11/14/2003: 
Fraud & Conspiracy
Patriot Act Blasted at Forum
from http://www.masslive.com
"A Sri Lankan citizen who is married to an American woman, Dharmaraja suspects he might have been taken away as a suspected terrorist and put in a detention center. His crime? Asking to do refugee work abroad.
'I came here tonight to put a face to the violations that can occur under the Patriot Act,' he told an audience at Smith College Wednesday night. "
More
Patriot Act blasted at forum11/14/2003
By FRED CONTRADA Staff writer
fcontrada@repub.com
NORTHAMPTON - Yaju Dharmaraja is glad he wasn't home when the Amherst police and an FBI agent came around last year.
A Sri Lankan citizen who is married to an American woman, Dharmaraja suspects he might have been taken away as a suspected terrorist and put in a detention center. His crime? Asking to do refugee work abroad.
"I came here tonight to put a face to the violations that can occur under the Patriot Act," he told an audience at Smith College Wednesday night.
Dharmaraja took part in a panel that outlined the 2001 law, described how it can be used by the government to bypass civil rights rules, and urged the public to work toward repealing it.
Sponsored by Smith and the Northampton mayor's office, "Civil Rights/Civil Wrongs: Balancing Freedom and Security" brought together lawyers, activists, and a local politician united in their opposition to most of the measures in the Patriot Act.
As American Civil Liberties Union lawyer William Newman explained it, the law was authored by the Bush Administration and passed by an overwhelming majority in Congress a month after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Designed to help law enforcement agencies identify and capture terrorists on American soil, the Patriot Act also contains provisions that seriously threaten the civil rights of all Americans, Newman said. Those rights include free speech, attorney-client privilege and privacy, he said.
Dharmaraja said that in his case, he and his wife wanted to do relief work in other countries and had to go through a federal training course to qualify.
When Dharmaraja, who has an accent, made inquiries over the telephone, the woman at the other end repeatedly asked why he wanted to take the course, he said.
A week later, he said, "the Amherst police and FBI knocked on my door saying we were prospective terrorists who wanted to document the training for terrorist purposes." His wife, who is white, scoffed at the allegation and the officers eventually left.
"We were convinced our house and phones were bugged for months afterwards," he said. "If I had been there, under the Patriot Act they could have taken me to an undisclosed location."
State Rep. Peter V. Kocot, D-Northampton, said he is still trying to get information from the state police about the use of the law in Western Massachusetts. The Northampton Human Rights Commission, a citizens group formed in 1998 to advocate for civil rights, had written to state and local police and the Northwestern District Attorney's office asking for the names of anyone in the area who has been detained, monitored or searched without a warrant under the Patriot Act.
Kocot said he is not sure what kind of information, if any, he will be able to obtain, but praised local law enforcement agencies for being respectful of civil rights.
Copyright 2003 MassLive.com. All Rights Reserved.
