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May 11, 2005
American Muslim groups demand high-level investigation
of Qur'an desecration at Guantanamo prison
AMP Report: American Muslim organizations today (May 11, 2005) called for high-level Pentagon investigation of the reported desecration of Holy Qur'an at the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The allegations have been made by recently released Pakistani and Afghan detainees and published in the latest edition of the American Newsweek magazine. The magazine said: "Investigators probing interrogation abuses at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay have confirmed some infractions alleged in internal FBI e-mails that surfaced late last year. Among the previously unreported cases, sources tell NEWSWEEK: interrogators, in an attempt to rattle suspects, flushed a Qur'an down a toilet and led a detainee around with a collar and dog leash."
Leading Muslim organizations, American Muslim Council, American Muslim Voice, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Muslim Civil Rights Center and many other groups issued separate statements expressing their dismay at the desecration of the holy Qur'an at the Guantanamo Bay Prison.
The American Muslim Voice said that the desecration of any religion’s holy scripture cannot be justified for any reason and the reported desecration of Quran will only fuel anti-American feeling among the Muslims around the world.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said that the allegations, if true, can only serve to fuel anti-American sentiment and vague assurances of a military investigation are insufficient to keep this incident from being used to further harm relations with the Muslim world. “We urge President Bush to initiate an open probe of the incident, make public its findings and punish those responsible,” it added.
In a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Muslim Civil Rights Center president Rasheed Ahmed wrote: "Using sacred scriptures as means of emotional torture will be perceived as Pentagon’s insensitivity towards Islam and its over one billion adherents. It also strengthens the perception that war on terrorism is war on Islam.”
"The inhumane treatment that has been claimed by the released detainees is diametrically opposed to our values as Americans. We urge the Pentagon to investigate these incidents and prevent future mistreatment of prisoners and sacred scriptures of all religions," the MCRC letter concluded.
The American Muslim Alliance said that these reported acts of desecration clearly fit a pattern of institutionalized Islamophobia, and recalled that in January of this year, a middle school teacher in Dearborn, Michigan had told his students that Bedouin Arabs used the Quran as toilet paper.
The AMA Statement also said that earlier, Attorney General John Ashcroft and General William G. Boykin had made similarly hurtful statements.
“During his term in office, the former Attorney General John Ashcroft's had told syndicated columnist Cal Thomas: "Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you.
"Lieutenant-General William G Boykin, described by BBC as an "Evangelical Christian" had told a church group: "My God was bigger than his [reference to a Somalian Muslim]. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol.
"Today, we are not only dealing with the prejudice of the ignorant but also the prejudice of the learned and the powerful. These prejudiced acts reverse the gains made since the civil rights movement and re- institutionalize religious and racial bigotry.
"These actions give the unambiguous impression that at least some elements in the US government are engaged in a war against Islam and not against terror. The entire Muslim world has expressed its shock and outrage at these reports. Clearly, these nefarious actions have dealt a major blow to the coveted efforts of winning "hearts and minds".
"We ask Secretary Rumsfeld to initiate a high-level investigation of this incident to help restore America to its ideals and principles of equality and freedom, including the freedom of religion," the AMA statement concluded.
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