Farouk asked for all our help in fighting for justice and equality!

The last time I saw Farouk was in Newark, NJ at the Art Auction for Palestine, Jun 20, 2004. It was after he had read the article which follows. He came over to shake my hand. He noticed the American Eagle on my T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase, “Justice for All”, as well as the eagle tattoo on my upper arm, which was visible that day. He smiled, shook my hand and sat next to me. When it was his turn to speak, he began with how he was subject to torture while in U.S. custody.

With the utmost respect, I say that Farouk was an ordinary man who had extraordinary circumstances visited upon him. If things were as they supposed to be, had he been allowed to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness either, or even some semblance of normality in his native Palestine or here in the U.S., he might not have been an activist. He would though have been a humanitarian, as that was part of the man’s nature, his heart and soul.

I want to say that something changed in me, deeply and profoundly. When Farouk was transferred to the Bergen County Annex I was relieved. I felt he would be safe. I have friends that work their and family, so I had no reason to believe otherwise. When he was beaten in that jail, and I do not know that guard, I was devastated; I felt as if I had been sucker-punched.

I still have the tattoo, a youthful indiscretion, and I still on a lark may wear, as I did that day at the art auction, something emblematic of what America promised, but never delivered, but I do not consider myself an American. I view myself first and foremost as a human, residing on this planet, wading through this life, which lasts an hour. I am bigger than this shithole that is the United States of America

Vince

Here the article I posted to NJ IMC on 29 May 2004

To the astute observer, Farouk Adel Muthi is a man that bears wounds to his psyche and body that are common to all torture victims. He is not, however, a beaten man, not by any stretch of the imagination.

I say to the astute observer because Farouk is not one to complain regarding himself. He speaks in generalities concerning the brutality he received at the hands of his captors. The gentle man talks of the need for a class struggle against police brutality. He recounts that roaches, rats and mice are endemic to prisons.

He speaks, however, in graphic deal of abuse only in regard to others. He tells of the Christian Palestinian whose blindness bought him no immunity from the brutality of the prison guards in York, PA. He tells of witnessing an Arab brother get his teeth bashed out in the Hudson County Jail. This author would like to state that, as a child, he witnessed the aftermath of his father getting his teeth bashed out in a bar fight. For my father, it entailed a week of missed work, a broken nose, an obscenely swollen face for sometime and lifetime of wearing a partial. It is a traumatic memory.

The conventional wisdom is that America has not domestic political prisoners, let alone torture victims. I bear witness that Farouk Adel Muthi is both. The fact that our nation underwent a national emergency is not an excuse for the brutality this kind man received, not ethically, not morally and certainly not legally, consider the following:

2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_cat39.htm

Of his imprisonment, Farouk stated during the teach-in and discussion that his mind was his salvation. The less than keen observer not seated in the front row, as I was, may have missed it, when he said, almost under his breath, "I died in prison."

At one point during the Q&A, I inquired as to the name of the Bergen County prison guard who did the beating. I wanted to know, as I've family and friends who currently work for the Bergen County Sheriff's Office and, as such, serve as guards at the Bergen County Annex, which is one of the prisons where Farouk was held. I'm happy to report that I don't know the guard, but hope that he, the man who meted out vindictive and illegal torture, is discharged from his duties. It was only afterward, in a private discussion, that Farouk revealed to me the bruises still visible under his shirt collar. I asked for and was given permission to photograph. Perhaps he felt that, because I know guards, I needed corroborating evidence of the brutality experienced.

After the Q&A I learned other things too from those who had visited him in various jails. For example, that at one point he was manacled and held in solitary confinement. Also, that he was denied medication he needs for a physical condition.

Farouk's experience is consistent with that of that of a torture victim. Consider the following:

Torture tends to be a "hidden" problem because its existence is often denied by the victims themselves, either because they cannot bear to speak about what happened to them, or because they are un-documented refugees who fear deportation if they openly seek assistance. http://www.notorture.org/torture.htm

It is a grim irony and dark chapter in our Nation's foreign dealings that Farouk was made stateless, by our government, through its unqualified support of Zionism and the ethnic cleansing inherent therein. After being made stateless, in Kafkasque fashion, Farouk's is imprisoned and tortured for speaking out against the great injustice foisted upon the indigenous people of Palestine.

I'd like to remind his jailers, especially here in Bergen County, that there are laws against what you did. What gives you the right to lay your hands upon and brutalize a peaceful and scholarly middle-aged man? Is that what your parents raised you to do? Brutalize defenseless people? I'm sure you are aware that you wouldn't treat an animal in the same fashion, and that if you did so, you would invoke the full wrath of some ill-tempered municipal court judge, and yet you thought it okay to treat a human being this way. Where is your Christian compassion? If not religious underpinnings, then where is your common thread of humanity?

To Farouk himself, as a well-wisher, and fellow human being and activist for Palestine, I'd encourage you to seek the assistance of groups in NY that treat victims of torture. It may fly in face of prevailing wisdom this new reality of domestic torture victims, but you are a sufferer of torture in the traditional sense. You were targeted for whom you are and your beliefs. One of my best friends, who now a works as a NYC social worker, was also once the victim of random torture. He was imprisoned in Argentina in 1973. I'm happy to report that he is leading a fulfilling life, but he didn't do it alone. It is too much for any one man to bear on his own.

God Bless you and God Bless all victims of torture.

Farouk asks for all our help in fighting for justice and equality. It seems the least we can do.