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In the weeks following the attacks of September 11, 2001, hundreds of innocent Muslims and Middle Eastern people were rounded up, detained, and mistreated by the feds. Many were held in a detention center in Brooklyn. In my work with Amnesty International, I have heard numerous stories and met family members and attorneys of several of these detainees.Imagine the outcry if the feds had similarly rounded up white Catholics after Tim McVeigh bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. What's the difference? Skin color? Native language? Xenophobia?
But last Thursday an appeals court ruled that these detainees can sue FBI Director Robert Mueller, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, and others for holding and abusing them for no legitimate reason.
How far will it go? Will we see true accountability? Or will the Bushies continue citing national security as an excuse for denying fundamental human rights?
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