Washington, D.C., June 7, 2012
KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights expresses its support today for Muslim Advocates’ lawsuit filed against the New York Police Department (NYPD) for its unwarranted surveillance of Americans. Hassan, et al v. the City of New York challenges the discriminatory and unconstitutional religious profiling tactics by the NYPD, and seeks not only to end such unlawful practices but also to purge related files maintained by the NYPD.
KARAMAH has long supported efforts to call into question discriminatory surveillance practices by NYPD of American Muslims, Arab Americans and South Asians. KARAMAH has repeatedly voiced its concerns regarding these policies at invitation-only federal interagency meetings that are regularly conducted at the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C. More recently, KARAMAH has requested, on more than one occasion, a federal investigation into allegations appearing in an ongoing series of AP news stories. These stories discussed NYPD mapping of religious and ethnic communities, mosques and schools in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut without any credible evidence to warrant suspicion.
In the great constitutional tradition of this country, KARAMAH is committed to the protection of the constitutional rights of these American Muslims, Arab Americans and South Asians, and supports all efforts to rectify this troubling situation that has adversely affected these rights.
[Contact: Aisha Rahman, 202.234.7302]
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