Prison Conditions

Dr. Sami Al-Arian is currently being held in the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina.

February 8, 2007: Amnesty Calls Conditions "Harsh and Punitive"
January 22, 2007:Horrendous Conditions in Atlanta: In Dr. Sami's Words

September 28, 2006: Mistreatment of Dr. Al-Arian Continues
May 11, 2006: Dr. Al-Arian Suffers Under Deplorable Prison Conditions

February 2, 2005: Dr. Al-Arian Moved to Tampa
January 26 2005: Abusive Conditions at Coleman Continue

December 7, 2004: Dr. Al-Arian Moved to Coleman Today
November 15, 2004: Dr. Al-Arian to be Moved this Week
October 31, 2004: Dr. Al-Arian To Be Sent Back to Coleman
May 16, 2004: Dr. Al-Arian Not Permitted to Attend Hearing, Harsh Conditions Continue

From March 27, 2003 until early 2005, he was held in Coleman Federal Penitentiary, where the horrendous conditions of confinement under which Dr. Al-Arian suffered for over two years were clearly meant to psychologically break and torture him.

Despite years of investigation, neither Al-Arian nor his co-defendants, all of whom were fully aware of the ongoing investigation, ever attempted to flee the country. Yet on April 10, 2003, Dr. Al-Arian and Sameeh Hammoudeh, who under U.S. law may only be denied bail if they pose a flight risk or a threat to the community, were denied bail.

When they were initially arrested on February 20, 2003, Al-Arian and Hammoudeh were held at the local Orient Road Jail in Tampa. On March 27, 2003, they were moved 75 miles away to Coleman Federal Penitentiary, a maximum-security facility in Coleman, Florida, and placed under the harshest possible conditions. As the only detainees in the facility who had not been tried, much less convicted of any crime, Dr. Al-Arian and Hammoudeh clearly did not belong in this facility. Moreover, they were placed in isolation in the Special Housing Unit (SHU), a section of the prison normally reserved for punishing inmates who misbehave. Some of the atrocious conditions imposed on him at Coleman included:

•  Allowed only one 15-minute phone call per month.
  
•  Allowed visits with immediate family only. All visits are noncontact visits.
  
•  Limited access to attorneys.
•  Allowed to change undergarments only once a week.
  
•  Allowed to change prison jumpsuit only once every two weeks.
  
•  Held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.
  
•  Limited medical attention for his diabetes and asthma.
  
•  Not permitted any mattress or pillow.
  
• Subjected to continuous extremely low temperatures in the cell
  
• Subjected to strip-searches three times a day even though he is not allowed contact visits. 

The respected international human rights monitor, Amnesty International, sent a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons describing Dr. Al-Arian's detention as "gratuitously punitive."

The group cited the 23-hour lockdown, strip searches, use of chains and shackles, severely limited recreation, lack of access to any religious service and denial of a watch or clock in a windowless cell where the artificial light is never turned off.

Amnesty concluded: "The prolonged cellular confinement, lack of exercise, frequent shackling and other deprivations imposed on Dr. Al-Arian are inconsistent with international standards and treaties which require that all persons deprived of their liberty must be treated humanely with respect for their inherent human dignity." But in this case, "We're particularly concerned because he's a pretrial detainee," says Angela Wright, an Amnesty researcher in London told the Palm Beach Post.

Conditions at Orient Road Jail vs. Coleman Penitentiary

Read about what a respected international human rights organization said about Dr. Al-Arian's conditions of confinement:
Amnesty International Letter Decrying Conditions