August 23, 2004

Re: Dr. Rafil Dhafir

Judge Mordue:

I write regarding the current court case of the United States government against Dr. Rafil Dhafir.

On two separate occasions in 2003 I traveled to Iraq, each time despite US economic sanctions. I first traveled in February 2003 with the Iraq Peace Team project of Voices in the Wilderness. I next traveled in November 2003 with the organization Christian Peacemaker Teams. On each occasion the US economic sanctions were in effect. Neither time did I secure permission from the US government to transport medicine and humanitarian aid to Iraqi citizens. Nor did I secure permission to engage in commerce while living in Iraq in solidarity with the people of Iraq on either occasion. In February 2003 the US government was fully aware of my travel to Iraq as my passport was seized by US customs upon my return to the US for this reason. US sanctions were not lifted until July 2004.

I engaged in these activities because as a US citizen it is my obligation to nonviolently resist our government's policies when these policies result in genocide. When hundreds of thousands of children under the age of 5 die as the result of our government's actions, the result must be named for what it is-genocide.

So too must it be called genocide when our government denies Iraq the ability to purchase such basic medical and humanitarian supplies as: blood bags; needles for syringes; pencils; academic journals and textbooks; chlorine and software manuals for water treatment plants; refrigeration trucks; and other similar items.

So too is it genocide when our government refuses medical supplies to a people battling epidemics of cancer caused by our country's use of depleted uranium against Iraqis or medical supplies needed to care for those injured by military actions over the period of 14 years.

I must question why Dr. Dhafir is being singled out by the US government for prosecution. From what I know of his actions, he was simply trying to act in a very human way by providing aid to Iraqis who were suffering immeasurably at the hands of the US / UN sanctions regime. In this, he did nothing different from what many others did in traveling to Iraq with medical and humanitarian supplies.

The only thing I can think of that makes Dr. Dhafir different from myself and others who engaged in acts of humanity with Iraqis is that Dr. Dhafir is Muslim and of Arab descent. Dr. Dhafir stood in solidarity with Iraqi people in their time of need. So too I stand in solidarity with Dr. Dhafir in his.

Sincerely,

Jeff Leys
Chicago, Illinois

August 24, 2004

RE: Dr. Rafil Dahfir - Scheduled for trial on September 27, 2004

Dear Judge Mordue,

In January 2001 I joined a delegation going to Iraq. The International Action Center (IAC) of New York was going to Iraq to deliver $300,000 worth of medicine without the approval of the United States government. The group was headed by Ramsey Clark a former Attorney General of the United States. Due to ten years of sanctions the medical care in Iraq was far below acceptable levels. This situation was know and reported on by numerous NGO's who evaluated the health care system. A 1997 report by UNICEF stated that over 500,000 had died in Iraq due to sanctions.

The United States government required any person or group to receive prior approval before bringing anything, including medicine, to the people of Iraq. I knew that over the course of the food for oil program there were constant delays in being able to deliver even ordinary items to Iraq. Medicine was essential to the survival of many and any delay would not be warranted. I also believed that requiring approval to deliver medicine to an impoverished people in desperate need was contrary to any accepted standard of human rights. For these two reasons I joined the delegation to Iraq.

The IAC made no attempt to hide the delivery of medicine without government approval. In fact, the IAC forcefully and repeatedly reported to the press that we were going without government approval. That Ramsey Clark was leading the delegation resulted in widespread media coverage both in the United States and overseas. This was just one of at least three delegations the IAC led to Iraq. Each time there was media coverage that the group was going to Iraq without United States government approval.

With respect,

Dan C. Winters
Boulder, CO

August 23, 2004

Dear Judge Mordue,

I am writing in reference to the case of Dr. Rafil Dhafir. He appears to be the only person in this country who has been jailed, and denied bail, for sending humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq who were suffering terribly under the twin disasters of Saddam Hussein and the U.S. sponsored economic sanctions. The U.N. itself stated that 5,000 children were dying each month as a direct result of the sanctions. How could a man who has committed himself to healing not respond to the misery in his own country?

It does seem curious that of the hundreds of people who openly sent or took humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq the only one being charged is a Muslim. I am a member of Voices in the Wilderness, Fellowship of Reconciliation and Vterans for Peace. These and many other organizations have sent hundreds of delegations to bring needed supplies and to expose the conditions the Iraqi people were and continue to live under. In August 2000, I was a member of a Voices in the Wilderness delegation that took medicines and medical supplies to Iraq. I am a Family Nurse Practitioner and in addition to the medical supplies I took about five years of medical journals and cassetes of continuing medical education. The sanctions prevented doctors and nurses in Iraq from being able to use the most recent medical discoveries to care for their patients.

Jesus in Matthew 25 states that in the end the only standard by which we will be judged is how merciful we have been. Dr. Dhafir clearly showed mercy for the suffering people of Iraq. I hope that you can find mercy in your judgements of him.

Larry Kerschner ,
Pe Ell, WA

August 23, 2004

Dear Judge Mordue,

I am sending you this letter in protest the injustice of arresting Dr. Dhafir, a Muslim and Arab American that broke the sanctions against Iraq, by sending humanitarian aid to Iraq. Mr. Dhafir, who was born in Baghdad was doing nothing but trying to help his Iraqi brothers and sisters who were suffering and dying from brutal and deadly sanctions that lasted over 13 years. If I was born and raised in Iraq I would feel morally obliged to help my people as best I could. On the days of his arrest, up to 150 Muslims families were raided and inappropriately questioned and interrogated. The Bush Administration's policy is in part a crusade against Arab Americans and Muslims. We have a double standard of justice in our country for Muslims and non-Muslims in the fight against terror. This standard is based on fear and our country is lashing out against Muslims. This reaction is not dissimilar from the way we treated Japanese Americans during World War II.

Dr. Rafil Dhafir, is only one person, I aware of, to be jailed for sending humanitarian aid to Iraq. I am a member of Voices in the Wilderness and there have been 70 delegations sent to Iraq beginning in 1996. I went on the 12th delegation in September of 1997. None of us have been arrested. Our network, based in philosophy of nonviolence, brought relief materials to Iraq, and openly challenged the sanctions, because we believed deeply that these deadly sanctions directly responsible for the deaths of over 1, 500,000 Iraqis are immoral. After seeing with our own eyes the devastation of the country and the suffering of the people, especially the children we brought back our stories to tell the American people the real brutality of our country's foreign policy, enforcing the sanctions against Iraq.

Dr. Dhafir did not assist terrorists or terrorist organization, all he did was assist in sending humanitarian aid to his own defenseless people. I ask you is this a criminal offense?

Tom Malthaner
Catholic Worker
Rochester, NY

August 26, 2004

Dear Judge Mordue,

My name is Judith Karpova, and I am a resident of Kerhonkson, NY. Last year, in February and March of 2003, I travelled to Iraq in hopes of protecting the civilian infrastructure needed by the population, such as water treatment plants and food storage silos, which had all been destroyed in the first Gulf War, with the result of catastrophic death rates among Iraqi children. I was very public about my travel, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control contacted me and are proposing to prosecute me. I have a lawyer and a lawsuit will proceed to challenge the applicability of the law to my case and whether my due process rights are being constitutionally violated.

What did not happen is that unlike another United States citizen, Dr. Rafil Dhafir, I did not get arrested and refused bail while charges against me were pending. My neighbors were not rounded up and questioned as to whether or not they helped with my travel expenses. The Governor of New York did not imply I was helping terrorism.

I can only believe that the difference between our cases, the reason that my case is being judged on its merits and that the climate around my case is not instead being inflamed by reckless, politically opportunistic speech and innuendo, is that I am Caucasian and Dr. Dhafir is of Middle Eastern descent and a Muslim. Judge Mordue, Dr. Dhafir is the only person in this country who has been jailed for extending humanitarian aid to Iraq. I ask you to view Dr. Dhafir as you would any other citizen of this country; to overturn his arrest, release him, and let his case proceed on its merits.

Sincerely,

Judith Karpova
Kerhonkson, NY

This is to state that in Jan., 2001, I traveled with a delegation to Iraq. In protest against the UN sanctions that were largely responsible for untold suffering and deprivation among the majority of the Iraqi people, I took part in delivering school and medical supplies. These were donations, in one way or another, from many who shared my interest in helping as many people of Iraq as we could.

As a Presbyterian clergyman, I was especially interested to visit with Iraqi Presbyterians in Baghdad and Basra, and to hear their accounts of how the sanctions were harmful to their lives. I was also very moved by what I saw in the hospitals and the schools, and in one village in particular, that showed how Iraqis of many backgrounds were suffering under the sanctions. When Iraqi TV interviewed me, I clearly stated that we were there to show our sympathy for all suffering Iraqis and to pledge our support to free them from that oppression. I considered it to be my Christian duty of conscience to travel there, to deliver needed aid, and to work to end the sanctions.

Peace, Len Bjorkman
Owego, NY

August 21. 2004

Dear Judge Mordue,

I have just learned of the imprisonment and pending trial of Dr. Rafil Dahfir. The information found on the 'OperationFreeDhafir' Website is most disturbing and causes me serious concerns of justice. I have knowledge of hundreds of people who have traveled to Iraq during the times of the economic sanctions to bring humanitarian aid to a suffering people. I was among those who did so in February, 2003 as a member of the Voices in the Wilderness Iraq Peace Team. Hundreds of other people have contributed money and medicine to these efforts. Dr. Dahfir is the first person I've heard of being imprisoned for so doing.

Where was the public outcry when the United Nations reported on the deaths of over 5,000 children a month as a result of the sanctions? Why was the media not covering this crime? Who was ever imprisoned or prosecuted for such flagrant violations of international law? What hypocrisy on the part of a government who would now prosecute a person who sought to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people in all its multiple forms!

Please take into consideration the issues being brought to you by so many of Dr. Dahfir's supporters, including my own, and let justice reign.

Sincerely yours,

(Sr.) Virgine Lawinger
Germantown, WI

August 21, 2004

Dear Judge Mordue,

I am writing in support of Dr. Rafil Dahfir. It was impossible for me not to help the innocent people of Iraq, caught between their harsh ruler and our sanctions, in any way I could. I supported the Voices in the Wilderness Iraq Peace Team with money as well as medicine and toys for the children.

Consequently, I must speak out in support of Dr. Dhafir for sending humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians. It is painful for me to see my country prosecute an individual for his compassion for family and friends who were suffering from lack of basic necessities.

I am proud that I was able to help in some small way by funding a delegate to Iraq who was able to show a kinder face of the United States to the people of Iraq. I only wish I could have done more.

Sincerely,

Joyce F. Guinn
Germantown, WI

September 2, 2004

Dear Honorable Justice Mordue:

My name is Thomas Sager. I am writing to you concerning the case of Dr. Rafil Dhafir, a 56-year old Iraqi-borne oncologist who was arrested February 26, 2003 for breaking the International Emergency Economic Powers (Iraq Sanctions) Act. He is, to my knowledge, the only person who has been imprisoned for breaking this immoral law which cost the lives of at least 1.5 million Iraqi civilians, perhaps half children under the age of 5 years old.

I am extremely proud that I am GUILTY of having broken this despicable inhumane law, not just once, but at least four times. I have been coordinator of the Veterans for Peace Iraq Water Project for 3 years. We rebuilt six water treatment plants during the period of Iraqi sanctions. These water treatment plants served perhaps 100,000 people with clean water and saved hundreds and maybe even thousands of lives from death due to typhoid, cholera, dysentery, diarrhea, dehydration, pneumonia, and other water-borne diseases.

Any law that causes so much death, disease, and suffering, cries out to be challenged, broken and condemned. Shouldn't you be trying those in high positions in the US government who are responsible for this act, and not those who have risked their lives to bring medicines and other humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq in defiance of this despicable law?

And why is it only Dr. Dhafir who is being imprisoned and criminally prosecuted under this inhumane law? Why not I or one of the thousands of others who have also broken this shameful excuse for law and justice. Is it because Dr. Dhafir is foreign-born? Is it because he is Arab? Is it because he is Muslim? Is this part of the anti-Arab anti-Muslim pogrom, that has been so evident in the United States since September 11, 2001?

So, here is my challenge to those prosecuting this case: the prosecuting attorneys, the FBI, the "Justice" Department, and in particular, Attorney General John Ashcroft. Go to Iraq as I did. Hold a child in your arms who is dying of leukemia because of the tons of depleted uranium that our military has scattered about Iraq. Watch as an infant dies before your eyes of dehydration from drinking sewage out of the river because the water and sewage treatment plants couldn't get spare parts or chemicals because of the Iraqi Sanctions Act. Walk through a hospital with neither medicines, electricity nor running water. (Yes, it still goes on. And it's even worse now than before the invasion.) And then, ask yourself, who is it that should be criminally prosecuted? Dr. Dhafir, who has tried to bring help to the Iraqi people? Or the Bushes, the Clintons, the Albrights, and the Ashcrofts who are responsible for this man-made humanitarian disaster?

Yours sincerely,

Yusha (formerly Tom)

September 2, 2004

Dear Judge Mordue,

We are concerned about the case of Dr. Rafil Dhafir which is scheduled to be tried in September in your court. As we understand, Dr. Dhafir is charged with violations of the U.S. laws that were intended to enforce the sanctions against Iraq. He has been held without bail and faces several lifetimes in prison.

Between December of 1999 and January of 2003 the to of us traveled four times to Iraq. On each of these journeys we carried hundreds of pounds of medical supplies, medical textbooks, children's books and toys. We did this without any permission from the U. S. government. We spent in all more than two months in Iraq. In between trips we spoke to dozens of groups (e.g. religious congregations, at universities) about what the sanctions were doing to the Iraqi people. We openly described our trips and were listed on the Voices in Wilderness website and elsewhere as persons who had violated the sanctions and were available to speak about conditions in Iraq.

On each of these journeys we consciously sought to involve as many persons as possible in our violations of the sanctions. People from our church, relatives, friends, co-workers, professions organizations, people we didn't even know--all offered us support. Other this took the form of giving us money or books or medicines and other materials desperately need in Iraq. Hundreds of people joined us in breaking the sanctions. All believed that these laws, forbidding human beings to help other human beings in need, were immoral and unjust. We worked in every possible way to alert people to the hours suffered by the people of Iraq and to build opposition to the sanctions and to the U.S. laws and the UN resolutions that imposed the sanctions.

I urge you, in preparation for this trial, to become familiar with the history of the sancitons. We were sending under separate cover one of the most excellent treatments of the sanctions on film, "Hidden Wars of Desert Storm." Please take time to review it. Ask yourself how anyone who came to understand what the sanctions were doing could have refrained from opposing them and doing everything possible to help the victims.

Yet Dr. Dhafir is charged with exactly that helping the victims, Iraqi who had nothing whatsoever to do with either the country's oil or the conduct of the dictator Saddam Hussein. He is, to our knowledge, the only person to be arrested and charged as a criminal for violating the sanctions. But hundreds of us did what we did. Is this not the selective prosecution, something abhorrent to justice? And or what is this selection based upon?

We urge you to see that justice done by dismissing all charges against Dr. Dhafir and indeed by admonishing the prosecution that it has acted far outside the bounds of justice.

Peace,

Aug 24 2004

Dear Judge Mordue:

What can one say of someone who has worked hard for many years, at great cost and no little risk to bring help and succor to the suffering? Do we not call such people heroes? Are they not honored with laudatory stories in the press? pehaps even given Congressional Medals of Honor?

What can we say of a country that treats such people as criminals? that may sentence them to 265 years in prison for the crime of saving others? - how many murderers receive such punishment?

I understand that such a hero, Dr. Rafil Dhafir, is on trial in your court. I urge you to set him free on bail immediately so that he may at least be with his family, his friends, with the world that he has served so well and that this horrific stain on the honor of the US can at least be lessened by a show of compassion for one whose only crime was compassion.

I also urge you to consider whether the barbarous and vindictive laws under which he is charged comport with the constitution of a free people.

Yours sincerely,

P John Anderson
Arlington, MA

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