On March 17, 2005, Hassiba Belbachir, a 27 year old Algerian citizen, died under suspicious circumstances while in US federal custody at the McHenry County Adult Correctional Facility in Illinois. Although prison authorities concluded her death was a result of suicide, her family has asked the US government for a federal investigation into the cause of her death. The Council is strongly concerned by reports of abuse directed against women, immigrants, Muslims and other racial and religious minorities detained in US prisons and we are standing by the Belbachir family. The Council urges the US government to honor the Belbachir family's request for an investigation into the cause of Hassiba's death.
The Council is currently working with prison abuse advocacy groups and the immigrant and human rights community to develop strategies to ensure the protection of the rights of all prisoners, regardless of race, religion, gender or legal status, while they are in federal custody.
Click here to volunteer for the Belbachir campaign. Make sure to choose the Belbachir box on the Volunteer Page.
Attorney Junaid Afeef, the co-chair of the Council's Belbachir Committee, will address the monthly meeting of the Chicago-based group American Muslims for Activism and Learning (AMAL) on Saturday, September 10. His discussion of Hassiba's case will take place one week before the six-month anniversary of her death.
Please email amalchicago@yahoo.com for more information, if you would like to attend this lecture.
It was August 24, 1977, and what a day! On that sunny day was born a woman of a special kind, an example of Allah’s creation.
A woman who, with her smile, could brighten up the sky and bring out the colors of the rainbow on a rainy day,
A woman, to whom Allah gave the gift of understanding people and making them feel at ease,
A woman whose smile resembled the children’s and whose tears were like crystal;
A woman who had the strength and resilience to overcome all the challenges and difficulties of life and left this world with her secret.
Hassiba was full of joy, a joy that was contagious and spread to her family, friends, and anybody around her.
In our family, Hassiba was the joker, the caretaker. She cared for the old by visiting nursing homes and bringing to them a renewed sense of life. She brought hope to the orphans by helping fight the injustices of this world. Hassiba’s sensitivity and love for people equaled that of a mother for her children.
Yet my dear little sister, after only six months of marriage, you left this world without the opportunity to have children of your own to love the way you loved people, without the opportunity to fulfill your dreams for the future because...
On March 17, 2005 at 5:05pm all your dreams were broken, your life was stolen, your future destroyed in the very country you hoped you would be given the chance to achieve your goals.
Unfortunately when you left this world, our lives were shattered and will remain shattered until justice is made and truth is uncovered.
We promise you, little sister, that we’ll never forget all the good things you did for us.
We promise you that we’ll never stop fighting for the rights that were stolen from you.
We pray for you, little sister, that Allah, the Almighty, grant you peace in His Heaven, a peace that you couldn’t obtain in this world, this world that has become pain and sadness for all of us.
By Z. Belbachir
(9/17) Nearly 50 people gathered at the Muslim Community Center on the city's north side to mark the six-month anniversary of Hassiba Belbachir's death at the McHenry County Adult Correctional Facility. Mrs. Zahia Belbachir, speaking through a translator, gave a moving and emotional tribute to her sister, celebrating Hassiba's bubbly personality and deep love for her family. Zahia Belbachir vowed to never stop seeking answers or justice for her younger sister.
MCC President Mohammad Kaiseruddin began the remembrance event with a few words, then Ms. Muneer Aliuddin, the Council's Director of Outreach brought the audience up to date on the case. Ms. Claudia Valenzuela, an attorney who represents individuals detained by the Department of Homeland Security, and works at the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center (MIHRC), discussed the topic of immigrants and prison abuse. CAIR-Chicago's Civil Rights Coordinator, Ms. Christina Abraham, presented some cases on Muslim detainee abuse that have been reported to her office.
Council Chairman Abdul Malik Mujahid reminded the audience that Muslims in America must work to seek justice and redress societal wrongs and racial discrimination, as other racial and religious minority communities have done before. He linked the phenomenon of an increasing prison population, detainee abuse with the mysterious death of Hassiba Belbachir. Hassiba Belbachir, an Algerian national, had been awaiting immigration hearings, and was held for only 10 days before she died under circumstances not yet made clear. While prison officials have ruled her death a suicide earlier this summer, Ms. Belbachir's family strongly disagrees with this verdict and has asked the federal government to launch an investigation into the death of their sister's death.
Printed from the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago website (www.ciogc.org).
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