The Chicago Activist | CAIR-Chicago

The following is a partial list of the cases CAIR-Chicago's Civil Rights Department worked to resolve from June 13, 2009 - June 26, 2009:

Government

� An older Muslim man was arrested by the FBI after returning from a trip to Egypt and Jordan. The FBI had been monitoring the man because his non-Muslim former brother-in-law reported to the FBI that the man was a �radical Muslim.� The FBI interrogators abused the man by fracturing his neck and causing him to have a heart attack. The interrogators then attempted to force the man to confess that he was a criminal. The man was flown to a prison in Washington, D.C., and denied contact with anyone other than an attorney. The man ultimately pleaded guilty to falsifying documents so that he could be released.

� A Muslim boy and his older sister were pulled over and interrogated by the police after a classmate of the boy made a false complaint to the police that she was threatened by them. The police made several racist remarks and threatened to harm the young boy as soon as he turns eighteen.

� An Islamic organization purchased property to set up a place of worship. Their application to the county zoning board for a special use permit was denied. No reasons were given by the county for the denial of the permit.

� CAIR-Chicago continues to receive complaints from the Muslim community regarding United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) failing to grant applications for naturalized citizenship in a timely manner. CAIR-Chicago is continuing to pursue these matters to ensure that those who meet the requirements receive citizenship.

Prison

� A Muslim man has been serving time in prison but would like to be transferred to a correctional facility closer to his family so that they can visit him. He has served sufficient time to meet the eligibility for a transfer.

� A Muslim man serving time at Cook County Jail was denied requests for a Quran and Muslim services. Along with investigating the matter, CAIR-Chicago has connected the man with other Chicago-area Islamic organizations that can meet his requests for a Quran and services.

� A group of Muslim inmates had attempted to establish an inmate-led religious group for Taleem classes. The correctional facility refused to allow the inmates to have group classes.

Employment

� A Muslim man reported that he was subjected to discrimination by his co-workers and supervisors, who made discriminatory comments to him and locked him out of the building when he went outside to pray.

� A Muslim man working for the city filed a complaint after being subjected to discriminatory comments. The city transferred him to another department after he made the complaint. The man fears retaliation in response to his complaint, especially during the city�s budget cuts.

Public Accommodation

� A Muslim man went to see a chiropractor. The chiropractor was very rude to the man, and demanded hundreds of dollars for her services, which were only two X-rays. The man refused to pay unless the chiropractor explained the basis for the costs, to which the chiropractor refused to answer and instead contacted the police. The police made several discriminatory comments toward the man and ultimately arrested him for theft of services.