more news:

write your own news:

all news by category:

You are here: Frontpage > News > Investigation concludes that army personnel exceeded authority

... more Other news >>>

18-Mar-2004

Investigation concludes that army personnel exceeded authority

by: Jenny Noyce

North America: On 12 March an investigation by the Army Intelligence and Security Command concluded that two special agents had acted inappropriately by questioning attendees at the University of Texas at Austin Law School conference entitled, “Islam and the Law: The Question of Sexism”.

The investigation was initiated when a letter was sent from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) after law students at the conference had contacted them. Special Agent Jason Treesh confronted attendees and demanded a list of persons attending the conference. Students said they felt intimidated, that he was forceful, and that his methods of interrogation were unnerving.

The two Army personnel supported their actions by saying that they were “approached by three Middle Eastern men who asked questions that were ‘suspicious in nature.’” However, ADC advised the Army that the personnel were in civilian attire, didn’t identify their affiliation with the army, and did not express their alleged suspicions to the conference organizers, UT Austin, or civilian law enforcement. In addition ADC believed the questioning to be improper as the event was open to the public, held in an academic environment, and was addressing a legal and academic topic.

Although, the announcement that “the special agents and their detachment commander exceeded their authority” at the conference will probably not deter further ethnic discrimination or civilian harassment by Army personnel, it is a small victory for the ADC.

Another recent victory for activists was the withdrawal of five FBI subpoenas, which had been issued to Drake University in Iowa as part of a federal investigation into a US anti-war conference (p4 of current issue of Peace News).

For more information about the investigation go to
http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=2174
For more information about the original incident go to http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/02/12/University/Army-Agent.Questions.Law.Students-605345.shtml

Source: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination League