Legal organizations mobilize lawyers to advise FBI interview targets

By HERBERT G. McCANN
Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO – The American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations are offering free legal help to those targeted for questioning by the Justice Department as part of the terror investigation.

"Unless they are apprised of their rights, it is an uneven playing field between law enforcement and those being questioned," ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero said Friday.

Last month, the Justice Department announced plans to interview 5,000 young men from the Middle East and other parts of the world where terrorists are known to operate. Federal agents were told to work with local and state police to find people for questioning, a move criticized by the ACLU and members of Congress but strongly defended by Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Romero said the ACLU is encouraging those targeted by the Justice Department to answer any questions they are comfortable answering. But he said that when people go in for what the Justice Department calls a voluntary interview, they should know their rights.

In Michigan, home to one of the nation's largest Arab-American communities, the U.S. attorney's office has sent more than 560 letters to men it wants to question, according to Wendy Wagenheim, an ACLU spokeswoman in Detroit. She said several of them have contacted the organization for advice.

"Many of the people do not understand their right to legal counsel during the interview," she said. "They do not understand they have a right not to go to the interview."

The ACLU of Oregon said it has recruited more than 20 lawyers from around the state who have volunteered to represent without charge more than 200 people in Oregon who expect to be contacted for interviews.

Portland police have refused to conduct the interviews, saying they violate state law. Corvallis also decided against instructing its officers to pose the questions, and some other Oregon communities are limiting the roles their police departments will play.

Federal agents are interested in such things as the men's political beliefs and those of their family and friends; whether they support causes advocated by terrorists; and telephone numbers used by the men, their families or close associates.

In addition to the ACLU, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Lawyers Guild and the Muslim Bar Association said they will provide lawyers to those in the Chicago area targeted by the Justice Department.

"It is in the highest tradition of the American bar that these organizations and attorneys step forward and offer their services without compensation to these individuals," said Harvey Grossman, legal director of the ACLU of Illinois. "In so doing, these attorneys also fulfill our fundamental constitutional values."

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On the Net:

ACLU: www.aclu.org

Justice Department: www.usdoj.gov

AP-WS-12-07-01 1629EST