[Forwarded from London Guantanamo Campaign]

URGENT ACTION: Ahmed Belbacha – British resident , 8 years in Guantanamo Bay

Free to leave……….
Nowhere to go………..

Fighting to stay in Guantanamo?!

Background

* Ahmed Belbacha is a 40 year old Algerian national who came to the UK
as an asylum seeker after receiving death threats from Islamist militias in
Algeria.

* He lived in the UK for 18 months, from 2000 until July 2001, when he
was kidnapped while traveling in Pakistan and sold to the US military.

* He has been held in Guantanamo Bay ever since. While held by the US,
he failed to attend an asylum appeal hearing in the UK and is thus
considered a ?failed asylum seeker? by the British government, which refuses
to act for him on this basis.

* In 2007 he was deemed by the Pentagon to pose no threat and was
cleared for release.

* He has remained in Guantanamo Bay ever since. If returned to
Algeria, his life would not only be at risk from the militias, but also from
the government. In November 2009 he was sentenced by an Algerian court, in
absentia, to 20 years? imprisonment for membership of a terrorist
organisation overseas. No substantive evidence was produced to back this up.
Ahmed has chosen to stay in Guantanamo Bay rather than return there.

* For some time, Ahmed Belbacha’s return to Algeria has been prevented
by a court order. However, following a lower court ruling in February 2010,
concerning the return of prisoners to countries where they face the threat
of torture, the Washington District Court lifted this order, meaning that
the US government can now return him to Algeria at any time. His situation
is now urgent.

* Lawyers for Mr. Belbacha are seeking to appeal this decision, and
argue that no decision should be made in his case until a separate Supreme
Court case (Kiyemba v Obama), which has relevance to Ahmed?s case, has been
decided.

Take action for AHMED BELBACHA now: write to the Foreign Secretary and your
MP and demand that the British government take urgent action for Mr.
Belbacha:

- He has languished in Guantanamo Bay for eight years; three of them
since being deemed to be innocent.
- The British government should allow him to return to the UK on
humanitarian grounds. His former asylum status is irrelevant.
- Point out that Algeria is an unsafe country to return him to and
that he faces the risk of torture if returned there. Does the British
government want his blood on its hands?
- Accepting him would help the US close the prison.

Write to the Foreign Secretary: private.office@fco.gov.uk
private.office@fco.gov.uk>

Dear Mr. Miliband,

I am writing to you concerning Ahmed Belbacha, a former British resident
held in Guantanamo Bay for over eight years.

Mr. Belbacha was cleared for release by the US military over three years ago
but remains there as he fears for his life if returned to Algeria. In
November 2009, he was sentenced to 20 years? imprisonment in absentia, even
though no substantive evidence was provided to back up the charges against
him. There is a great likelihood he would be tortured if returned there.

In view of his illegal imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay over the past eight
years, Mr. Belbacha’s former status in this country should serve as a
humanitarian consideration in allowing him to return to this country; the UK
must accept this man?s return here. This measure has worked well in other
European states and would be of help to our American allies.

Last month, following a judgment in the Kiyemba v Obama case, a court
injunction preventing Mr. Belbacha’s return to Algeria was lifted. The US
administration is now able to return him there at any time.

I urge the government to take immediate action to have Mr. Belbacha returned
to the UK. To perpetuate the uncertainty of Mr. Belbacha’s fate and his
abuse and mistreatment over the past eight years is a cruel blow against an
innocent man. This is the very least the British government can do to help
Mr. Belbacha.

I look forward to your positive response.

Yours sincerely,

—–
Please also forward a copy of your letter/similar to your MP. To find out
who they are, go to: www.theyworkforyou.com <http://www.theyworkforyou.com/>

Please let the London Guantanamo Campaign know if you get a response.

22 March 2010
London Guantanamo Campaign
london.gtmo@gmail.com london.gtmo@gmail.com>
www.guantanamo.org.uk <The National Guantanamo Coalition – Home>

Source: London Guantanamo Campaign & Cageprisoners

FILE – In this Jan. 4, 2010, file photo, Pakistani police officers with detained American Muslims leave a police station to send them into prison in Sargodha, Pakistan. A Pakistani court charged the five young Americans on Wednesday March 17, 2010, with planning terrorist attacks in the South Asian country and conspiring to wage war against nations allied with Pakistan, their defense lawyer said. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)

By ZARAR KHAN (AP) – 20 hours ago

ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani court charged five young Americans on Wednesday with planning terrorist attacks in the South Asian country and conspiring to wage war against nations allied with Pakistan, their defense lawyer said.

The men — all Muslims from the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia — pleaded not guilty to a total of five charges, the most severe of which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, defense lawyer Hasan Dastagir told The Associated Press.

“My clients were in good shape and high spirits,” Dastagir said.

The men, all in their late teens or early 20s, were charged by an anti-terrorism court inside a prison in Sargodha, the city in Punjab province where they were arrested in December. They were reported missing by their families in November after one left behind a farewell video showing scenes of war and casualties and saying Muslims must be defended.

Their lawyer has said they were heading to Afghanistan and had no plans to stage attacks inside Pakistan.

The court also charged the men with planning attacks on Afghan and U.S. territory, said Dastagir. The charges did not specify what was meant by U.S. territory but could be a reference to American bases or diplomatic outposts in Afghanistan.

The men also were charged with contributing cash to banned organizations to be used for terrorism and with directing each other to commit terrorist acts.

“This last charge carries life in prison while the rest of the charges have lesser punishments,” Dastagir said.

The trial will begin on March 31, and the prosecution is slated to present more than 20 witnesses, Dastagir said.

The defense plans to bring witnesses from the U.S. and provide evidence of community service carried out by the men back home, Dastagir said.

Pakistani police have publicly made several accusations against the young men, claiming the suspects contacted Pakistani-based jihadi groups. They accused the five of using the social networking site Facebook and video-sharing site YouTube while they were in the U.S. to try to connect with extremist groups in Pakistan.

During past court hearings, the men have claimed they were tortured by Pakistani police and FBI agents. Pakistan and the U.S. have denied those allegations.

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a phone interview Wednesday from Washington that the parents of the five have received letters from their children detailing the alleged torture, including beatings and threats of electrocution.

In one letter, dated March 10, one of the five writes, “They beat the hell out of me and the rest of us until we said what they wanted us to say. Wallahi (by God) they even threatened to electrocute us the day before court so we don’t tell the judge but we spoke out.”

The letter refers to an earlier note written on toilet paper that they tossed out from a vehicle as they were taken away from a previous court appearance in which they also alleged torture.

“All the things we wrote on the toilet paper are true,” the letter states. “By the way did news of the paper go all over the news even in the US — tell me about it.”

The portion of the letter provided by Awad did not include the signature, so it was unclear which of the five wrote it. Awad said he received the letter from one of the men’s parents.

Authorities in the United States and Pakistan have denied accusations of torture, and skeptics have said that would-be terrorists are trained to allege torture if caught as a form of propaganda.

The U.S. has pressed an often-reluctant Pakistan to crack down on militants in its territory, many of whom are believed involved in attacks on American and NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan. At the same time, several recent cases have highlighted incidences of foreigners signing up to join the insurgents on both sides of the border.

The men have been identified as Ramy Zamzam of Egyptian descent, Waqar Khan and Umar Farooq of Pakistani descent, and Aman Hassan Yemer and Ahmed Minni of Ethiopian descent.

Associated Press writer Matthew Barakat contributed to this story from in McLean, Virginia.

Source

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficient, Most Merciful

as-Salaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakatuhu

Global Voice for Justice is holding an event for Dr ‘Aafia Siddiqui in Sydney. Her case is very saddening as injustice and oppression is continually being enforced upon our sister. She has been tortured for many years in Bagram – some reports even mention that she has been raped. In addition, it has been confirmed by many reliable reports that after her arrest in 2003, two of her children are still missing until today. After all the oppression and mistreatment that our sister endured for all those 7 years, this only continues as in early February the Judge and the jury of the court felt no remorse for what the American and Pakistani authorities put her through. Today, ‘Aafia faces a life sentence after a guilty verdict was handed down by the jury on the third of February 2010.

It is a duty upon every Muslim to stand against oppression and help those in need.

“Once the cell door was locked, I entered another world. Exhaustion, fatigue, starvation and pain had left deep marks on both my soul and body. The psychological abuse I had suffered was becoming almost as intolerable and unbearable as their physical perversions. Like a fire raging uncontrollably, my every move seemed to add fuel to the devastation already reaped by others…”  Zainab al-Ghazali

We were not there for our dear sister Zainab al-Ghazali but we can be the voice of ‘Aafia Siddiqui and many other nameless women who continue to be victims of savagery and inhuman persecution, so let us not neglect our duty towards our dear sisters.

O’ to the one who hears our letter … we are the prisoners…we will stand against you all before Allah on the Day of Judgement and we will say to Him … ‘These people, they knew the orders of your Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam regarding freeing the prisoners, but they did not oblige nor did they take all the courses of action that could lead to our freedom.’

Please see flyer for event details.

http://justiceforaafia.org/

australia@justiceforaafia.org

PRESS RELEASE – March 2010

The European Court of Human Rights is in the final stages of writing its judgement in Babar Ahmad’s extradition case. Their final decision is expected by April 2010.

AAFIA SIDDIQUI DAY

Sunday 28 March 2010 is the 7th anniversary of the kidnapping of Aafia and her children. To commemorate this and to highlight Aafia’s case as symbolic of the brutality of the ‘war on terror’ with the aim of having her repatriated to Pakistan and launching an investigation into the whereabouts of her missing children, the Justice for Aafia Coalition (JFAC – www.justiceforaafia.org) has been formed – an umbrella organisation, currently spanning four continents, which aims to unite and direct all individuals and organisations concerned for our sister and working for her release In an international day of protest, we aim to have events, demonstrations, letter-writing campaigns, khutbahs, etc in towns and cities all over the world in solidarity with Aafia on the one day – 28 March.

All it takes is for each person to do the following:

a) Organise an event (or screening) in your locality; rather than asking us to supply speakers, people could spend one hour reading up on her case thoroughly and presenting it to his community. JFAC will aim to provide you with the necessary information pack to deliver a presentation. If people educate themselves on the case and do the talk themselves, it is more empowering than just having an external speaker come. If you are interested in organising an event or hosting a related documentary screening, please email events@justiceforaafia.org. All events will be publicised on our website.

b) Attend the Aafia Siddiqui Solidarity March, from the Pakistani embassy to the US embassy, in London on Sunday March 28th, 2pm. Promote this and for those living outside London, organise coaches to bring people down.

c) Get 20 people from your community to send a letter to both your local paper and a national paper in the week beginning 22 March. The letters should be short, to the point and mention Aafia Siddiqui Day, the kidnapping and detention, missing children and the event. The individual must collect the letters, buy the postage and envelopes and post the letters. You have 20 days from today to get 19 letters (excluding the one you send yourself).

d) Get 20 people (doesn’t have to be the same 20) to send a letter to Aafia that day , from children in particular. Even though she is currently being denied mail, if the volume is enough, they may just let a few through.

e) An information leaflet, campaign pack and other resources will be shortly available, along with translations of the campaign materials into as many languages as we can. The aim is that anyone in the world can then just print off their particular language and distribute, thereby empowering them and decreasing dependency.

f) Approach your local mosque or Islamic Society to dedicate their khutbah on Friday 26 March to the case of Aafia Sddiqui. A khutbah template will soon be available for download.

There are many other projects in development and events are confirmed for UK, USA, Pakistan, Canada, Ireland, and Australia.

If you would like to assist us in the campaign please email info@justiceforaafia.org.

Justice for Aafia Coalition (JFAC)
www.justiceforaafia.org

The Fort Dix Five.
Yassin Aref.
Dr. Rafil Dhafir.
The Newburgh Four.

“Homegrown terrorists” stopped dead in their tracks, or victims of FBI entrapment? A panel of speakers will discuss these cases in light of the FBI’s campaign since 9/11 that includes preemptive prosecution, the targeting of Muslim communities and the use of agent provocateurs and informants to entrap innocent people.

Panelists include:

El-Hajj Mauri’ Saalakhan, Director of Operations for The Peace and Justice Foundation – a Muslim led grassroots human rights organization based in Metropolitan Washington, DC, and lead convener for the May 6, 2010, mass mobilization for political prisoner, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.

Alicia Mc Williams, aunt of David Williams, one of the Newburgh Four, the men charged with the attempted bombing of the Riverdale Temple.

Faisal Hashmi, brother of Fahad Hashmi, who has been in pre-trial solitary confinement for over two years under the charges of providing material aid to Al-Qaeda.

Lynne Jackson, founder and director of Project Salam, an organization devoted to researching and documenting the United States Justice Department’s post-9/11 terrorism-related prosecutions and convictions to determine whether, in each case, there was substantial evidence of criminality or simply evidence unfairly concocted and/or twisted to convict innocent Muslims.

Sponsored by: National Lawyers Guild (NLG), Middle Eastern Law Students Association (MELSA), Islamic Law Students Association (ILSA), Law Students for Human Rights (LSHR), WESPAC

What is the Global Qunoot Month?

The Global Qunoot Month is about reviving the most important and not to mention a forgotten sunnah of our beloved Prophet (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) during times of calamity. It was a well-known practice even amongst the later companions (may Allaah be pleased with them all) and scholars of later generation. What can be a better time than the present to turn to Allaah for help, when our fathers, our brothers, our husbands and our sons are thrown into prisons merely for believing in Allaah and for standing up for Truth; when our women are raped and children are tortured and are kept in secret prisons for only Allaah knows how long? Is it not time for us to beseech the One and Only who is truly in control of all our affairs? Who Alone can take away these trials from us and grant us relief?

We encourage every Muslim in every corner of the world to join hands with us during the Month of March to pray with us for relief from all calamities affecting the Muslim World and specifically to call upon Allaah to hasten the release of all our prisoners and return our loved ones to us.

You can pray individually but also in congregation behind an imaam. Contact your local imaam to recite Qunoot an-Naazilah and to pray for the release of prisoners during his prayers. Sisters can do the same in their own gatherings, all it takes for you is to raise your hands to Allaah – the Almighty, the Most-Powerful.

Qunoot an-Naazilah:

Qunoot is a supplication offered during prayer while standing. Du’aa al-Qunoot [an-Naazilah] is worded according to the nature of the hardship or calamity. The Prophet (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for Muslim Captives and against certain tribes invoking Allaah for protection from their evil and harm.

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) prayed Qunoot for a month in Dhuhr, ‘Asr, Maghrib, ‘Isha’ and Fajr prayer, when he said: Sami’a Allaahu liman hamidah in the last rak’ah, praying against some tribes of Banu Sulaym, and against Ri’l, Dhakwaan and ‘Usayyah, and those who were behind him said Ameen. [Narrated by Abu Dawood (1443). Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.]

It should be noted here that these tribes had betrayed and killed 70 of the Companions (may Allaah be pleased with them all).

“It is proven that the Prophet  (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to say Qunoot at times of calamity, praying against the aggressors among the disbelievers, and praying for the week and oppressed Muslims to be saved from the plots and captivity of the disbelievers.” [Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (22/271)]

Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) prayed Qunoot for a month. After saying Sami’a Allaahu liman hamidah, he said in his Qunoot: “O Allaah, save al-Waleed ibn al-Waleed, Salamah ibn Hishaam, ‘Ayyaash ibn Abi Rabee’ah and the weak and oppressed believers. O Allaah, punish Mudar severely and send upon them a famine like that of Yoosuf.” Then Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said that they were saved from the clutches of the disbelievers and came to Madeenah, so the Messenger (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) stopped praying for them.  Narrated by Muslim (675)

In Zaad al-Ma’aad (1/272) Ibn al-Qayyim said: “He prayed Qunoot at the time of calamity to offer supplication for some people and to pray against others, then he stopped when those for whom he had prayed came (to Madeenah) and were saved from captivity, and those against whom he had prayed became Muslim and came repenting. So his Qunoot was for a purpose, and when that was achieved he stopped Qunoot.”

How should one say Du’aa al-Qunoot?

According to the most correct scholarly opinion, Du’aa al-Qunoot should be recited after the ruku’, however reciting before the ruku’ is also considered acceptable. [Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen, al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 4/64]

It is prescribed to pray Qunoot during the last rak’ah of every salaah when a calamity strikes, and to continue until the calamity is averted.

Wording of the Du’aa:

Al-Nawawi said in al-Majmoo’ (3/497): “The correct view which was stated definitively by the majority of scholars is that there are no specific words, rather any du’aa may be said.”