[wvns] US Ban on Muslim Scholar Lifted

Clinton lifts U.S. ban on Muslim scholar
WASHINGTON
Wed Jan 20, 2010
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60J3YQ20100120

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has lifted a U.S. ban on a planned visit by a leading European Muslim critic of the Iraq war, in a move rights groups hailed as a victory for civil liberties.

U.S. | World | Saudi Arabia

Clinton signed orders which ended the ban on Professor Tariq Ramadan of Oxford University, who was barred due to alleged terrorism ties which he denies, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Wednesday.

He added that the ban had also been lifted for Adam Habib of Johannesburg University, another prominent Muslim scholar.

"As we look at it, we do not think that either one of them represents a threat to the United States," Crowley told a news briefing, adding that the U.S. government hoped to encourage more interaction with the Muslim world.

"We want to encourage a global debate. We want to have the opportunity potentially to have Islamic scholars come to the United States and have dialogue with other faith communities in our country," he said.

He added that both men would still be subject to regular standards that apply if they put in new U.S. visa requests.

Ramadan, speaking in London, said the decision showed what he called a new U.S. willingness to permit critical debate while the American Civil Liberties Union said it was an important move.

"The orders ending the exclusion of Adam Habib and Tariq Ramadan are long overdue and tremendously important," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project, saying this was "a major victory for civil liberties."

"For several years, the United States government was more interested in stigmatizing and silencing its foreign critics than in engaging them. The decision ... is a welcome sign the Obama administration is committed to facilitating rather than obstructing the exchange of ideas across international borders."

Ramadan, who has Swiss citizenship, told Reuters that as a result of the decision he would apply soon for a visa to visit the United States.

Civil liberties campaigners have championed the cases of Ramadan and Habib as part of a pattern of scholars and writers being excluded due to unwarranted or unspecified U.S. national security grounds.

The United States has revoked Ramadan's visa several times since 2004. Washington initially gave no reason for its decision, but later said Ramadan had been barred based on a provision of the USA Patriot Act that allows people to be excluded for supporting terrorism.

The ACLU argued the government was using the provision more broadly to deny entry to people whose political views it did not approve of.

Habib was detained and interrogated about his political views and associations when he arrived in New York in October 2006 for meetings with groups such as the World Bank and ACLU.

In an interview, Ramadan told Reuters he remained barred from several Arab countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia and he had little hope these bans would be lifted any time soon.

Ramadan said he was unpopular with some Arab governments because he had criticized them for what he described as failing to support the Palestinian people and seeking to place the responsibility for the Palestinians' situation on the West.

(Reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington and William Maclean in London, Editing by Ralph Boulton and Vicki Allen)

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CAIR Welcomes Lifting of Ban on Muslim Scholar
1/20/2010
http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?ArticleID=26229&&name=n&&currPage=1

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/20/10) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today welcomed a decision by the U.S. Department of State to lift a ban that prevented Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan from entering the United States for the past five years.

An order signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reverses a July 2004 decision by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to revoke the visa of Ramadan, a respected scholar and author who was due to begin teaching at the University of Notre Dame that fall.

Although the DHS cited security concerns as its reason for the visa revocation, CAIR and other civil liberties organizations saw it as a form of censorship that fit a pattern of denying visas to foreign nationals whose political views were not in favor with the U.S. government.

In 2006, the ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the "ideological exclusion" of Dr. Ramadan on behalf of the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors and the PEN American Center.

SEE: CAIR Calls for Reversal of Prof's Visa Revocation (2004)
ACLU in Court Wednesday in Challenge to Ideological Exclusion of Tariq Ramadan

"We welcome this move by the Obama administration to permit a respected scholar and voice for religious moderation to enter our country," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "This is a step toward beginning to repair the damage to our image among Muslims worldwide."

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com


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