[Seattle-editorial] FEATURE PROPOSAL: James Ujaama

[jonathan lawson]

belated but still relevant. I suggest we put it up in 2nd position--below 
the Kwame Garrett one.

subtitle: ??
title: ??

James Ujaama, former Seattle community activist, entrepreneur, author and 
webmaster of the anti-war website <a href="http://www.stopamerica.org"> 
StopAmerica.org</a>, has been indefinitely detained as a "material witness" 
in a federal terrorism investigation.  Arrested at his brother's home in 
Denver on July 22, he has since been moved to Virginia for grand jury 
questioning. The politically <a 
href="http://rockymountain.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=3197">outspoken</a> 
Ujaama, heralded by city officials and in <a 
href="http://www.seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=16352">local 
press</a> for his community development efforts,  has not been charged with 
a crime. Reportedly under investigation are purported ties between Ujaama 
and an alleged terrorist recruiter in London, and unsubstantiated claims 
that Ujaama and his brother planned to use an Oregon ranch as a terrorist 
training camp.

<p>Ujaama's family and many observers are concerned about his basic civil 
liberties. A <a href=" 
http://www.seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=16379">Rocky 
Mountain News</a> editorial decries 'the apparent assumption that if a case 
involves possible links to terrorism, normal procedures governing the 
rights of suspects can be put on hold or even tossed to the wind.' Some 
corporate media coverage of the case has irresponsibly used headline 
shorthand and photo placement to associate Ujaama with accused terrorist 
plotters, and repeating <a 
href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=16566">false FBI 
claims</a> of  a supposed water-poisoning plot.

<p>As a black man and a Muslim, Ujaama already bears two identities which 
have  marked individuals for government suspicion or harassment. In 
addition, Ujaama is a black political activist who has made common cause 
with the victims of American military adventures in the Arab world, 
particularly in Iraq. Some activists worry that his  arrest may indicate a 
new wave of government crackdown on black political dissidents.

<p>By any measure, it is clear that the government's <a 
href="http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12612">war on dissent</a> 
is widening. Denver journalist Ryan McMaken cites a recent headline 
reading, 'Jailed man admits opposition to foreign policy.' When opposition 
to US foreign policy is something which is 'admitted' to--at least in the 
eyes of the mainstream media--the shadow of fascism has fallen over the 
face of democracy.

photo: http://images.indymedia.org/imc/seattle/ujaama_james-thumb.jpg