• CAIR-MN (Video): Outside Firm Investigates Classroom Fight (KARE)
  The video drew the attention of [CAIR-MN] as the younger student is Muslim. The boy told his family he was bullied into the fight with his classmate because of his race and religion. "We are really looking for the full picture. What happened? Was excessive force used by this teacher? What led to this fight? There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered," said CAIR-MN Executive Director Lori Saroya.
• CAIR-MI (Video): The Issue of Profiling and Border Questioning of Muslims
• Video: CAIR Calling for Probe of Todashev's Shooting (CS Monitor)
• Wash. Post Editorial: Answers Needed in Death of Fla. Muslim
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• 
  Civil rights groups say Sikh men - who wear beards and turbans as part of their faith - are sometimes mistaken for Muslims and targeted in bias-motivated attacks.
• Islamophobia Watch: 'Dhimmitude' in Health Care Law Exempts Muslims, Claims Email
  • Islamophobia Watch: Cathie Adams Prooves Grover Norquist Is a Secret Muslim: "He Has a Beard"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lawsuit Claims U.S. Muslim Tortured at Behest of FBI, State Dept.

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/31/13) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, announced today that it has joined with Oregon attorney Thomas H. Nelson in filing a lawsuit yesterday on behalf of a Muslim former resident of that state who claims he was tortured in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the behest of the FBI and State Department.

SEE: American Muslim Sues FBI, Saying He was Tortured at Their Behest
Former Portland Businessman Accuses Feds of Complicity in 2011 Torture

Named in Yonas Fikre's suit are Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of State John Kerry, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and two Portland-based FBI agents. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Oregon, seeks $30 million in damages and injunctions against similar mistreatment of American citizens.

Read the entire lawsuit.

Last year, CAIR called on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division to investigate Fikre's claims that he was beaten on the soles of his feet, kicked and punched, and held in stress positions while interrogators shouted questions similar to those posed to him by FBI agents and other American officials.

Video: CAIR Interview with Yonas Fikre

Fikre said he rejected an FBI demand that he act as an informant. He is currently seeking asylum in Sweden because he fears what U.S. officials may do to him if he returns.

CAIR: American Muslim Alleges FBI Had a Hand in His Torture (Mother Jones)

"Our nation's leaders must be held accountable if they use foreign proxies to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens," said CAIR Staff Attorney Gadeir Abbas, who is co-counsel in the lawsuit.

CAIR has previously called on the DOJ to investigate acts of "coercion and intimidation" allegedly used by the FBI's Portland Field Office to pressure Muslim citizens into giving up their constitutional rights if they wished to return to the United States from overseas. Fikre is originally from Portland.

Video: CAIR Says Portland FBI is Coercing Muslims to Give Up Rights

In 2011, CAIR filed a lawsuit against the DOJ and the FBI seeking a court order to allow a Virginia Muslim teenager who had been detained in Kuwait and placed on a U.S. government no-fly list to return to the United States. Earlier this week, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected government efforts to dismiss that case.

CAIR: Va. Muslim on No-Fly List Returning to U.S.

CAIR has assisted a number of other American Muslim citizens who have been stranded overseas by government actions.

CAIR: Embassy Returns Passport to U.S. Muslim Stuck in Kuwait
CAIR Video: FBI Prevents Va. Muslim from Returning to U.S.

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.

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CONTACT: CAIR Staff Attorney Gadeir Abbas, 202-742-6410, 720-251-0425, gabbas@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, arubin@cair.com