To Walk with Dewan or to Welcome Dewan at the Border, call Dewan's cell: 905-302-9837 (Toronto number) or Susan in St Catharines: 905-984-6515 for information on route and expected time of arrival Tues Oct 12. (Carpool to US Border with Susan.)

A Canadian Muslim?s ?One Man March for Peace and Harmony? CAN Oct 9 - 12 ,US Oct 12...

Bangladeshi Canadian Community Services
A Canadian Muslim?s ?One Man March for Peace and Harmony?

Toronto, Canada, October 9, 2004: This morning at 11:00 a.m., Dewan Shuaib Afzal began walking from Toronto?s Eternal Flame at Metro Hall to Niagara Falls? Rainbow Bridge in an effort to gather support to end racial profiling and to raise awareness that the Muslim faith is a peaceful one.

As a Bangladesh-born Muslim, and Canadian citizen for the past 29 years, Dewan has observed a sharp rise in racial stereotyping and profiling in North America since September 11, 2004. It affects him and his community so much, that he decided to use his Thanksgiving break to protest racial profiling, which affects us all. Dewan?s friend, Mustaq Ahmed, is helping him to organize this walk, and is driving alongside him all the way. Dewan and Mustaq feel that now is the time to speak out against Racial Profiling. They will be delivering letters expressing their concerns to President Bush, Senator Kerry, and Prime Minister Martin.

Amnesty International, USA released a report on September 21, 2004 entitled ?Threat and Humiliation. Racial Profiling, Domestic Security and Human Rights in the United States?. Amnesty is also calling on the US Congress to sign a bill called the End Racial Profiling Act of 2004, which 140 Senators and representatives have already endorsed.

Dewan and Mustaq want their fellow North American citizens to know that Muslims are peaceful people who denounce terrorism and injustice of all kinds. They are very concerned, about terrorism, and about the strong anti-muslim sentiment which has been taking root in North America since September 11, 2001. Dewan is inspired by Terry Fox and has taken part in the annual Terry Fox run for the past 20 years. Two years ago, Dewan had quadruple heart by-pass surgery. He now walks 3.5 miles a day and is in excellent health for his walk.

Dewan is concerned that the people in his community are misunderstood: ?It is time for Muslims to speak out, because fear is controlling much of what is happening in our society today. People are looking at Muslims assuming they are terrorists and they are afraid. Muslims are looking at the situation they are in ? being stereotyped and profiled as terrorists - and they are also afraid. We must all join together to promote peace and harmony. Fear and ignorance will not pave the way to peace. We have learned this from so many past experiences in world history.?

Dewan states: ?We must speak out against the racist behaviour being practiced by some in our society currently. Last weekend Kassim Mohamed and a group of Muslim supporters gathered at the base of the CN Tower to take pictures and video of the Tower in a protest against the arrest of Mr. Mohamed last spring, who was suspected of being a terrorist. Mr. Mohamed asked ?I?m Canadian like everybody else. I can take pictures like anybody else. Why was I stopped?? the people in my community are wondering why Mr. Mohamed was stopped too.?

Note: Amnesty International?s Report on Racial Profiling can be viewed at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/racial_profiling/report/

For more information, call:

Kim Kerridge: 647-221-9169

or Dewan Afzal: 905-302-9837

========================================

LETTER Being Delivered to President Bush, Senator Kerry, and Prime Minister Martin:

Maria Minna and Michael Shapcott will be delivering the letter to Mr. Martin and Mr. Layton respectively. The letter will also be sent to Mr. Harper and Mr. Duceppe.

October 9, 2004



President George W. Bush

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500



Dear Sir,



My name is Dewan Shuaib Afzal. I am a Bangladeshi-born Muslim and I have been a Canadian Citizen for the past 29 years.



In last few years I have noticed the sharp rise of racial stereotyping and profiling in North America. The recent report from Amnesty International, ?Threat and Humiliation, Racial Profiling, Domestic Security, and Human Rights in the United States? has pointed out the facts regarding this issue. Along with my fellow Canadian and American citizens, I am very concerned. To raise the awareness of this issue I am walking from Toronto to Niagara Falls during the Canadian Thanksgiving holidays. This is being done with strong support across the community of Canadian citizens.



With great respect I urge you to raise your strong voices against profiling and stereotyping. You are, respectively, the leader of the world?s one super power, a contender for that leadership and the leader of a strong democracy. As you all well know anti-semitism started a long time back and even though strenuous efforts have been made to end it, it still is not completely eliminated. We feel anti-muslim sentiment which is taking root requires your powerful voices to stop it.



You know that Muslims are peaceful people who denounced terrorism. For the acts of few people we all should not be tarred by the same brush.



Yours sincerely,



Dewan Shuaib Afzal

Amnesty International Racial Profiling Executive Summary:

Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, National Security, and Human Rights in the United States

Executive Summary

Racial profiling is a serious human rights problem affecting millions of people in the United States in even the most routine aspects of their daily lives. A year-long study conducted by the Domestic Human Rights Program of Amnesty International USA found that the unlawful use of race in police, immigration, and airport security procedures has expanded since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The study further found that state laws provide insufficient and inconsistent protection against profiling. Despite promises by President George W. Bush shortly after his taking office to end racial profiling, the number of American ethnic, racial, and religious groups whose members are at high risk of being subjected to this scourge has increased substantially. To address this growing national problem, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) urges the White House and Congress to prioritize and enact the End Racial Profiling Act of 2004 and allocate sufficient funds for its vigorous enforcement.



Testimony at Amnesty International USA's hearing on racial profiling in Tulsa, Oklahoma

From July 2003 to August 2004, AIUSA?s Domestic Human Rights Program studied the current state of racial profiling by law enforcement agencies in the United States. The process began with the consultation of a wide range of community organizations and the organizing of a series of public hearings across the United States throughout the fall of 2003 (San Francisco/Oakland on September 9, Tulsa on September 30, New York City on October 2, Chicago on October 18 and 20, and Dallas on November 15). At the hearings, victims, human rights advocates, experts and law enforcement officials testified about their experiences with racial profiling.

The hearings were followed by an intensive period of research that included analyzing:



· State laws concerning racial profiling

· The U.S. Supreme Court?s interpretation of relevant protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution

· Pertinent federal policies

· International treaties, covenants, and laws

· Recent national public opinion polls

· Current U.S. census data

· And a wide range of literature on the subject.



The major findings of this study may be summarized as follows:

1. A staggering number of people in the United States are subjected to racial profiling:

· Approximately thirty-two million Americans, a number equivalent to the population of Canada, report they have already been victims of racial profiling.

· Approximately eighty-seven million Americans are at a high risk of being subjected to future racial profiling during their lifetime.

· Racial profiling directly affects Native Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Arab Americans, Persian Americans, American Muslims, many immigrants and visitors, and, under certain circumstances, white Americans.

· Racial profiling happens to both women and men, affects all age groups, is used against people from all socio-economic backgrounds, and occurs in rural, suburban, and urban areas.

· Racial profiling of citizens and visitors of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent, and others who appear to be from these areas or members of the Muslim and Sikh faiths, has substantially increased since September 11, 2001.

2. As the testimony cited in this report shows, racial profiling occurs in almost every context of people?s lives:

· While driving: A young African-American schoolteacher reports being routinely pulled over in his suburban neighborhood in San Carlos, California, where only five other African-American families live. Native Americans in Oklahoma report being routinely stopped by police because of the tribal tags displayed on their cars. In Texas, a Muslim student of South Asian ancestry is pulled over and asked by police if he is carrying any dead bodies or bombs.

· While walking: In Seattle,Washington, a group of Asian-American youths are detained on a street corner by police for 45 minutes on an allegation of jaywalking. While a sergeant ultimately ordered the officer in question to release them, the young people say they saw whites repeatedly crossing the same street in an illegal manner without being stopped.

· While traveling through airports: An eight-year-old Muslim boy from Tulsa, Oklahoma was reportedly separated from his family while airport security officials searched him and dismantled his Boy Scout pinewood derby car. He is now routinely stopped and searched at airports.

· While shopping: In New York City, an African- American woman shopping for holiday presents was stopped by security at a major department store. She showed the guards her receipts. Nonetheless, she was taken to a holding cell in the building where every other suspect she saw was a person of color. She was subjected to threats and a body search. She was allowed to leave without being charged three hours later, but was not allowed to take her purchases.

· While at home: A Latino family in a Chicago suburb was reportedly awoken at 4:50 a.m. on the day after Father?s Day by nine building inspectors and police officers who prohibited the family from getting dressed or moving about. The authorities reportedly proceeded to search the entire house to find evidence of overcrowding. Enforcement of the zoning ordinance, which was used to justify the search, was reportedly targeted at the rapidly-growing Latino population.

· While traveling to and from places of worship: A Muslim imam from the Dallas area reports being stopped and arrested by police upon leaving a mosque after an outreach event. Officers stopped him, searched his vehicle, arrested him for expired vehicle tags, and confiscated his computer.

3. Despite the prevalence and serious nature of the problem?including the devastating effect that it often has on victims, their families, and their communities ?no jurisdiction in the U.S. has addressed the problem in a way that is both effective and comprehensive. While as of the writing of this report 29 states have passed laws concerning racial profiling, state and federal protections against this problem continue to be grossly insufficient:

· Forty-six states do not ban racial profiling based on religion or religious appearance.

· Thirty-five states do not ban racial profiling of pedestrians (and the majority of the fifteen states that do, use a definition of racial profiling that makes the ban virtually unenforceable in most circumstances).

· The scope of Tennessee?s current racial profiling law is so limited that it only pertains to the conditions under which fingerprint records are obtained.

· In June 2003, the Department of Justice issued its Guidance Regarding the Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies forbidding racial profiling by federal law enforcement officials. Yet, the guidance does not cover profiling based on religion, religious appearance, or national origin; does not apply to state or local law enforcement agencies; does not include any enforcement mechanisms; does not specify punishment for violating officers/agencies; and contains a blanket exception for ?national security? and ?border integrity? cases. The Guidance is an advisory, and hence is not legally binding.

· On February 27, 2001, President Bush said, ?racial profiling is wrong? and promised to ?end it in America.? Yet, almost four years later he has failed to support any federal legislative effort to eliminate racial profiling in the United States.

AIUSA Board Member and US Marshal Matthew Fogg at the release of Amnesty's report on Racial Profiling states "Racial profiling is a threat to our national security, to the effectiveness and fairness of our criminal justice system, and it is an affront to the dignity of all Americans"



4. When law enforcement officials focus on what people look like, what religion they follow, or what they wear, it puts us all at risk. Several incidents in history illustrate this risk:

· In 1901, President McKinley?s assassin, a white man born in Michigan, was able to conceal the murder weapon in a bandage wrapped around his arm, pass through security, and go undetected until he shot the president because secret service agents had decided to focus their attention on a ?dark complexioned man with a moustache.?

· In 1995, after bombing the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City,Timothy McVeigh, a white male assailant later convicted of delivering the bomb alone, was able to flee while officers operated on the initial theory that ?Arab terrorists? had committed the attacks.

· In 2002, two African-American male snipers were able to evade police and continue terrorizing residents of the nation?s capital and nearby areas. Police, relying on racially-based profiles of serial killers, were searching for antisocial white males.

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