FBI agent sues U.S. for discrimination
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| Wed, 09-01-2004 - 4:03am |
Muslim FBI agent sues U.S. for discrimination
By Gail Appleson
Reuters
19 Aug 2004
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19299368.htm
NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - A Muslim FBI agent who
was demoted after working as a supervisor in the
Middle East at the time the Sept. 11 attacks took
place sued the U.S. government for racial and
religious discrimination on Thursday.
Wilfred Rattigan, who was a legal attache in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, charged in his suit that the FBI
harassed and demoted him because he is black and
reverted to Islam in December 2001.
The suit was filed in Manhattan federal court and
seeks unspecified damages.
Rattigan charged that discriminatory behavior he faced
could have compromised the Sept. 11 investigations and
reflects "the ongoing legacy of racial discrimination
that has roiled the bureau in past 10 to 15 years."
A spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department, of which
the FBI is a part, could not be reached for comment.
The legal attache job in Riyadh had responsibility for
FBI activities in seven countries: Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and
Qatar, the suit said.
Rattigan said that after he became the legal attache
in July 2000, he told supervisors that his office was
badly understaffed.
He said the FBI failed to give him enough help even
though U.S. concerns about terrorism were focused on
Saudi Arabia.
The 2000 attack on the U.S. warship Cole in Yemen
increased the workload on his office, but Rattigan
said the FBI refused to ease the burden by shifting
responsibilities to other offices.
And when the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks increased the
workload "many fold," Rattigan said his request for
additional assistance "for the most part, fell on deaf
ears or was turned down."
He charged that during this time, other attache
offices headed by white employees got more help than
Riyadh even though they were less connected to the
Sept. 11 investigation.
Rattigan said that since he filed an internal
complaint in May 2002, he has been continually
harassed and was eventually transferred out of Riyadh
and demoted.
The suit mentions that another Muslim FBI agent,
credited with playing a key role in terrorism
investigations, temporarily worked as an assistant to
Rattigan in Riyadh.
The FBI's firing of Egyptian-born Gamal Abdel-Hafiz
resulted in a swirl of controversy. He was later
reinstated in a rare move by the bureau.

Sanad Esteita, Arab News, 7/12/04
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=48228&d=12&m=7&y=2004
RIYADH, 12 July 2004 — Saudi students returning from the US have
spoken of shocking treatment at the hands of the FBI. Among other
things, they complain of discrimination against them once they
identify themselves as Saudis.
Ibrahim Al-Toeimi, a finance and banking student at the University of
Tampa, Florida, told Arab News the FBI would conduct random searches
of his home once or twice a month. "They would come and knock on my
door any day at any time... there was one occasion when they came to
my house at eight o'clock on a Sunday morning." Without any warrants
or justification, the FBI would proceed to search the apartment with
a fine toothcomb.
"They used to open my closet and search the pockets of my clothes to
make sure I wasn't hiding anything. They would go through my drawers
and even check my shoes," Ibrahim continued.
"Once they took all my CDs and played them one at a time to check
what's on them." When he asked them why, he was told: "It is part of
our procedure."
He went on to describe how agents would search his bathroom, kitchen
and even checked under the carpet. "When they finished searching the
place they would question me where I'd been and what I'd done....
they would ask me where my money came from and what I'd spent it on,"
Ibrahim said. "The thing is that they know every detail about you but
they ask you anyway just to make you nervous."
Abdul Aziz Al-Shammary, an engineering student at the University of
Central Florida, recently returned, but said he did not do so
willingly; he was deported. Al-Shammary comes from a well-off family.
Once he traveled to the US, he continued to live the upscale life he
was accustomed to in the Kingdom.
During a random search, the FBI questioned him where his money came
from and how he was able to afford his lifestyle. Al-Shammary simply
replied that his father sent him money, and this led to the question
of how his father was able to afford to send him such large
amounts. "He was insinuating that my father was dishonest," he said.
The comment led to a heated argument that eventually provided a
reason to deport him. Al-Shammary is now banned from the US for seven
years.
Faleh Al-Makhazim, another student who was deported from the US, said
he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. While taking a walk to
the local store, Faleh was picked up by the police and accused of car
theft. "Apparently I fitted the description of a guy who stole a car
from that area earlier that day," he recalled. "I was taken to the
police station and questioned. They treated me like I was a murderer
or something."
The woman whose car was stolen could not positively identify him as
the thief, he said, and lack of evidence meant they could not keep
him in custody, so instead they deported him. "When I asked why I was
being forced to leave, they said that they know I stole the car but
couldn't prove it, and since I had no respect for their laws I had no
business being in their country."
Besides being targeted for random searches, Saudis frequently
encounter discrimination in the US. "Once they know you're Saudi you
can see the change of attitude in their faces," said Faleh. "The way
they look and talk to you, the way they serve you... it all changes
once they know your nationality," he said.
When these three students were asked why they did not take legal
action to protect their rights, they said they were all scholarship
students sponsored by the Saudi government. Before leaving Saudi
Arabia, all scholarship students are required to sign a waiver
stating that they cannot take any legal action against the Government
of the United States or any office under its control.