Farid Hilali is a Moroccan national who has lived in Britain at various times for over 15 years. He was detained in the United Arab Emirates in 1999 where he was asked to be an informant by the British security services. He believes that he was detained and tortured for precisely this reason. The UAE authorities forcibly repatriated him to Morocco, where his and his families lives was made “hell”, in the words of his solicitors in Morocco. This involved being arrested, tortured and interrogated day and night without notice, his family being threatened, and many other abuses. He returned to the United Kingdom in 2001, and a few years later on
the 3rd September 2003 was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000, at which point he made an application for asylum, fearing a return to Morocco.
He was then subjected to a European arrest warrant on the part of Spain, alleging that he was in part responsible for conspiracy to Murder in relation to the attacks upon the United States on the 11th September 2001. The basis of this allegation was based upon vague interpretations of intercepted telephone communication.
The Spanish Prosecutor Mr Pedro Rubira has made false statements to British Courts to substantiate these allegations. He stated that he was involved in the ‘Hamburg Cell’ and wanted in Germany. In documents provided to Farids’ solicitors, the German Prosecutors office, it is stated that “There is no investigation, with respect to the terror attacks of 11th
September 2001 against Farid Hilali (or ‘Shakur’ / ‘Shukri’). The investigations carried out in this connection did not give any indication that Hilali was a member of the terrorist organisation of Mohammed Atta in Hamburg or had supported this organisation.”
Mr Rubira also stated that he has been identified as a member of a terrorist cell in Spanish courts, however no such transcripts of court statements exist to substantiate this. The Madrid Bar Association has compiled a report against Mr Rubira to this effect.
For further details related to the above, please see the campaign pack “Justice for Farid Hilali”, produced by ourselves and with the close co-operation and support of Arani Solicitors.
Despite all the incidents mentioned, Farid has now been authorised to be extradited to Spain under the terms of the European Arrest Warrant. In Spain, he risks being deported to Morocco or suffering torture and ill-treatment at the hands of the Spanish Prison system. Both of these occurrences are likely, and documented by Amnesty International and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.
It is a matter of urgency that protests from the Muslim community are made to prevent this through the seeking of an injunction from the European Court of Human Rights. I urge all readers to phone, fax, email and write to all the persons detailed in “key contacts" in order to facilitate this, as it is quite literally a matter of life and death for Farid Hilali.
There are many ways in order to help Farid Hilali and prevent his extradition. It is imperative that you carry out as many actions as possible, as his health and indeed his life is in grave danger. All of these actions do have an effect. If the situation is highlighted in the correct manner with as much exposure as possible, there is every chance that the European and
British Courts are obliged to review the evidence in more detail as a matter of public interest.
Actions Required :-
· Write letters and make phone calls to the European Court of Human Rights, asking them to prevent the deportation
· Write and phone the Spanish Embassy, asking them to halt the extradition proceedings
· Write to Farid, and send him messages of support. Details can be provided upon request.
· At the very least, make Dua’ to Allah (Swt) to ease his suffering
KEY CONTACTS
European Court of Human Rights
President
European Court of Human Rights
Council of Europe
67075 Strasbourg-Cedex
France
FAX: 00330 388 4102018
I write to you in relation to the above case of Farid Hilali who is subject to a European Arrest warrant filed in the United Kingdom by the Spanish Prosecutors office.
There are a number of irregularities and concerns that I have that I believe would make the extradition unsafe.
· Mr Hilali is being sought on the basis of telephone intercept evidence, which was found in the Spanish Supreme Court to be inadmissible within Court.
· The alleged co-conspirator in the European Warrant, Mr Yarkas, has been exonerated of all charges in relation to this recording
· Mr Hilali is alleged by the Spanish Prosecutors Office to be a member of the ‘Hamburg Cell’, even though German Prosecutors have stated that there is no record of Mr Hilali ever having been involved.
· Mr Hilali is at severe risk of torture by both the Spanish Government and by the Moroccan Government if Spain were to subsequently deport him.
Mr Farid Hilali has numerous positive character references and has never been convicted of any terrorist offence. There are serious discrepancies in the credibility of the statement provided to British Courts by the Spanish Prosecutors office, as contested by the Madrid Bar Association.
I urge you to protect the human rights of Mr Hilali by preventing this extradition, and appeal to you to enforce the obligations of member states in relation to Article 3 on the UN Convention on Torture, which states that “No State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he will be in danger of being subjected to torture”.
I thank you for taking the time to read this letter, trust you will now investigate the issues raised within it and prevent the extradition of Farid Hilali.
Salaam Alaykum,
Firstly, jazakhallah khair to all for taking the time to read this urgent campaign pack relating to
the extradition ruling of Farid Hilali.
Subsequent to the attacks on the USA in 2001, a climate of fear has been placed over the
Muslim community in the UK; a fear that has resulted through a combination of negative press
reports, draconian infringement upon freedom of speech, and legislation being passed in
direct contravention of basic human rights laws.
Sadly, some members of the Muslim community have been prosecuted under these laws and
in some cases wrongly. It appears now that there is a hidden crime, though not specified
directly in legislation yet widely viewed as a crime by the authorities - that of being a
practising Muslim.
Also distressing is that once brothers and sisters are detained or convicted, their treatment
becomes worse mainly because the Muslim community is not supporting them due to a
number of factors including the continuing cycle of fear, intimidation and press bias. It is time
to break that cycle, speak out and offer our support as we are required to do under our
obligations as Muslims.
The Government’s attitude to rehabilitation of Muslim offenders is genuinely shocking. Unless
we take action through legitimate protest and support, this can only polarise the Muslim
community still further. It is somewhat ironic that the British Government is passing the
majority of their legislation on the basis that they are to "protect freedom", whilst curtailing the
freedom of citizens to practise their religion freely.
We do not have to agree with the crimes that the prisoners have been convicted of; believe
they are innocent, or believe in their causes. This is an issue of human rights and
brotherhood, not one of allegiance and partisanship to their specific alleged or real
motivations or actions.
Every Muslim has the right to be treated fairly and without prejudice when incarcerated within
the prison system, and as such I thank you for taking the time to take part in this campaign.
Jabir ibn Abdullah reported that our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) said, "No man helps a
Muslim at a time when his honour is being belittled or his rights violated except that Allah will
help him at a place in which he loves to have His help." [Abu Dawud]
Walaykum Salaam,
Umar Abdullah, Help The Prisoners [email protected]
Acknowledgements
Jazakhallah Khair to the Islamic Human Rights Commission for the inspiration behind the
campaign packs, as well as Arani Solicitors and others for providing support and help in
devising this document.
PART FOUR: HOW TO HELP
There are many ways in order to help Farid Hilali and prevent his extradition. It is imperative that you carry out as many actions as possible, as his health and indeed his life is in grave danger. All of these actions do have an effect.
If the situation is highlighted in the correct manner with as much exposure as possible, there is every chance that the European and
British Courts are obliged to review the evidence in more detail as a matter of public interest.
The ways to help are as follows:-
A. Write letters and make phone calls to the relevant Organisations and Government Departments.
B. Attend any demonstrations or protests in support of Farid Hilali that are advertised by either us or other Organisations.
C. Write to Farid, and send him messages of support. Details can be provided upon request.
D. At the very least, make Dua’ to Allah (Swt) to ease his suffering
Remember, sometimes it can take only one person to make the world a better place, and do not think that your action, big or small, has no impact.
To give some examples:-
· The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) secured the release of Gul Aslan through a sustained letter writing campaign
· The IHRC state that one MP revealed that if five letters regarding an issue are sent to his constituency, they will discuss the issue at the next meeting
· Amnesty International reported that a former torturer from El Salvador stated “If there is lots of pressure, we might pass the inmates to the judge. If there’s no pressure, they’re dead.”
· Arani Solicitors have stated that when complaints are received, the prisoners’ lives on the whole improve, however temporary
· The Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six were only released after many years of letter-writing and campaigning by their supporters. They were the ultimate “problem that would not go away”, and there is no doubt that had their supporters forgotten them they would still be in jail to this day.
Please take action before it is you, your brother, your sister, your father, your mother, your son or your daughter who find themselves in the same predicament
I apologize for not seeing this thread sooner. I have not been on the forum as much as i should be for the past few days. I am always impressed by your concern for our Brothers and Sisters in Islam.
We do have many members from the UK here. You are right something does need to be done.
do you have any email addresses we can address emails too?
You are right these are the steps that need to be taken.
The ways to help are as follows:-
A. Write letters and make phone calls to the relevant Organisations and Government Departments.
B. Attend any demonstrations or protests in support of Farid Hilali that are advertised by either us or other Organisations.
C. Write to Farid, and send him messages of support. Details can be provided upon request.
D. At the very least, make Dua’ to Allah (Swt) to ease his suffering
If possible do you have an email address for Brother Farid? If so please PM it to me I would like to send him an email.
As always good to hear from you. The only contact I have at present is through an organisation called Cageprisoners although I am in emmail contact with someone who I think has visited Farid and I am trying to contact them dirrectly.
If you visit the http://www.cageprisoners.com link you will find in the left hand bottom corner a link to the campaign for Farid which in turn has links onward. What we are hoping is that the Courst of Human Rights president Mr Costa gets many many letters from as many people as possible so that instead of some rubber stamping of flawed proceedures he actually is forced to read the papers and sees that there is no case to answer and orders that Farid is released. At our court of appeals here in the UK he was found to have no case to answer and released from the risk of extradition only to have the House Of Lords reverse the decission.
I will post here as soon as I have more information.
I believe even us that are not in the UK can help. It may be of some interest if they get some input from people outside the UK and emails from non-Muslims. this is in interest of justice, not a question of religion, but of basic human rights for all people.
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