Persian Watch Center, the Iranian American AntiDiscrimination Council (www.antidiscrmination.org) strongly registers its bafflement with grave concern over the INS blanket mistreatment of people of Iranian heritage residing in the US. Their petition available for public signature at www.PetitionOnline.com/PWC4/petition.html has been endorsed by numeorus number of civil rights and immigration organizations. It states,
Ever since the despicable terrorist acts of 09/11/01 against our nation, neo-conservative and special interest groups have converged to enact and enforce some of the most discriminatory legislations and policy practices that are primarily focused on Middle Eastern / Muslim individuals from the so called "Islamic Countries." This has particularly impacted the daily lives of nearly one million law abiding, hard working, and tax paying Americans of Iranian heritage and other immigrants.
Immigrant communities and concerned citizens unequivocally condemn any terrorist act by anyone, domestic or foreign. In the spirit of active participation in a democratic process, it cannot and should not sit on the sidelines at this dangerous historical and pivotal juncture. We need to confront the evils of racial and ethnic profiling of any kind under any guise and pretext, including national security.
We, concerned citizens and immigrants, including the Iranian-American community, demand observance of the letter and the spirit of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and application of equal law and justice to all, including Middle-Eastern and Iranian-American community. We demand that the President and Attorney General issue letters of assurance to the community as well as directives to the front line officers to observe our legal rights under the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Similar petition addressed to the Administration on this very topic and run by the PWC sometime ago yielded 20,000 signatures. After the collapse of the pro-Soviet government in AFGAHNISTAN, followed by an ineffective Mojahedin fractioned government with internal fighting, the so called Taleban Government came to power with the pledge of immediate SECURITY for all, which they did indeed deliver. Such "security" however, came about at the expense of compromising women's rights, religious rights, democracy and freedom. We in the US should continue to advocate security, but not the cost of relinquishing our democratic values and equal treatment for all under the codes of law.
David Rahni
President Emeritus
Persian Watch Center
