ADC Update: Know Your Rights Information
January 2005
Volume 41, Number 1
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has confirmed
reports that FBI agents are contacting Arab and Muslim Americans, including
citizens, for what has again been described as voluntary interviews.
The FBI has communicated information about the latest initiative directly
to ADC.
ADC would like to remind members of the Arab, Muslim, and Arab-American
communities that equal protection and due process rights are afforded
to everyone, including non-citizens, in the United States. ADC urges
anyone who is contacted by the FBI to contact the ADC Legal Department
and provide details of the incident by calling (202) 244-2990, sending
a fax to (202) 244-3196, or via email to legal@adc.org.
ADC offers the following guidelines to anyone who is contacted by
the FBI or other law enforcement agencies. Please see other valuable
information included below.
1) Make sure an attorney is present at all times during any voluntary
interview the person may choose to attend. It is important to note
that everything you say to an FBI agent or other law enforcement representative
is recorded, nothing is 'off the record,' including immigration status.
2) The interviewee may determine the date, time, location of the
interview, and who may attend the interview, including an interpreter
if needed. The FBI is required to provide an interpreter if requested.
3) Bear in mind that all such interviews are completely voluntary
and that no one is obligated to volunteer to speak with an FBI agent
or other law enforcement representative or answer any questions without
a court-approved document.
4) The interviewee has absolute discretion as to what questions
to answer in such a voluntary interview. For example, one may choose
to answer questions about their neighborhood and yet refuse to answer
any questions regarding their immigration status. However, anything
and everything you say during these voluntary interviews is 'on the
record.'
Upon request, ADC will do its best to provide third party observers,
in cases where potential interviewees would want such additional safeguards.
Additional useful "Know Your Rights" information can be
found on the ADC website at: http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=275
For helpful information from the ACLU, please click the link below:
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/Safe andFree.cfm?ID=16216&c=272
The National Lawyers Guild has also created Know Your Rights information
in a number of languages, for English see: http://www.nlg.org/resources/kyr/kyr_English2004.pdf
For an Arabic version, please see: http://www.nlg.org/resources/kyr/KYRArabi
nationallow.pdf
Immigration Advocates:
The Washington Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
urges individuals who witnessed or were otherwise impacted by the
June 23, 2004 Columbia Road operation to call their Spanish/English
hotline at (202)319-1000 x 222.
*The National Lawyer's Guild has created an online 'Know Your Rights'
resource which is available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Punjabi,
and Portuguese. This information can be obtained by calling (212)
679-5100 or at http://www.nlg.org/resources/know_ your_rights.htm