[Ppnews] CMU Terre Haute - secret prison by Rafil Dhafir - Daniel McGowan news

[Political Prisoner News]

Friends,

Just wanted to share some information from another prisoner at 
another CMU, the one in Terre Haute, Indiana. In the next few weeks 
we will continue to send out more and more info about these secretive 
prison units. In the meantime, please read the info below, and if you 
haven't already, please go to: 
<http://www.supportdaniel.org/cmu/>http://www.supportdaniel.org/cmu/

Don't miss this article either: 
<http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2008/12/04/news1.html>http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2008/12/04/news1.html

Also, Daniel is still sitting in county jail in Wisconsin awaiting 
transfer back to Marion. Please write him today at:

Daniel McGowan
Columbia County Jail
403 Jackson Street
Portage, WI 53901

Thanks!
Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan

-----

 From the Nuclear Resister 
(<http://nuclearresister.org/>http://nuclearresister.org/), issue 
#151, page 5, December 20, 2008:

The Inside Line Writings from Jail from Terre Haute
December 16, 2008
by Rafil Dhafir

Two days ago, December 14, was my second anniversary here in 
CMU-Terre Haute, Indiana.

Two years ago, with dozens of others, I was whisked here without 
explanation, to this place reserved for those on death row.

The place was closed for years. It was filthy, with dead animals all 
over the place. It took days to clean it up to make inhabitable (no 
thanks to the idle staff).

In the beginning we were well accommodated in many things, mainly our 
religious needs.  (The excepttion was the limit of only one 15 minute 
phone call per week and a maximum of 4 hours non-contact visits per 
month). But little by little all the "good" things were taken away to 
the point that they are trying to restrict our food as well. Our 
religious practices are severely curtailed.

Because we just celebrated our annual Eid ( the end of Hajj or 
pilgrimage) I wanted to share our experience.
We started the day (December 8) with the prayer at 8:30 a.m., then 
had a gathering for a couple of hours for entertainment.  We then had 
a meal that was prepared by us (the administration no longer provides 
a special Eid meal as they used to, but they continue to do so for 
Christmas).  Afterwards, the movie Omar Mokhtar was shown.
But even this modest celebration was not easy to arrange. It was hard 
to find someone to give the Eid Sermon.

Administration recently punished one of us for being outspoken during 
a Friday Sermon. They don't provide clergy on a regular basis so we 
have to seek volunteers from among ourselves, but it is becoming 
dangerous to do so.
I love to bake.  I volunteered to make a special dessert for 
everybody.  I started collecting the material days beforehand as the 
resources are scarce here, only to discover the items missing from my 
room after the staff had a "shake down" of the rooms!!!!!!!

I still managed to make dessert for all, including the non-Muslims.

We made sure that nothing was going to stop us from enjoying our day 
of Eid, and we did.
No doubt the prayers and the well wishes of all who support us had an 
impact on our joy that day.
I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to all who have 
sent cards and letters of support for their kindness and thoughtfulness.

[Rafil Dhafir is an Iraqi-American doctor whose multi-million dollar 
charity to Iraq violated the post-1991 sanctions, leading to 
unfounded accusations he funded terrorists, a malicious medicare 
fraud prosecution, and a 22-year sentence now being served in the 
Bureau of Prisons' Communications Management Unit at Terre Haute penitentiary.]

------

 From an older Nuclear Resister 
(<http://nuclearresister.org/>http://nuclearresister.org/), issue 
#148, page 3, April 8, 2008:

Dr. Dhafir's Appeal Filed; FBI Moves Into Special Prison Unit

Dr. Rafil Dhafir's appeals brief was submitted to the Second Circuit 
Appeals Court on February 8.  It can be downloaded at 
jvbline.org/dhafirbrief1.pdf.

The government is due to respond in April, and Dhafir's attorneys 
will then reply.

The Iraqi-born and U.S. educated oncologist was arrested and jailed 
in February, 2003, and held without bond through trial for violating 
U.S. sanctions with his unregistered philanthropy to the Iraqi 
people, beginning in the 1990s.  He is serving a 22 year sentence due 
to more than 50 added counts of disputed Medicare billing, and the 
relentless slander of the prosecution and media that he funded terrorists.

Dhafir is among a special group of about 50 predominantly Muslim 
prisoners confined to the special Communications Management Unit at 
the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.  The warden recently 
spoke to all of the men for a couple of hours, and brought news on a 
couple of the finer points of the unit's communications management.
E-mail hardware and connections have all been installed on the unit, 
and the restricted service for the prisoners with pre-approved 
correspondents is scheduled to begin in June.

More unnerving for the prisoners, however, and the major topic of the 
meeting, writes Dhafir, is the presence of an FBI agent among the 
prisoners. Earlier this year, the agent was introduced to mingle with 
them.  It was brought to the warden's attention that was illegal. One 
man asked what law the warden could cite for permitting the 
arrangement.  The warden simply said that the FBI asked and he okayed 
it!  Another asked the agent to provide a written statement about his 
purpose in the unit and that he will not "entrap" people.  The agent 
and the warden both refused, with the warden reminding the men that 
no one is obliged to talk to the agent or tell him anything.

For more information, contact the Dr. Dhafir Support Committee, c/o 
MacGregor Eddy, P.O. Box 5789, Salinas, CA 93915, or go to www.dhafirtrial.net



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