The Muslim Observer
Washington, D.C, February 10

Members of Congress spoke strongly against the use of secret evidence at a congressional hearing this morning, including representatives who had not previously taken a position on its use. The INS use of secret evidence has deprived over twenty Arab and Muslim immigrants of liberty without an opportunity to face their accusers.

At the hearing, Reps. Tom Campbell (R-CA), House Minority Whip David Bonior (D-MI), and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) promoted the Secret Evidence Repeal Act of 1999 (H.R. 2121), a bill they introduced in Congress last June. That bill which has 62 co-sponsors, would restore the rights of jailed individuals to due process of law.

Rep. Campell noted in a news conference following the hearing that for the first time, a Department of Justice representative conceded that the Fifth Amendment of the constitution applies to thse cases. The fifth amendment says no person may be deprived of liberty without process of law.

Nahla al-Arian, an American citizen living in Tampa, Florida, testified on the 1,000 day ordeal of her brother Mazen al-Najjar, a stateless palestinian and 18-year resident of the United States who has been imprisoned since May 1997 on evidence kept secret from him. "It was like fighting ghosts," she said of his legal struggle.

Also present at today's hearing were Hany Kiareldeen, a Palestinian immigrant released in October after 19 months of detainment, and Zakia Hakki, mother of Dr. Ali Yassin Mohammad Karim, an Iraqi Kurd who has been imprisoned on secret evidence since March 1997.

The American Muslim Council, which has promoted passage of H.R. 2121 since last year, submitted wirtten testimony to the committee. "The hearings were a significant step toward the repeal of secret evidence," said AMC executive director Aly R. Abuzaakouk. "It must be followed by a renewed push in Congress toward the full restoration of constituional rights."

Congressional Statements on Secret Evidence

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI): "This isn't a police state somewhere far away. This is the United States...every federal court that has considered these cases have found it unconstituional denail of due process.

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX): "Secret evidence in the form of classified information often consists of rumor and innuendo. It is often unverified and unverifiable. Frankly, we are destroying people's lives."

Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA): "The more I think about secret evidence, the more I dislike it."

Rep. Joe Scarborough (R-FL): "We hear all the time about journalists held in South America or elsewhere for two or three years...not allowed to hear the evidence or to face their accusers, yet we're doing the same thing."

Rep. David Bonoir, House Minority Whip (D-MI): "Secret evidence violates our deepest trust in the rights of due process."

Rep. Tom Campbell (R-CA): "If you accept that this constitutional applies, then this law is unconstitutional."