FBI agent sues U.S. for discrimination

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-15-2003
FBI agent sues U.S. for discrimination
1
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.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19299368.htm

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-15-2003
Wed, 09-01-2004 - 6:31am
SAUDI STUDENTS SPEAK OF FBI MISTREATMENT

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.