CAIR-MN: Protect Legal Rights of Somali Muslim Students

An Islamic-relations group says high schools, colleges and universities need to do more to protect the rights of Somali students.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-MN, says it's received an increasing number of reports from students who say they have been interrogated by the FBI on Minnesota campuses.

The group says the interviews focus on allegations that Somali men have left Minnesota to go to Somalia and fight in that nation's civil war.

According to CAIR-MN, federal agents have approached students in campus libraries or while walking to class.

The group says it received one report of a campus police officer who invited a Somali student leader to what she understood to be an outreach program. The student told CAIR-MN, the officer accompanied her to the meeting with FBI officials. She reported she did not have a lawyer present.

CAIR-MN Civil Rights Director Taneeza Islam said, "Students' legal rights need to be upheld and they aren't currently being afforded the only true legal protection they have when talking to the law enforcement-an attorney."

In a letter sent to area high schools, colleges and universities, CAIR-MN called on administrators to "develop initiatives that protect students' rights and provide them with a safe environment."

SEE: http://kaaltv.com/article/stories/S871702.shtml

CONTACT: CAIR-MN Communications Director Jessica Zikri, 612-226-3289, E-Mail: jzikri@cair.com; CAIR-MN Civil Rights Director Taneeza Islam, Esq., 651-587-4712, E-Mail: tislam@cair.com

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