The monthly Muslim, Sikh, Arab and East African Police Advisory Council meeting, held on Dec. 2, was well attended and consisted of mostly members of various East African communities.
There was also a wide array of representatives of the Muslim community, including CAIR-WA board member Ahmed Scego, CAIR-WA staff members, Abigail Stahl and Jennifer Gist, as well as CAIR-WA partner, Seattle Police Department Detective Yanal (Mark) Vwich. King County Deputy Prosecutor Mike Hogan was also present.
The meeting addressed two main areas of concern. The first was domestic violence situations for immigrant women, presented by three staff members of the Refugee Women's Alliance (ReWA). They spoke to the complex challenges that immigrant and refugee women face in domestic violence situations, including leveraging children, her immigration status, her work status, or her command of English as ways to keep her fearful and in situations of abuse. The ReWA staffers also offered recommendations for ways to be more conscious of the specific needs of refugee and immigrant women in domestic violence situations. Some of the recommendations were: ensuring that interpreters are not male (if victim is female), ensuring the interpreter is does not know the perpetrator, is not a member of her family, and has a good knowledge of domestic violence and her cultural background.
The second topic of discussion was a brief overview by a local FBI agent on the concerns around the attempted bombing by Mohamed Osman Mohamud of Oregon. The agent spoke as a representative of the FBI, and asserted that it took completely appropriate measures in gathering information and aiding Mr. Mohamud in his pursuit of detonating a bomb at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in early December. The agent explained the circumstances of the bomb plot and the role of FBI informants in the sting operation. Essentially, he spoke about how FBI agents received a tip from a Muslim man that Mr. Mohamud was expressing violent urges. The FBI then employed informants to collaborate with Mr. Mohamud and offer him resources and options for pursuing the bomb plot.
The FBI agent then took questions and comments from community members. Many of the questions surrounded the concerns that this was possibly entrapment on the part of the FBI, and he possible backlash this case could have on the Somali-American community.
The evening concluded in discussion amongst the community members in attendance about possible next steps, and preparations if the local Somali-American community does experience hateful backlash as a result of this story. The next Muslim, Sikh, Arab and East African Police Advisory Council meeting will take place on Thursday, January 6th, 2010 at 6:30pm at SPD's Advanced Training Center. Community members are encouraged to attend.
