Farouk's fellow prisoners and friends Nigel Maccado and Hemnauth Mohabir have both been on a liquids-only hunger strike in Passaic County Jail since late in June. Here are two updates from Flavia Ayala of the NJ Civil Rights Defense Committee (slightly edited).

Friday, August 1: Hemnauth and Nigel continue their strikes.... Nigel was taken to the hospital with chest pain yesterday morning (or the night before--unclear), and after observation returned to the jail. He is committed to nothing short of being released. He has caused the jail a good deal of embarrassment (though not enough, by my standards). Jail officials have provided him with his heart medication "sporadically," we are told. He has said to reps of NJCRDC that he will continue his resistance despite this. Jeannette Gabriel and I are planning to take his case to an immigration lawyer for review on Monday in hope of getting some clarity and some action.

Our hopes have been raised by our success in Hemnauth's case. Thanks to help from the New York Immigration Defense Project (Marianne Yang and others) Hemnauth now has a Legal Aid attorney, Bryan Lonegan, who is zealous in his defense and convinced he can do something for him. He has already been to see him twice. Hemnauth is also staying with his hunger strike, as he sees results. Not just in his own case, but in the confusion and exasperation of officials. In his own words:

"I got my satisfaction with the police who assaulted me, when Rachel [Meeropol of the Center for Constitutional Rights] came with two charming young ladies, Officer Condatore was working on the third floor [where some of the detainees are held], he usually works on the first floor. He was running around like a frightened rabbit, trying to figure out what was going on so I know he'll never do it again. I was assaulted on the 16th I got visits by civil rights lawyers on the 17th and you guys had the press conference on the 18, that's God's work how everything happened in such precise timing." (Letter from Hemnauth Mohabir, undated, but mailed July 23.)

After my mailing to him that included clippings from last week's press, Hemnauth also commented: "I gave the others to read the letter ...and they say they are now seeing results, so they stop asking me to eat, now they know it's not just for Nigel or myself but for all the detainees in the Passaic County jail." (Same letter.)

The NJCRDC remains firm that this struggle is not just about conditions but about rights, and about freedom for those unjustly targeted by draconian legislation, not just the Patriot Acts, but the Immigration Law of 1996, which is at the bottom of many of these recriminalization proceedings. We hope to have another press conference or to work reporters up to another story as soon as possible. The website will probably be updated tonight.

We are organizing and mobilizing on several fronts at once, and need all the help we can get!

*We have been picketing regularly in front of the jail. Evening pickets (Wednesday and Friday 6:30-7:30 have drawn some 12-15 people. We will probably switch the Monday or Tuesday noon one to the evening as well--people who want to join can consult the website for updates:
www.nj-civilrights.org/)

*We are creating a petition to present to the County Freeholders to ask them to end the contract with DHS, and beginning a letter writing campaign on the same theme to them and to the Sheriff, jail officials, and other elected officials.

Saturday, August 2: Three of us saw Nigel and Hemnauth today. They are both bearing up bravely--looking a bit ashen but clear of purpose. They're being kept separate most of the time from other prisoners and even from one another, with one exception I'll tell you about. They were denied juice for two days, not weighed, and treated roughly, Nigel particularly. Subsequently, in an act of further harassment, they were enclosed together in a very small room, about the size of a closet, Nigel says, and left to sweat alone together, sitting up (neither of them could lie down) for about an hour and a half. When Nigel protested loudly (he has had a back injury in the past, and sitting up for long periods is very painful to the point of obstructing his breath), the guard threw open the door, slamming him in the head. I did not see any sign of permanent injury, but both men separately and independently described the event in the same terms to me, including the injury, and said that Nigel collapsed.

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Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti
PO Box 20587, Tompkins Square Station
New York, NY 10009
212-674-9499