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The American Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (collectively, "ACLU") is a national organization that works to protect civil rights and civil liberties. ACLU attorneys around the country have provided direct representation to individuals and organizations targeted by the FBI and state and local police for exercising their First Amendment right to criticize the government, including people who participated in numerous rallies and marches to protest the war in Iraq, who were excluded from meaningful participation at public presidential speeches, and who protested at the 2004 Republican and Democratic National Conventions.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee ("ADC") is a non-profit civil rights advocacy organization committed to eradicating discrimination against people of Arab descent and promoting their rich cultural heritage. ADC, the largest Arab-American grassroots organization in the United States, has documented government abuse of Arab-Americans in the aftermath of September 11, and protested new immigration procedures, interrogation techniques, and the detention of Arab-Americans.
Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Code Pink is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement that has been actively mobilizing women in opposition to United States' policies in Iraq and the USA PATRIOT Act, as well as other human rights, civil liberties, and environmental issues. To protest United States' policies in Iraq, Code Pink organized a march in Washington, D.C., in November of 2002, and undertook a four-month peace vigil in front of the White House. Code Pink organized a second march in Washington, DC, in March of 2003, involving more than ten thousand people. During both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, members of Code Pink were arrested for protesting the war in Iraq on the convention floor.
Greenpeace is an international advocacy organization dedicated to combating the most serious threats to the planet's biodiversity and environment. Since 1971, Greenpeace has been at the forefront of environmental activism through non-violent protest, research, and public education. In the past several years, Greenpeace has repeatedly engaged the Bush administration through public protest and activism. In 2001, Greenpeace held public demonstrations outside the personal residences of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, attacking the administration's environmental and energy policies. Greenpeace has also actively publicized the Bush administration's ties to the oil industry, especially Exxon Mobil. More recently, a team of Greenpeace experts exposed the United States' military's failure to secure and contain nuclear waste facilities in Iraq.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council ("MPAC") is a not-for-profit, national advocacy organization working on behalf of the American Muslim community with a focus on public policy. Since 1988, MPAC has worked diligently to offer the public a portrayal of Muslims that goes beyond stereotypes to reveal that Muslims worship God, abhor global terrorism, stand against oppression, and do not represent an alien existence. MPAC has published numerous studies on U.S. counter-terrorism policy, and is currently conducting the National Grassroots Campaign to Fight Terrorism and Protect Civil Liberties, which aims to institutionalize good-governance measures in 600 mosques throughout the country. MPAC has led the call for the repeal and reform of the USA PATRIOT Act and has been publicly critical of the FBI's sweeping interrogation and surveillance of American Muslims. MPAC officials have also engaged in public education and advocacy on foreign policy issues, including Iraq, India, Pakistan, Palestine, Afghanistan. Currently, MPAC is advocating on behalf of Muslim charities and charitable givers, searching for a way to protect American Muslims' exercise of their First Amendment right to worship through giving in light of the government's targeting of Muslim charities as part of the war on terrorism.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ("PETA") is the largest animal rights organization in the world. Since 1981, PETA has been actively involved in public education and activism regarding the abuse of animals on factory farms, in laboratories, in the fashion industry, and in the entertainment industry. PETA's highly effective public protests and demonstrations against fur traders, fast-food chains, and meat producers have generated substantial publicity and resulted in major changes in industry practices. More recently, PETA has participated in protests against the USA PATRIOT ACT.
United for Peace and Justice ("UFPJ") is a coalition of more than 800 local and national groups throughout the United States that have joined together to oppose the war in Iraq. Since its founding in October 2002, UFPJ has spurred hundreds of anti-war protests and rallies around the country, and sponsored the two largest demonstrations against the Iraq war. On February 15, 2003, UFPJ organized a global day of protest against the war, including a rally outside the United Nations in New York City that drew more than 500,000 participants. Two days after the bombing of Iraq began, on March 22, 2003, UFPJ mobilized more than 300,000 people for another protest march in New York City. UFPJ also organized in the largest anti-war march in New York City during the Republican National Convention.
Organizations
ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) - is a branch of the ACLU, a national organization that works to protect the civil liberties of all people, including the safeguarding of immigrants' rights. ACLU-NC is responsible for serving the population of Northern California.
Islamic Shura Council of Southern California
National Lawyers' Guild (NLG) - is an association dedicated to the "ends that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests" as sated in the Preamble of its Constitution. The NLG unites lawyers, law students, and legal workers, 1) to eliminate racism; 2) safeguard and strengthen the rights of workers, women, farmers and minority groups, upon whom the welfare of the entire nation depends; 3) maintain and protect our civil rights and liberties in the face of persistent attacks upon them; and 4) use the law as an instrument for the protection of the people, rather than for their repression.
Organizations
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947, carries out service, development, social justice, and peace programs throughout the world. Founded by Quakers in 1917, its work is based on the Quaker belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.
American Indian Movement of Colorado (AIM or Colorado AIM), has been active in nonviolent efforts to end the celebration of October 12 as Columbus Day.
Ancient Forest Rescue is an environmental organization dedicated to preserving the biodiversity and ecosystems of Colorado's forests and roadless areas through education, litigation, and nonviolent direct action.
Campaign for Labor Rights, based in Washington, D.C., works through public education and leafleting/picketing campaigns to inform and mobilize grassroots activists in solidarity with major, international anti-sweatshop struggles. In 2000-2001, it organized a national campaign of solidarity with union members who were fighting for better conditions at Chentex plants in Nicaragua. Groups participating in the campaign carried out dozens of nonviolent actions at Kohl's Department Stores that sold Chentex-produced clothing.
Chiapas Coalition is a Denver-based organization that conducts education and advocacy activities in support of the human rights struggle of indigenous persons in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
Citizens for Peace in Space (CPIS), organized in Colorado Springs in 1987 to continue the work of an earlier organization, STARS, (Committee to Stop the Arms Race in Space), and to oppose President Reagan's "Star Wars" initiative. CPIS advocates the demilitarization of outer space and works to heighten public awareness concerning the dangers of, as well as legal and moral issues surrounding, programs instituted by the United States and other nations to expand military weaponry beyond the earth's atmosphere.
Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace has been active in Colorado since the early 1990s. It has sponsored numerous peaceful demonstrations and vigils to raise public awareness about the effects of United States policies in the Middle East, with a focus on Iraq and Palestine.
Creative Resistance is an activist student organization with a presence at three Colorado college campuses. It began in 2002 as an antiwar group dedicated to channeling its message through creative and artistic means. In addition to organizing antiwar protests, it has appeared at committee hearings to oppose the so-called Academic Bill of Rights and has protested the activities of anti-choice groups on Colorado campuses.
Dandelion Center is a Denver-based social action group that focuses on human rights and civil liberties issues. It sponsors educational forums, produces and distributes literature; organizes rallies and demonstrations; and sponsors training on legal and medical issues for participants in public demonstrations.
Denver CopWatch is a non-violent grass-roots organization working for increased police accountability. Its volunteers - usually equipped with their trademark video cameras - monitor, photograph, and otherwise document police interactions with citizens at ordinary on-the-street encounters as well as rallies and demonstrations. Copwatch also organizes "know your rights" educational workshops; provides assistance to victims of police abuse; lobbies for police reform, and publishes reports about its observations of police conduct.
Denver Justice and Peace Committee (DJPC), begun as a faith-based organization in the early 1980s, promotes human rights, economic justice and lasting peace in Latin America through education, solidarity projects, and nonviolent activism.
End the Politics of Cruelty (EPOC) is a Denver-based human rights organization that conducts rallies, educational programs, demonstrations, and other activities to promote its views. In recent years it has focused on issues of police accountability in Denver.
The Human Bean Company, with a retail store at 218 S. Broadway, is a leading Denver example of the growing "fair trade" movement. It supports the struggle of indigenous persons in Chiapas, Mexico by eliminating middlemen and providing a direct commercial outlet for their locally-produced coffee, honey, and other products.
Rocky Mountain Animal Defense works to end human-imposed suffering of animals in the Rocky Mountain region, though public education, investigation and research, the legislative process, direct action, and appeals to reason and compassion.
Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center - For more than twenty years, the Boulder-based Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center has worked for progressive social change on a variety of issues.
Transform Columbus Day is an alliance of organizations, including Colorado AIM, working to raise public consciousness about the actions of Christopher Columbus and his legacy of oppression and subjugation of Native Americans and to end official celebration of October 12 as Columbus Day.
Individuals
Kerry Appel is the owner of the Human Bean Company, a co-founder of the Chiapas Coalition.
Kirsten Atkins is an environmental activist who attended a peaceful demonstration in Colorado Springs in 2002 to protest the policies of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association.
Sarah Bardwell was an intern at the American Friends Services Committee in the summer of 2004 when four agents of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, accompanied by Denver police officers in SWAT gear, suddenly appeared at the home in Denver where she lives with other antiwar and social justice activists. They include Mackenzie Liman , on whose behalf this request is also made.
Mark Cohen, had an extensive Denver Police Spy File that dated to 1991, with the initial entry noting that he had written a letter to the editor criticizing certain police actions.
Stephen Polk is an active participant in Creative Resistance. In the summer of 2004, when JTTF agents were posing intimidating questions to activists about their plans to demonstrate at the political conventions, they displayed Mr. Polk's photograph to one of the organization's faculty sponsors and began asking questions about Mr. Polk's political activities.
Christopher Riederer moved to Denver shortly after graduating from high school in Boulder in June, 2004. The next month, he was confronted by JTTF agents who suddenly appeared at his Denver address, demanding identification and posing questions about whether he planned to commit crimes at the political conventions on the East Coast.
Scott Silber has worked as an organizer for the Service International Employees Union and also worked with an activist organization centered on the CU Boulder campus called 180-11. In July 2004, at the same time that other Colorado activists received intimidating visits from FBI agents to ask if they planned to commit any crimes at the upcoming Democratic and Republican conventions, the FBI called Mr. Silber and asked him to come to the FBI office for a chat.
Pavlos Stavropoulos, was also a target of political surveillance on several occasions that are documented in the Denver police Spy Files. An email sent by Mr. Stavropoulos about a possible demonstration in Aspen was received by law enforcement officials and forwarded to the Denver Intelligence Unit, which said it would send the information to Tom Fisher at the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
William Sulzman, of Colorado Springs, is a former Catholic priest who has spent decades involved in nonviolent resistance to war, militarism, and the spread of nuclear weapons. He has been arrested on several occasions for acts of symbolic civil disobedience. He has a founding member of Citizens for Peace in Space and is closely identified with that organization.
Organizations
Organizations
American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois
American Friends Service Committee Great Lakes Region
Council on American Islamic Relations Chicago Chapter
Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago
Fellowship of Reconciliation of Chicago Area Chapter
Muslim Bar Association
Oak Park Coalition for Peace and Justice
Individuals
Rasheed Ahmed, Muslim Civil Rights Center President
Colleen Connell, ACLU of Illinois Executive Director
Seema Imam, Muslim Civil Rights Center Vice-President
Kareem M. Irfan, chair of the Council on Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago
Zubair Khan, president-elect of the Muslim Bar Association
Michael McConnell, Executive Director for the American Friends Service Committee Great Lakes Region
Kevin McDermott, of the Oak Park Coalition for Peace and Justice
Ed McManus of the Fellowship of Reconciliation Chicago
Reverend Calvin Morris, Community Renewal Society Executive Director
M. Yaser Tabbara, CAIR Chicago Executive Director
Organizations
American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. The ACLU of Michigan is the state affiliate of a national organization dedicated to defending civil liberties and the constitutional rights for all people in the United States. The Michigan ACLU has over 10,000 members, nine branches and several student chapters.
Ann Arbor Area Committee for Peace. The Ann Arbor Area Committee for Peace is an organization which promotes peaceful solutions to international conflicts and the protection of civil rights and civil liberties. Its work around peace involves collaborating with low-income communities around issues that affect their quality of life while making the link between local and global issues.
Direct Action. Direct Action is a community organization based in Lansing, Michigan dedicated to fighting for democracy while combating poverty and inequality. The organization formed in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks to create a voice for people who felt that the U.S. reaction to the 9/11 attacks would create a base for more terrorism and violence. It began by opposing the USA Patriot Act and the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Instead of simply complaining about the state of the world, it also wants to put forward an alternative vision for a world worth living in.
Life for Relief and Development. Life for Relief and Development or "LIFE" is the largest Muslim charity in the United States. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit/non-governmental registered with the United States Agency for International Development. LIFE is dedicated to alleviating human suffering around the world regardless of race, color, religion or cultural background. The organization strives to offer a variety of humanitarian, health, educational services and programs to aid refugees and victims of natural or man-made disasters. In March 2003, LIFE became a member of the American Council for Voluntary International Action (InterAction), which is the largest alliance of American international NGO's.
National Lawyers Guild, Detroit Chapter. The Detroit Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild is an affiliate of the National Lawyers Guild, an association dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system. It seeks to unite the lawyers, law students, legal workers and jailhouse lawyers of America in an organization that will function as an effective political and social force in the service of the people, to the end that human rights will be regarded as more sacred than property interests.
Peace Action of Michigan. Peace Action of Michigan is the state affiliate of the nation's largest grassroots peace and disarmament group. Peace Action believes that war is not a suitable response to conflict and actively works to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. Peace Action of Michigan has organized several demonstrations against the war in Iraq and works to bring about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Students Allied for Freedom and Equality. Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) was started in 2001 as an independent progressive student movement advocating for human rights, specifically those of the Palestinians, and since 2003 has taken a stance against the war in Iraq. SAFE has been involved in the Divestment Movement, a national movement aimed at pushing universities to withdraw their investments from companies that directly support the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. SAFE hosted the Second National Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement in October of 2002 at the University of Michigan.
Students for Economic Justice. Students for Economic Justice is a student organization at Michigan State University working to support local, national, and international economic, labor rights, and human rights issues. Its primary purpose is to monitor the university's ties to the sweatshop industry. It is a chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops. In 2001, it learned that an undercover MSU police officer was attending meetings of the organization prior to the May, 2000 commencement appearance of the World Bank president. It was also reported that then university president M. Peter McPherson had agreed to the surveillance by the university police.
Individuals
Homam Albaroudi. Homam Albaroudi is an individual who is active in Muslim charities, a board member of the Muslim Community Association and active in the Muslim community generally.
Phillis Englebert. Phillis Englebert is the Director of the Ann Arbor Area Committee for Peace (the name of this organization will become Michigan Peaceworks in January, 2005)
Salah Dean Husseini. Salah Husseini is an individual who is a student at the University of Michigan and president of SAFE.
Kary L. Moss. Kary Moss is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan
Organizations
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon is the statewide affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union (collectively, "ACLU") a national organization that works to protect civil right and civil liberties.
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947, carries out service, development, social justice and peace programs throughout the world. Founded by Quakers in 1917, its work is based on the Quaker belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence. More recent activities of the AFSC include public opposition to the participation of the Portland Police in the Joint Terrorism Task Force, advocacy for the rights of undocumented immigrants, as well as organizing major demonstrations in opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq.
Back to the WALL (originally founded as WALL) is a citizens group organized to protect the forests of the Northwest through direct action. The group, initially known as WALL, was active in forest defense from 1996 through 1999. It was reinstituted as Back to the WALL in Spring of 2004 and has organized and participated in several direct action protests since reforming.
In Defense of Animals (IDA) is a 501(c)(3) not for profit animal welfare organization founded by Dr. Elliot Katz and dedicated to protecting the rights, welfare and habitat of animals. IDA has a twenty year history of educating the public and improving the well being of animals using the legal system, publicity campaigns, peaceful demonstrations, educational outreach and conducting investigations on animal industries using information obtained through whistleblowers and public document requests.
Islamic Center of Portland, Masjed As-Saber ("ICPMA"), is a non-profit organization that owns and administers a mosque known as Masjed As-Saber and an Islamic school known as the Islamic School of Portland. Approximately 450 people attend services at the mosque each Friday and, as many as 3500, attend services on religious holidays. ICPMA employs approximately 16 people. Approximately 60 students are enrolled at the school.
Peace and Justice Works (PJW), founded in 1992 as Portland Peaceworks, promotes nonviolent conflict resolution on local, national and international levels. Its two major areas of program work recently have been U.S. policy in Iraq and police accountability. Between August 2002 and October 2004 PJW organized several small-scale and co-organized eight large-scale demonstrations against the pending and then actual US attack on Iraq. Meanwhile, mostly through its other main project group, Portland Copwatch, PJW has been organizing community groups to testify against the FBI Portland Joint Terrorism Task Force. Portland Copwatch has also been active in monitoring the Portland police review board, speaking out against police misconduct, and educating people on their rights.
Portland Peaceful Response Coalition (PPRC) was founded shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The primary aims of PPRC have been to advocate peaceful, non-military actions in response to the 9-11 attacks, to oppose the targeting of the Arab-American, Muslim, South Asian and other immigrant communities, and to promote a deeper understanding of the U.S. role in international affairs and the roots of anti-U.S. perspectives and actions among peoples outside of the U.S. PPRC has been involved in publicizing and organizing protest demonstrations on the occasions of visits to Portland by President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Oregon Wildlife Federation (OWF) was founded in 1936 and is the second oldest environmental group in Oregon. OWF's mission is to protect the environment and wildlife of the Northwest. To that end the group has actively engaged in many direct action activities since its founding, including rallies and protests.
IndividualsAlaa Abunijem, President of the Islamic Center of Portland, Masjed As-Saber, was born in Saudi Arabia and came to the United States in 1989. He became a U.S. citizen in 1996. Mr. Abunijem is married to a U.S. citizen and has four children. He holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Engineering and Technology Management. He currently works as an engineer and has lived in Portland, Oregon, since 1999. Mr. Abunijem reasonably believes that because of his religion, his ethnicity, his place of birth, his leadership role in the ICPMA, and his charitable contributions he is being monitored by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Forces.
Shahriar S. Ahmed is President of the Bilal Mosque Association of Oregon. Mr. Ahmed has been involved in establishing the Bilal Mosque of Beaverton and has served as a spokesperson for the Muslim community throughout Oregon. Mr. Ahmed has been vocal and noticeable in exercising his First Amendment rights.