Possible FBI Interviews of Iranians and Iranian-Americans
NIAC COMMUNITY ADVISORY WARNING:
Know Your Rights on Possible FBI Interviews of Iranians and Iranian-Americans
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For immediate release
August 03, 2006
Contact:
Ehsan Tabesh
National Iranian American Council
202-719-8071
Washington DC, July 26, 2006 - Recently, NIAC, civil rights organizations, and lawyers have noticed an increase in the number of FBI interviews of Iranians and Iranian Americans in an effort to identify potential threats to national security. Current and future crisis in the Middle-East is certain to influence the intensity, the timing, and nature of these FBI interviews.
In general, NIAC's advice is to be cooperative with the authorities, while exercising all your rights.
When contacted by FBI, contact your local chapter of ACLU or other organizations listed above and consult a lawyer before agreeing to an interview. You cannot be declined the presence of your lawyer during the interview. On many occasions, FBI agents have simply stopped the interviews once a lawyer has been requested.
NIAC is working with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Amnesty International USA, the Iranian American Bar Association, the Iranian American Political Action Committee, and the National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement (NLSCA), to promote broad based education of civil rights among the Iranian-American community.
Since its August 2004 Civil Liberties Alert, NIAC has been documenting alleged reports of discrimination against Iranian Americans and referring individuals to civil rights organizations, legal referral services, and government agencies where they can receive assistance. With the explicit permission of individuals, NIAC has also referred selected cases to the media.
Of the alleged cases of discrimination and rights abuses reported by Iranian Americans to NIAC between August 2004 and today, an estimated 59 percent were workplace-related incidents, of which 36 percent were related directly to security clearance denials and revocations. An additional 20 percent of cases involved immigration-related discrimination, including application delays for citizenship and green cards, the revocation of valid visas, and security check delays. Finally, 15 percent of the discrimination cases reported to NIAC were community-based discrimination or hate crimes, and 7 percent were government-related discrimination, including disproportionate enforcement of the law and FBI interrogations or surveillance.
In February 2005, NIAC launched its Anti-Discrimination Center, a bilingual resource center which provides information about various forms of discrimination, including hate crimes, defamation in the media, employment and immigration discrimination. The site also provides valuable Know Your Rights information in English and Persian, and links to civil rights organizations, and resources to help find low cost and pro-bono legal assistance, including Persian-language lawyers.
NIAC’s response to the increase in the number of FBI interviews and its role in the Know Your Rights campaign will be to further raise civil rights awareness among Iranian Americans and to defend the rights of our community against broad scale discrimination.
If you believe that you have been subjected to discrimination, we encourage you to use the plethora of resources available at our Anti-Discrimination Center by going to the following website: http://www.niacouncil.org/disc_index.asp.
Know Your Rights on Possible FBI Interviews of Iranians and Iranian-Americans
---
For immediate release
August 03, 2006
Contact:
Ehsan Tabesh
National Iranian American Council
202-719-8071
Washington DC, July 26, 2006 - Recently, NIAC, civil rights organizations, and lawyers have noticed an increase in the number of FBI interviews of Iranians and Iranian Americans in an effort to identify potential threats to national security. Current and future crisis in the Middle-East is certain to influence the intensity, the timing, and nature of these FBI interviews.
In general, NIAC's advice is to be cooperative with the authorities, while exercising all your rights.
When contacted by FBI, contact your local chapter of ACLU or other organizations listed above and consult a lawyer before agreeing to an interview. You cannot be declined the presence of your lawyer during the interview. On many occasions, FBI agents have simply stopped the interviews once a lawyer has been requested.
NIAC is working with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Amnesty International USA, the Iranian American Bar Association, the Iranian American Political Action Committee, and the National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement (NLSCA), to promote broad based education of civil rights among the Iranian-American community.
Since its August 2004 Civil Liberties Alert, NIAC has been documenting alleged reports of discrimination against Iranian Americans and referring individuals to civil rights organizations, legal referral services, and government agencies where they can receive assistance. With the explicit permission of individuals, NIAC has also referred selected cases to the media.
Of the alleged cases of discrimination and rights abuses reported by Iranian Americans to NIAC between August 2004 and today, an estimated 59 percent were workplace-related incidents, of which 36 percent were related directly to security clearance denials and revocations. An additional 20 percent of cases involved immigration-related discrimination, including application delays for citizenship and green cards, the revocation of valid visas, and security check delays. Finally, 15 percent of the discrimination cases reported to NIAC were community-based discrimination or hate crimes, and 7 percent were government-related discrimination, including disproportionate enforcement of the law and FBI interrogations or surveillance.
In February 2005, NIAC launched its Anti-Discrimination Center, a bilingual resource center which provides information about various forms of discrimination, including hate crimes, defamation in the media, employment and immigration discrimination. The site also provides valuable Know Your Rights information in English and Persian, and links to civil rights organizations, and resources to help find low cost and pro-bono legal assistance, including Persian-language lawyers.
NIAC’s response to the increase in the number of FBI interviews and its role in the Know Your Rights campaign will be to further raise civil rights awareness among Iranian Americans and to defend the rights of our community against broad scale discrimination.
If you believe that you have been subjected to discrimination, we encourage you to use the plethora of resources available at our Anti-Discrimination Center by going to the following website: http://www.niacouncil.org/disc_index.asp.
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