abbielives!
8th January 2009, 19:36
From the Nuclear Resister (http://nuclearresister.org/), issue #151, page 5, December 20, 2008:
The Inside Line Writings from Jail from Terre Haute
December 16, 2008
by Rafil Dhafir
Two days ago, December 14, was my second anniversary here in CMU-Terre Haute, Indiana.
Two years ago, with dozens of others, I was whisked here without explanation, to this place reserved for those on death row.
The place was closed for years. It was filthy, with dead animals all over the place. It took days to clean it up to make inhabitable (no thanks to the idle staff).
In the beginning we were well accommodated in many things, mainly our religious needs. (The excepttion was the limit of only one 15 minute phone call per week and a maximum of 4 hours non-contact visits per month). But little by little all the "good" things were taken away to the point that they are trying to restrict our food as well. Our religious practices are severely curtailed.
Because we just celebrated our annual Eid ( the end of Hajj or pilgrimage) I wanted to share our experience.
We started the day (December 8) with the prayer at 8:30 a.m., then had a gathering for a couple of hours for entertainment. We then had a meal that was prepared by us (the administration no longer provides a special Eid meal as they used to, but they continue to do so for Christmas). Afterwards, the movie Omar Mokhtar was shown.
But even this modest celebration was not easy to arrange. It was hard to find someone to give the Eid Sermon. Administration recently punished one of us for being outspoken during a Friday Sermon. They don't provide clergy on a regular basis so we have to seek volunteers from among ourselves, but it is becoming dangerous to do so.
I love to bake. I volunteered to make a special dessert for everybody. I started collecting the material days beforehand as the resources are scarce here, only to discover the items missing from my room after the staff had a "shake down" of the rooms!!!!!!!
I still managed to make dessert for all, including the non-Muslims.
We made sure that nothing was going to stop us from enjoying our day of Eid, and we did.
No doubt the prayers and the well wishes of all who support us had an impact on our joy that day.
I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to all who have sent cards and letters of support for their kindness and thoughtfulness.
[Rafil Dhafir is an Iraqi-American doctor whose multi-million dollar charity to Iraq violated the post-1991 sanctions, leading to unfounded accusations he funded terrorists, a malicious medicare fraud prosecution, and a 22-year sentence now being served in the Bureau of Prisons' Communications Management Unit at Terre Haute penitentiary.]
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From an older Nuclear Resister (http://nuclearresister.org/), issue #148, page 3, April 8, 2008:
Dr. Dhafir's Appeal Filed; FBI Moves Into Special Prison Unit
Dr. Rafil Dhafir's appeals brief was submitted to the Second Circuit Appeals Court on February 8. It can be downloaded at jvbline.org/dhafirbrief1.pdf (http://jvbline.org/dhafirbrief1.pdf).
The government is due to respond in April, and Dhafir's attorneys will then reply.
The Iraqi-born and U.S. educated oncologist was arrested and jailed in February, 2003, and held without bond through trial for violating U.S. sanctions with his unregistered philanthropy to the Iraqi people, beginning in the 1990s. He is serving a 22 year sentence due to more than 50 added counts of disputed Medicare billing, and the relentless slander of the prosecution and media that he funded terrorists.
Dhafir is among a special group of about 50 predominantly Muslim prisoners confined to the special Communications Management Unit at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. The warden recently spoke to all of the men for a couple of hours, and brought news on a couple of the finer points of the unit's communications management.
E-mail hardware and connections have all been installed on the unit, and the restricted service for the prisoners with pre-approved correspondents is scheduled to begin in June.
More unnerving for the prisoners, however, and the major topic of the meeting, writes Dhafir, is the presence of an FBI agent among the prisoners. Earlier this year, the agent was introduced to mingle with them. It was brought to the warden's attention that was illegal. One man asked what law the warden could cite for permitting the arrangement. The warden simply said that the FBI asked and he okayed it! Another asked the agent to provide a written statement about his purpose in the unit and that he will not "entrap" people. The agent and the warden both refused, with the warden reminding the men that no one is obliged to talk to the agent or tell him anything.
For more information, contact the Dr. Dhafir Support Committee, c/o MacGregor Eddy, P.O. Box 5789, Salinas, CA 93915, or go to www.dhafirtrial.net (http://www.dhafirtrial.net/)
The Inside Line Writings from Jail from Terre Haute
December 16, 2008
by Rafil Dhafir
Two days ago, December 14, was my second anniversary here in CMU-Terre Haute, Indiana.
Two years ago, with dozens of others, I was whisked here without explanation, to this place reserved for those on death row.
The place was closed for years. It was filthy, with dead animals all over the place. It took days to clean it up to make inhabitable (no thanks to the idle staff).
In the beginning we were well accommodated in many things, mainly our religious needs. (The excepttion was the limit of only one 15 minute phone call per week and a maximum of 4 hours non-contact visits per month). But little by little all the "good" things were taken away to the point that they are trying to restrict our food as well. Our religious practices are severely curtailed.
Because we just celebrated our annual Eid ( the end of Hajj or pilgrimage) I wanted to share our experience.
We started the day (December 8) with the prayer at 8:30 a.m., then had a gathering for a couple of hours for entertainment. We then had a meal that was prepared by us (the administration no longer provides a special Eid meal as they used to, but they continue to do so for Christmas). Afterwards, the movie Omar Mokhtar was shown.
But even this modest celebration was not easy to arrange. It was hard to find someone to give the Eid Sermon. Administration recently punished one of us for being outspoken during a Friday Sermon. They don't provide clergy on a regular basis so we have to seek volunteers from among ourselves, but it is becoming dangerous to do so.
I love to bake. I volunteered to make a special dessert for everybody. I started collecting the material days beforehand as the resources are scarce here, only to discover the items missing from my room after the staff had a "shake down" of the rooms!!!!!!!
I still managed to make dessert for all, including the non-Muslims.
We made sure that nothing was going to stop us from enjoying our day of Eid, and we did.
No doubt the prayers and the well wishes of all who support us had an impact on our joy that day.
I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to all who have sent cards and letters of support for their kindness and thoughtfulness.
[Rafil Dhafir is an Iraqi-American doctor whose multi-million dollar charity to Iraq violated the post-1991 sanctions, leading to unfounded accusations he funded terrorists, a malicious medicare fraud prosecution, and a 22-year sentence now being served in the Bureau of Prisons' Communications Management Unit at Terre Haute penitentiary.]
------
From an older Nuclear Resister (http://nuclearresister.org/), issue #148, page 3, April 8, 2008:
Dr. Dhafir's Appeal Filed; FBI Moves Into Special Prison Unit
Dr. Rafil Dhafir's appeals brief was submitted to the Second Circuit Appeals Court on February 8. It can be downloaded at jvbline.org/dhafirbrief1.pdf (http://jvbline.org/dhafirbrief1.pdf).
The government is due to respond in April, and Dhafir's attorneys will then reply.
The Iraqi-born and U.S. educated oncologist was arrested and jailed in February, 2003, and held without bond through trial for violating U.S. sanctions with his unregistered philanthropy to the Iraqi people, beginning in the 1990s. He is serving a 22 year sentence due to more than 50 added counts of disputed Medicare billing, and the relentless slander of the prosecution and media that he funded terrorists.
Dhafir is among a special group of about 50 predominantly Muslim prisoners confined to the special Communications Management Unit at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. The warden recently spoke to all of the men for a couple of hours, and brought news on a couple of the finer points of the unit's communications management.
E-mail hardware and connections have all been installed on the unit, and the restricted service for the prisoners with pre-approved correspondents is scheduled to begin in June.
More unnerving for the prisoners, however, and the major topic of the meeting, writes Dhafir, is the presence of an FBI agent among the prisoners. Earlier this year, the agent was introduced to mingle with them. It was brought to the warden's attention that was illegal. One man asked what law the warden could cite for permitting the arrangement. The warden simply said that the FBI asked and he okayed it! Another asked the agent to provide a written statement about his purpose in the unit and that he will not "entrap" people. The agent and the warden both refused, with the warden reminding the men that no one is obliged to talk to the agent or tell him anything.
For more information, contact the Dr. Dhafir Support Committee, c/o MacGregor Eddy, P.O. Box 5789, Salinas, CA 93915, or go to www.dhafirtrial.net (http://www.dhafirtrial.net/)