PLEASE READ: US CITIZEN ZACK SHAHIN…FOUR YEARS IN PRISON IN DUBAI WITHOUT BAIL OR CONVICTION….AN OPEN LETTER
I just want to drop you a note re US citizen Zack Shahin – now four years in prison in UAE/Dubai without bail, trial, or conviction. He’s been on a hunger strike for over a week (since Monday May 14). Tomorrow, Wednesday, he’ll have published as an ad in the Washington Times an Open Letter to President Obama and Governor Romney.
The gist of our complaint about Zack’s treatment is simple: why does our government publicly go to bat for all sorts of people around the world, most of whom are not even US citizens – Chen Guangcheng in China, Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Russia, Yulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine, etc., etc. – but the same officials, from the White House to Hillary Clinton on down, don’t raise a peep for a suffering US citizen whose life is now in danger?
Please see http://www.freezack.com/ for more background, including a short video (click on the big pic of Zack in his hospital bed on the homepage). Below is the text of the open letter that will appear tomorrow.
Anything you can do to call attention to this much appreciated. The Obama Administration and the State Department show they’re willing to grandstand on selected non-Americans (some who may well be worthy, others maybe not so much). But about Zack – well, he’s expendable.
Open Letter text below, followed by links to additional information:
“Dear President Obama:“Dear Governor Romney:
“I am writing to both of you, as the present and aspiring leaders of our country, to ask each of you to lend your voice publicly to my plea for fundamental fairness. I make this request respectfully and on the most urgent basis, fully aware that my life hangs in the balance.“My name is Zack Shahin. I am a citizen of the United States of America. I have been imprisoned in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for over 1,500 days, without release on bail, without trial, and without conviction. I have never been given the opportunity to answer the baseless charges against me, stemming from my past position as a top executive at a real estate development company in Dubai.
“Instead of my ‘day in court,’ over the past four years following my original arrest and torture I have been on an endless treadmill of procedural court appearances – over 200 of them – of which only 17 lasted more than three minutes, and none was over 40 minutes or addressed the substance of the charges against me. I have on three occasions been “released” upon posting bond, only to be immediately re-arrested on new trumped-up accusations before leaving the court building.
“The U.S. Embassy in UAE and the Consulate in Dubai, and the Department of State in Washington, have assured me that they closely ‘monitor’ my ‘case’ and have voiced their ‘concerns’ to UAE/Dubai. These ‘concerns’ have been conveyed in at least four diplomatic notes and in person by at least two Cabinet-level U.S. officials – all tactfully in private, where they are dismissed as unserious by my captors, who conclude UAE and Dubai are too important to Washington to risk over one lone American.
“Meanwhile, top level American officials, from the White House down, forcefully call for fair treatment and release of prisoners in many other countries, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Some are accused of political offenses, others purely of criminal activity. Some are American citizens, most are not. But in all cases, American officials have been willing to put the public prestige and good name of our country on the line to demand their fair treatment. The same officials have not been willing to do the same for me, so as not to jeopardize their cordial business, geostrategic, and personal relationships here.
“Accordingly, I concluded that I had no alternative to declare a hunger strike, which I began on Monday, May 14, 2012. Already in poor health before my arrest, I am under no illusions as to the consequences of this drastic step if my government continues to deny me the consideration it so plentifully bestows on non-Americans, to whom it owes no formal duty.
“I am not demanding that American officials take a position on my guilt or innocence. As an American citizen, all I want if for my government to insist in public that I be given due process, to be able to post bail and see my family, and a afforded fair chance to show in court that I am innocent.
“I ask you, Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, to speak out on my behalf before it is too late.
“Respectfully,
“Zack Shahin
“The Honorable Barack Obama
“The Honorable Mitt Romney”
Also see:
Statement from US counsel for Zack Shahin: “U.S. Legal Counsel to Zack Shahin Calls on U.S. Ambassador to U.A.E. Michael H. Corbin to Visit U.S. Citizen Zack Shahin in Dubai Prison and Issue a Public Statement Calling for Shahin’s Immediate Bail and a Fair and Open Trial”
American Spectator: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/05/21/so-much-for-human-rights
Financial Times http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8e5cff72-9f7a-11e1-8b84-00144feabdc0.html
United Press International http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/Outside-View/2012/05/17/Outside-View-US-should-prioritize-the-protection-of-US-citizens-abroad/UPI-34641337250600/.
Al Jazeera (second half about Zack): http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/05/2012516104637678576.html
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