By Jason Halperin, Doctors without Borders, April 2003
Two weeks ago I experienced a very
small taste of what hundreds of South Asian immigrants and US citizens of South
Asian descent have gone through since 9/11, and what thousands of others have
come to fear. I was held, against my will, under the Patriot Act. While I
understand the need for some measure of security and precaution in times such as
these, the manner in which this detention and interrogation took
place raises
serious questions about police tactics and the safeguarding of civil liberties
in times of war.
That night, March 20th, my roommate Asher and I were on
our way to see the Broadway show Rent. We had an hour to spare before curtain
time so we stopped into an Indian restaurant just off of Times Square in the
heart of midtown. I have omitted the name of the restaurant so as not to subject
the owners to any further harassment or humiliation.
We helped ourselves
to the buffet and then sat down to begin eating our dinner. I was just about to
tell Asher how I'd eaten there before and how delicious the vegetable curry was,
but I never got a chance. All of a sudden, there was a terrible commotion and
five NYPD in bulletproof vests stormed down the stairs. They had their guns
drawn and were pointing them indiscriminately at the restaurant staff and at
us.
"Go to the back, Go to the back of the restaurant," they
yelled.
I hesitated, lost in my own panic.
"Did you not hear me,
go to the back and sit down," they demanded.
I complied and looked around
at the other patrons. There were eight men including the waiter, all of South
Asian descent and ranging in age from late-teens to senior citizen. One of the
policemen pointed his gun point blank in the face of the waiter
and shouted:
"Is there anyone else in the restaurant?" The waiter, terrified, gestured to the
kitchen.
The police placed their fingers on the triggers of their guns
and kicked open the kitchen doors. Shouts emanated from the kitchen and a few
seconds later five Hispanic men were made to crawl out on their hands and knees,
guns pointed at them.
After patting us all down, the five officers seated
us at two tables. As they continued to kick open doors to closets and bathrooms
with their fingers glued to their triggers, no less than ten officers in suits
emerged from the stairwell. Most of them sat in the back of the restaurant
typing on their laptop computers. Two of them walked over to our table and
identified themselves as officers of the INS and Homeland Security
Department.
While having some limited knowledge of the rights afforded to
US citizens, I explained that we were just eating dinner and asked why we were
being held. We were told by the INS agent that we would be released once they
had confirmation that we
had no outstanding warrants and our immigration
status was OKed.
In pre-9/11
America, the
legality of this would have been questionable. After all, the fourth amendment
to the constitution states: "The right of the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches
and
seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place
to be searched and the persons or things to be seized."
"You have no
right to hold us," Asher insisted.
"Yes, we have every right. You are
being held under the Patriot Act following suspicion under an internal Homeland
Security investigation."
The Patriot Act was passed into law on October 26, 2001 in order to
facilitate the post 9/11 crackdown on terrorism. Like most Americans, I did not
recognize the extent to which this bill foregoes our civil liberties. Among the
unprecedented rights it grants to the federal government are the right to
wiretap without warrant, and the right to detain without warrant. As I quickly
discovered, the right to an attorney has been seemingly fudged as
well.
When I asked to speak to a lawyer, the INS official informed me
that I do have the right to a lawyer but I would have to be brought down to the
station and await security clearance before being granted one. When I asked how
long that would take,
he replied with a coy smile: "Maybe a day, maybe a
week, maybe a month."
We insisted that we had every right to leave and
were going to do so. One of the policemen walked over with his hand on his gun
and taunted: "Go ahead and leave, just go ahead."
We remained seated. Our
IDs were taken, and brought to the officers with laptops. I was questioned over
the fact that my license was out of state, and asked if I had "something to
hide." The police continued to hassle the kitchen workers, demanding
licenses
and dates of birth. One of the kitchen workers was shaking hysterically and kept
providing the day's date?March 20,
2003, over and over.
As I continued to press for legal
counsel, a female officer who had been busy typing on her laptop in the front of
the restaurant, walked over and put her finger in my face. "We are at war, we
are at war and this is for your safety," she exclaimed.
As she walked
away from the table, she continued to repeat it to herself? "We are at war, we
are at war?how can they not understand this."
I most certainly understand
that we are at war. I also understand that the freedoms afforded to all of us in
the constitution were meant specifically for times like these. Our freedoms were
carved out during times of strife by people who were facing brutal injustices,
and were intended specifically so that this nation would behave differently in
such times. If our freedoms crumble exactly when they are needed most, then they
were really never freedoms at all.
After an hour and a half the INS agent
walked back over and handed Asher and I our licenses. A policeman took us by the
arm and escorted us out of the building. Before stepping out to the street, the
INS agent apologized. He explained, in a low voice, that they did not think the
two of us were in the restaurant.
Several of the other patrons, though of
South Asian descent, were in fact US citizens. There were four taxi drivers, two
students, one newspaper salesman?unwitting customers, just like Asher and me. I
doubt though they received any apologies from the INS or the Department of
Homeland Security. Nor have the over 600 people of South Asian descent currently
being held without charge by the Federal Government. Apparently, this type of
treatment is acceptable.
One of the taxi drivers, a US citizen, spoke to
me during the interrogation.
"Please stop talking to them." He urged. "I
have been through this before. Please do whatever they say. Please for our
sake."
Three days later I phoned the restaurant to discover what
happened. The owner was nervous and embarrassed and obviously did not want to
talk about it. But I managed
to ascertain that the whole thing had been one
giant mistake. A mistake. Loaded guns pointed in faces, people made to crawl on
their hands and knees, police officers clearly exacerbating a tense situation by
kicking in doors, taunting, keeping their
fingers on the trigger even after
the situation was under control. A mistake. And, according to the ACLU a
perfectly legal one, thanks to the Patriot Act.
The Patriot Act is the
just the first phase of the erosion of the Fourth Amendment. On the
congressional table this summer is the Domestic Securities Enhancement Act, also
known as Patriot II. (Is it a missile or a piece of legislation?) Among
other
things, this act would allow the Justice Department to detain anyone,
anytime, secretly and indefinitely. It would also make it a crime to reveal the
identity or even existence of such a detainee.
Every American citizen,
whether they support the current war or not, should be alarmed by the speed and
facility with which these changes to our fundamental rights are taking place.
And all of those who thought that these laws would never affect
them, who
thought that the Patriot Act only applied to the guilty should heed this story
as a wake up call. Please learn from my experience. We are all vulnerable so
speak out and organize, our fourth amendment rights depend upon it.
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Jason Halperin lives in New York City and works at
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins
Sans Frontieres (MSF)
Locker Associates, Inc. 225 Broadway Suite 2625
New York, NY 10007 Phone: 212-962-2980 Fax: 212-608-3077 email:
lockerassociates@xxxxxxxxx Visit us on the web at www.lockerassociates.com