"What's happening to our rights? Who will be next? Justice must prevail. Rabih Haddad will be free," Abdallah Khatib, a high school student who attended Haddad's Islamic studies classes, told the gathering.

Haddad, a Lebanese immigrant who is also a Muslim pastor and community leader, was detained and jailed by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) on December 14 for allegedly overstaying a tourist visa that expired in 1999. He has been held without bond and in solitary confinement.

Several court hearings have been held in secret and no criminal charges have been filed. Evidence against Haddad has not been released and is classified. He has only been allowed to participate in his court hearings via closed-circuit TV from his jail cell.

U.S. federal marshals recently took custody of Haddad and transferred him to a federal facility in Chicago on January 17 at the request of the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Illinois.

Haddad was arrested the same day that FBI, U.S. Treasury, CIA, and NATO agents raided the offices of the Global Relief Foundation, a charity with its international office in the Chicago area. Haddad was a cofounder of the foundation which reportedly raised some $20 million over the last 10 years for emergency relief, education, and aid to people in 22 countries, including Chechnya, Albania, Jordan, Iraq, and to Palestinians in the territories occupied by Israel.

The U.S. treasury department seized the property of the foundation and froze its assets under provisions of the USA Patriot Act because the government claims there is "reasonable" cause to believe that the foundation was funding "terrorism." But again no evidence to substantiate the allegations has been made public and the government admits it does not have enough evidence to add the foundation to its list of 168 organizations that it claims are directly linked to funding terrorism.

Foundation officials have denied the charges. "If they have the hubris to say what they are saying, they ought to come out and say it and show their evidence and allow us to defend ourselves," foundation attorney Roger Simmons told the Detroit Metrotimes.

The government says that Haddad is only being detained because of immigration issues. Ashraf Nubani, Haddad's attorney, asserts that Haddad is in the United States legally under provisions of immigration law passed in December 2000 and was in the process of filing for permanent residency.

Following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the U.S. government detained more than 1,200 immigrants and began conducting interrogations of 5,000 men of mostly Middle Eastern descent. Justice Department officials in Michigan sent letters to more than 500 young Middle Eastern men demanding they set up appointments for interviews to discuss the hijacking.

While Haddad's case is one of hundreds stemming from arrests after September 11, his fight has been gaining in local and national prominence. Supporters have organized a series of public protests, mobilized for court hearings, won a resolution of support from the Ann Arbor city council, and have pressed public officials to speak out against the violations of constitutional rights.

More than 80 people rallied outside immigration court in Detroit on January 10 for a hearing on Haddad's case. Included among the public barred from the hearing was U.S. representative John Conyers, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. Conyers released a statement calling the government's actions "abusive and unconstitutional."

A deportation hearing for Haddad is set for February 19 in Detroit. Supporters and defenders of constitutional rights are planning to be there.  
 
 
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