SOMALIA

SOUL , SANAG, AYN

OIL - GAS DIAMONDS

THE CASE OF ANWAR M. ABDI (DEEF)

2004 -2012

MINNEAPOLIS,MN,USA

RESIGNATION LETTER TO GM OF DISH NETWORK IN GEORGIA FROM CENTRIVILLE,VA AUGUST, 2004

_______________________________________________

Dear Eddie Ramirez,

I’d love to continue to work for your company. I’m not sure if I can do that anymore, your tools will be returned to you soon. My best wishes and unconditional exculpation for all the DNSC team!

Thank you,

Anwar Abdi

EMAIL TO HR MANAGER OF DISH NETWORK IN GEORGIA AFTER WORK PLACE MOBBING

5th May 2004

Neki Mckenzie HR managerDISH Network Service L. L. C.205 satellite blvd., Suite 500Suwanee, GA 30024

I, Anwar Abdi, Automation Engineer by profession joined Dish Network on 5 th May 04, as an entry level Field Service Specialist (FSS1).

The standard Dish Network instructor led training is normally a week long plus two weeks hands-on riding with technicians. I attended one day of in-house training in Kennesaw office. After which I was told to ride with senior technicians to learn hands on.

What followed afterwards is a systemic discrimination and favoritism. Instead of getting the basics of Dish Installation; I was not treated fairly at all. My looks were ridiculed; I was called all kinds of abusive names. There was unfair treatment in job assignment as well. Sometimes my name would be on the raw sheet with a senior tech and it was changed two or three times. For example I rode with different technicians almost daily; Benitez and D’vaughn were riding with only one or two techs the whole time. The other new techs were treated with preference. When I asked why, Brian Ellis said because nobody wants to ride with you. I thought DNSC had strict policy on training new

technicians and ensuring their fair and impartial treatment. There was no standard training. Field Service Managers, coerced the technicians to “unplug” me from the doing the actual work and instructed them to do “check switch” on me.

Noticing the aura of impunity and how far spread the discrimination was, I had to report it to Eddie Ramirez, the DNSC regional manager for the southeast.

For some reason, I was not given any tools to work with till early June. And when I was given some tools, they were not enough to do the job. I had to buy belt and ratchet socket and other tools. When Worthy informed them that I had bought some, they gave me the ratchet and the belt. This was more than a coincidence. My stripper and crimp tool were stolen when I was riding with D’vaughn. Till now I don’t have the tools needed to do the job. The standard procedure for providing new tools is broken down; literally you have to beg for them. So far I’ve signed for Signal level meter only. The new tools came in as droplets one after the other with time gaps.

I was called to the office two times already, simply because: I’ve asked for tools. I talked to Larry, the warehouse guy, early in the morning; he’d asked to come back later. When I came to get supplies for the day, Larry told me to come back after loading the van. Again I came back after loading the van and asked Larry if was possible to get the tools. And Lenox did not like the fact that I was getting tools so he had to come between me ad Larry. I told him politely that I didn’t need an interpreter, that my English was fine. Leaving him and Larry, I’ve told Lenox that if he was concerned about my educational background among other things,” it’s never too late to go to tech school”. The other technicians that were with me at the training have been on their own for two weeks now!

I’ve been the subject of morning gossip on daily basis. On 23 June, 04, I was the subject of the ATM …although the topic was dog bites yet it was obvious enough to be understood by any fool. Among other speakers, worthy named two dogs, one of them being me I suppose, he’d also talked about how to stop them from biting. Other speakers also used “cats” to describe the subject.

I want to bring to your attention that discrimination based my nationality and religion is against the law. My job performance is better than some technicians that were here before me. I want to be transferred from the A shift to B shift to avoid this discrimination and aura of impunity. I will not get equal treatment from my supervisors under the present conditions.

Anwar Abdi

EMAIL TO COUSINS IN VIRGINIA AFTER THEY LET ME DOWN

15/DEC/2004 FROM SAN DIEGO, CA15-Dec-2004

AbdiAziz Awil AbdiAbshir Awil AbdiAbdisamad Awil Abdi

5553 Suly Lake Dr.Centreville, VA 20120Tel. (703) 222 3936

Dear Cousins,

I’m writing to express my gratitude for your hospitality during the short stay in Virginia. In Somali tradition the honor, blood and property of next in kin is respected and sacred. American family values and the Somali values are very close. Even though, we didn’t meet for two decades, I have to say you did not respect our family relations. Every family has its problems, it is not taboo to talk about the circumstance of my sister Shamis’s death. And definitely you did not have to pull my legs into shit hole, risking my freedom and safety.

Sometimes you need to take tough stand based on facts and what’s right. Instead you went for the 5 grand and the schemes. Ahmed Mohamed Farah (Shoombe) said, “They’ll kill him, don’t kill yourselves”. I also overheard you say,” We don’t care where they take him, even if they kill him”. For your information we’re not in Somalia where it’s so easy to take someone’s life. In the United States it is against law to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor to deny any person the equal protection of law.

In October, you guys tried to set me up three times knowing quite well my innocence. I heard Abdisamad lie to his over-the-phone supervisor and even make the suggestion to eliminate me. So you want my death for no reason? This is more than being disingenuous, I’m sorry to say it is outright cannibalism.

When I was about to go to Ohio with Mr. Mire, you tried to set me up so I’d be supposedly dealt with in January 2005 pending new anti-refugee laws. That attempt failed thanks to my lawyer John Lawrence. I’m still figuring out what forced Abdisamad to tick and lie, was it cowardice or personal vendetta? No grudge on my part, understandably you gave in to your

insecurities and Shombe’s whim. Shombe uncovered himself when he came running after the emails about Abdiaziz, Abshir as the “Ethiopians”, the clearance, and Abdisamad as the “Isaaq” guy. After few more trials I had good picture of who he was. And what about the stunt: the fake $ 3500 receipt for Allen Ebert’s lip service. Abshir said to Mr. Hirad , “We have to stop him, or else he’ll pass them”. Mohamud Hirad is an honest man; he didn’t want to get involved. Intelligence and good judgment is a gift. If it’s God’s will, I will prosper and succeed, despite the odds.

I don’t care if it’s my cousins, the guys at Dishnetwork, Putin or others; no matter how you instigate trouble between me and the U.S. government, you will fail. Because when all's said and done the truth will prevail. There are many adversaries, who would not like me to be successful, never had I thought you would be amongst them.

I genuinely believe that America is the champion of liberty and human rights. Somalia is unruly and failed state in the middle of civil-war. I came to America legally as a refugee from Russia. I put my trust in God, good people, laws of the United States, int’l refugee law and international human rights law.

Fortunately, in the U.S. there are hundreds of supporters and well-wishers including close relatives (minus 3) and friends, who knew me in Russia, UAE and as a child in Somalia.

My cousins, hope you have CONSCIENCE and change for the better,

Anwar

“A good person is the one who keeps his/her tongue and hand from harming other people”.

THANK YOU EMAIL AFTER INTERVIEW AT EMERSON/CORNERSTONE CONTROLS IN CINCINNATI,

OHIO IN JULY 2004

Kari Backen,Sr. Acc. Recruiting Manager,

Aerotek,5181 Natorp Blvd.Suite 201Mason,OH 45040

Hi Kari,

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me at Aerotek. I’ve enjoyed the meeting with Ian, Tim and Mark at Cornerstone. I inquired about the time frame of the project, over all the interview went smoothly.

I certainly appreciate your time and look forward to hear from you in the near future.

Anwar Abdi _____________________________________________________

EMAIL TO NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD REQUESTING LEGAL OBSERVER 2005

ANWAR ABDI1215 Khyber Lane NE | Columbia Heights | MN 55421 |

Tel: 1-612-2263763 anw.rights@gmail.com

Jordan KushnerNational Lawyers Guild Minnesota1360-F University Ave W #173Saint Paul, MN 55104

Dear Mr. Kushner,

I’m writing to you to request legal guidance. I’m a new refugee from Somalia who’s harassed by the government and whose human rights are threatened because of some political game.

My problems started last summer almost a year after coming to the United States. I left Somalia in the 80s after civil-war started in some parts of the country. Previously, I’ve lived in the Russian Federation for about 10 years, one year in Ukraine and finished high

school in Abu-Dhabi. I was registered refugee with the UNHCR Moscow office since December 1993: UNHCR REG. # 96RF015252. In Russia, I studied and got a degree in Automation and Control Systems.

Russian Federation would not integrate African refugees, so the UNHCR Resettlement Unit helped us move to third countries namely Canada, Norway and US. In 2003, I was admitted to the United States after undergoing rigorous security and medical screening process. I was sponsored by the US State Dept. Refugee Resettlement Program and resettled in Atlanta through Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services: CASE # RS-101634. Alien # A 94544867.

In Atlanta I got a job as automation engineer and later as satellite dish installer. In July 2004 in the run up to the presidential elections, I became the subject of intense government (FBI, GBI) surveillance for no apparent reason. I was followed by agents in unmarked cars even at work. I got job offer in Cincinnati and went there for the interview, I was followed. While away my room was searched, my car was searched.

On 30th July 2004 I went to change driver license at Lithonia DMVS. While waiting for my number to be called I was bombarded with psychological messages for five hours, like strangers would know personal and intimates things about me and speak so I could hear it. It was a sophisticated psychological attack; I kept my cool and came back the next day. I was followed by unmarked cars in a way that demonstrated I was being heavily surveilled. I was singled out for special treatment and thought politics were the motive.

For no probable cause, on Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd of August 2004 attempts to arrest me were made. At that moment I spoke out and called different civil rights monitoring groups: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations. I also called the office of a congress woman.

I left Atlanta for Washington DC to seek clarification and recourse.

In Northern Virginia, I stayed with relatives. They were pressured to turn me in as a “mad man” or else I would be killed. They were so scared they could not even give a ride to see human rights lawyer. On 30th August, under police escort I was taken to Mt Vernon Mental Hospital in Alexandria, Va. I slept the night. In the morning, as I woke up guys were working on the ventilation in the hall way in front of my room. Then they’d come inside the room to work on the sockets and ventilation. At midnight strange smelling gas was in the room. It was suffocating; I pulled the bed near the door and stayed awake all night. I approached the nurse telling her about the bleach/chlorine smelling gas. The next day, my blood pressure was abnormally high. One of the nurses said, “We don’t have to give him anything, he smoked enough”. Because of irregular heart beat and abnormal high blood pressure I easily could have died of Cardiac Arrest and the reasons would have been “natural”. I complained and was transferred to North Virginia Mental Health Institute in Falls-Church, Va., where I was psychologically abused further by undercover people; there were threats, shouts, cursing, and forceful medication of people…a real

production. I survived gas and other attempts to kill me. I kept cool and avoided irrational response.

I was under intense pressure. My relatives were given money and pressured to turn against me to “save themselves” even as we lived in the same house. In September and October 2004, with a relative I used to go to Borders, Barnes & Noble and Starbucks, we were followed everywhere. I was bombarded with psychological messages. There were threats to arrest and deport me from the country.

After November 2nd 2004 presidential election, I wanted to leave for Ohio, for no reason again under police escort I was taken to Mt. Vernon Mental Hospital in Alexandria. I was kept there for five days. On discharge, I flew to San Diego, California where my sister lived.

In San Diego, I was under surveillance. In early December 2004 I came to Minnesota to rebuild my life since there’s a large Somali community here. Again I was the subject of surveillance.

There has been heavy surveillance on me in five States: Ohio, Georgia, Virginia, California, and Minnesota. I wondered why the government brought me here in the first place. What if I was killed and it was made to appear “natural”? I was humiliated and frustrated at St. Paul DMV when I went there to change my driver license.

In order to publicize the truth and to leave a trail in case something happened or I “disappeared”, I created a website. There were many funny commercials on Super-bowl game and afterwards about the story. This resulted in my emails being blocked/intercepted and filtered in clear violation of rights of privacy or correspondence.

Can't happen in a "land of liberty" that supposedly opens its arms to "huddled masses yearning to breathe free"? Unfortunately, my rights under articles 2, 3, 5 and 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are seriously violated.

I need the help of the National Lawyers Guild Minnesota to defend my civil rights as a refugee under U.S. law, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 1951Geneva Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees.

1) What recourse would a refugee have if he/she was chosen to be framed and paraded in media circus for political gain in a presidential election, and when the mission failed, he/she was forcefully medicated and labeled “insane” person? And what if attempts to eliminate that refugee continue? What protection can such a refugee have under international and U.S. laws?

2) What recourse would a refugee have if law enforcement assumed a refugee's “guilt” and then bombarded that refugee for months with psychological messages -- from coworkers, friends, and relatives -- in an attempt to coerce a "confession" of a crime unspecified? And if law enforcement also had that refugee followed

daily in marked or unmarked cars and vans, and demonstrated through messages that the refugee was being heavily surveilled, even in the refugee's car and home?

3) Is it possible to correct distorted medical records, and who could be liable for attempts to kill a refugee and psychological abuses that he/she had suffered at Mt. Vernon Mental Hospital and North Virginia Mental Health Institute in the guise of forced psychiatric “help”?

4) How will an internationally protected person be able to clear his/her name after been labeled “communist” or “terrorist” by law enforcement without any evidence to substantiate such claims except religion or ethnicity? And if disinformation is spread in the community and general public so as to make it impossible for him/her to find a job for livelihood?

5) What remedy would a refugee have under United States and international law after suffering attacks on his/her personal life, health, honor and reputation? What could be done to stop government harassment of a refugee that’s supposed to be protected?

What’s happening to me is against everything that America stands for; I’m the victim of political theater. Please help me with a lawyer to give me legal guidance.

Thank you for your consideration and understanding.

Yours sincerely,Anwar Abdi

ATTACKS BY MONEY HITMEN FOR DIAMONDS /OIL IN SOMALIA

ANWAR M. ABDI | SOMALIA| 2005BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND EXPLANATION

BACKGROUND:

My name is Anwar M. Abdi, was born on Dec. 30 th in Somalia. In the mid 80s there was fighting and curfews were placed in the parts of the country and there was sense that civil-war was looming near. I was a child when parents concerned for security arranged for me to live in Abu-dhabi UAE with relatives. Full-blown civil-war broke out in Somalia in 1991, my family members were displaced as refugees and many relatives killed.

In 1992, after completing high school, it was difficult for relatives to support me. I was worried that if I stayed in UAE, I’d have problems as UAE was not accepting Somali refugees and may deport me to Somalia where there was war. In that same year, I came to Kiev Ukraine with the prospects of going to Western Europe. However I was afraid to travel with smugglers as it was dangerous adventure and there was war in Somalia.

I approached and registered with UNHCR office in Moscow in Dec., 1993. While in Moscow I studied at Moscow Power Engineering Institute, Academy of Oil and Gas before graduating from Ufa State Petroleum Technological University in Ufa, Russia in 2001. I changed schools because of insufficient funds.

I did not want to return to Somalia because I feared reprisals from feuding militias. With so many killings and the tradition of collective punishment and revenge, I would be easy target in a country in civil-war where I had not lived since my childhood.

In July 2001, my case was passed to UNHCR Resettlement Unit in Moscow. The Resettlement Unit passed cases to the embassies of U.S., Canada and Norway. In 2003, I was one of those resettled in the U.S.

FIRST JOB:

I had to find job and pay my bills from January 2004. I worked for Emerson Process Management through a home based business Indagro till March 04. The arrangement was not standard and Emerson employees obviously did not like it since some paperwork was omitted. They kept complaining that hiring procedures were not met. While I was there, I’ve completed two training courses, DeltaV Implementation in Austin TX and DeltaV Batch in Atlanta GA.

Igor Berkovich, the vice president, had some trouble with John Haideman, a project manager with Emerson. Apparently John had trouble managing his project in Puerto Rico. I was given a room next to John who did not like that arrangement. He saw this as a move to irritate him. John Haideman rallied his colleagues against me. Wade Stewart, project manager along with Daryl Brown the LAN administrator and Nathan Camp were instrumental in the campaign. Brian Callahan a project manager asked me t to sketch design of THE PENTAGON HVAC system from blueprint since he was working on

a project to modernize the system there. I’ve told him that I was not authorized by my manager and that it needed some kind of approval. The second pretext was to send me to Indianapolis to work on a pharmaceutical project as technical writer. I was trained to do DeltaV implementation and did not quite understand the point since there was no bargain on accommodation and other details. On Wednesday 3rd March 2004, my project manager Bob Bowers and Indagro president Jack Luxardo broke the bad news that “there was no project to work on” and they had to let me go. Two Emerson employees were transferred from Mumbai India to replace me in January.

Jack Luxardo had asked me to help him with a pilot test unit to treat industrial affluent from Siemens plant in Decatur GA. I helped with setting up the skid frame for the filters. The Siemens plant manufactures boxes for electric switches. The affluent comes from painting and plating processes. The waste was treated in confined area with little ventilations and there were substances like cyanide and other poisonous fumes. I had to tell Jack that I could not continue.

Igor Berkovich and Jack Luxardo helped me in a big way to get the training and related me to sacrifice filter to annoy John Haideman and Wade Stewart. After two months there was no room for me at Emerson thanks to office politics. I wanted to develop professionally with EMERSON and still call Igor once in a while.

The second job was with a land development company Paramont Grading, I worked there as rod man/land survey technician helper for about 10 days. I had to leave because I had to go far into the country with only one person who I didn’t trust that much. I felt alarmed after hearing stories about Forsyth County GA were the company was based.

THIRD JOB: In early April I applied for a job at a temp agency Hire Dynamics in Suwanee GA. HD offered me a temp warehouse position at Echosphere -Dishnetwork. I worked in the warehouse for one day after which the supervisor told me that I needed to call before coming the next time.

I directly applied for a field service specialist FSS/ Installer position at Dishnetwork. Few days later I got a call from Thomas and he arranged for

interview. I was interviewed by a guy named Victor who works at DNSC warehouse. I submitted recent motor vehicle report, resume and drug test before starting work on 5th May 2004.

The first day with Dishnetwork was orientation and introduction to company policy. Second day I went to DNSC Kennesaw office. I attended one day of in-house training after that I had to ride with technicians that were there before me.

Shortly after that I was the odd man out. I’ve been verbally harassed many times and every attempt was made to get me out. A small group of senior techs, Sean- Gibbs- Rock Sam- Brian B –Worthy- Lenox- Arnold- Brent started this campaign and they went to Chris Rhone GM to fire me. I resisted the harassments and reminded them that it was against the law to discriminate me based on my nationality and/or religion. I was confronted with difficult choices but I had to pay my bills, so I had to hang in there till I got another job.

Eddie Ramirez, the regional manager was in their way for a while. However, he changed his mind after I had accident falling through the ceiling of a customer’s house on 27th June 2004. One of the techs said “the insurance is cancelled”. Things got worse after that day, and harassment increased dramatically. I got frustrated and wrote to the HR manager Nneki Makenzie. She was out of town. On Sundays only the installers worked, the managers on duty took advantage of that and searched my car without my permission.

THE TERRIBLE INCIDENT:

I assume they made false allegations against me and reported it to the authorities. On the fifteenth July, there was this guy, George Smith, who claimed to have come from Dishnetwork corporate office to inspect the installation of dual tuner 322 model receivers. George trailed the Dishnetwork van and came with us to every customer we visited. I had a suspicion that he was from investigative agency as he had Clayton County GA tag. I was not bothered by his presence; in fact I was relieved thinking at last someone was going to unravel the whole secrecy about Dishnetwork.

About the same I received an email from Sarah Butler, the employment manager at LIRS inquiring how and where I got jobs. I answered her email telling her the job websites. Shortly after that I received email from Aerotek.

Kari Backen, employment agent, she arranged for an interview with Cornerstone Controls, an Emerson Process Management representative in Cincinnati Ohio. I also visited Columbus Ohio before and after the interview. My perception is that I was trailed all the time in Ohio. When in Columbus, I called my friend Obo who’s a postgraduate student at Russian State University of Oil and Gas, Moscow. We talked about the interview and plans to attend the Society of Petroleum Engineers conference which was to take place in September in Houston. Our telephone conversation was tapped.

Back in Atlanta, I was trailed all the time. I reported it to LIRS, and the Somali Community. The first week of August, it went from trailing to explicit action to coerce and inducement of Somali and others to tell about my whereabouts. I did everything possible to avoid arbitrary detention based on false allegations.

On Tuesday 3rd of August, there was sting operation to arrest me…I could not believe that so many cars and people were out to get me. It was incredible that such a thing would happen in United States- the champion of human rights and liberty. I called Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Lawyers for Human Rights and the office of a congress woman telling them “I’m only a Somali refugee” and that the exercise was for political purposes and an attempt to get publicity in view of the fact that it happened just days after the Democratic National Convention. I requested them to pass the message to the “average American” and the truth be known. The mission to arrest me failed but surveillance continued…

The false allegations against me though, not official, were rather very serious - a threat to the national security of the United States of America. I found these false allegations as unjustified, despicable and the worst kind of discrimination based on my nationality and religion simply because I happen to be a Muslim. And above all it was politically motivated for publicity in election year.

WASHINGTON DC:

When it became too much to bear by myself I had to come to Washington DC area to get legal assistance from human rights defenders.

The incident in Atlanta made me want to seek out clarity and legal help. In DC area, there were three of my cousins; Abdisamad 40, Abdiasis 43 and

Abshir 68. They’ve been in the US for more than 15 to 21 years. I thought they’d be in a position to help. After telling them what happened and the reason for coming, they seemed to be at lost and terrified.

There was also Ahmed Mohamed Farah ‘Shombe’, who worked for investigative agency as interpreter, a friend of Abdiasis. Shombe was there to sabotage any efforts to resolve the problem. They insisted on me seeing a “doctor”, I on the other hand wanted to see a human rights lawyer and get means of transportation. Shombe and Abdiasis staged a stunt; they talked to Allan Ebert, a lawyer, to give lip service and try to persuade me. Allan Ebert said he would try to find out facts through his liaisons and friends in the congress using backdoors. I was mindful of their scheme to discredit my story since it was embarrassing in election year as Mr. Ebert put it. I overheard them whisper “they will kill him”. I immediately called my sister Safi in San Diego and briefed her about the situation.

Abdisamad and Abshir called the Police on me one night and under TDO I was taken to Mt. Vernon Mental Hospital. It was uncalled for, and probably done to get reward. At night strange smelling gas was in the room. I could not sleep and had to stay awake all night. The next day, there were people in the unit saying “they’re going to kill him”. I called Amnesty International and gave them my name and what was going on. Few hours later, Amnesty staff called back to check if I was alive. I also called Abdillahi M. Mirre, second cousin and former Somali Education Minister.

In the afternoon I was relocated to Northern Virginia Health Institute. I went to a unit where undercover agents disguised as mental patients shouted threats like “this is war..this is war”. It was coincidental, as Bill Clinton was undergoing operation on his heart, someone freaked out and shouted, “ damn you Clinton..damn you Clinton”. After staying there for five days, I was discharged. While leaving in the hall way, there were about 30 people with one person sitting on a chair and head covered with a black garbage bag. I believe this effort was an act of intimidation to silence me.

THREAT OF RETALIATION:

I’m a refugee and believe should not be exploited for political purposes. I was prescreened before entering the U.S. I had to yell and scream to the public that I pose no security risk. For that I’m now facing the threat of deportation to Somalia, where civil-war has made conditions so dangerous

that the US and the international community will not send their own employees there.

The incident was the subject of ridicule on late night and standup comedy shows in the months leading up to the election. In the media it was discussed in a subtle way.

Despite the risks I face, I’m willing to stand up for my human rights and seek relief. I’m frightened by the attempts to pass anti-refugee laws that would target selected people based on religious and ethnic backgrounds. I’m concerned for the protection and relief provided by U.S. and international law.

WHY I MUST SPEAK THE TRUTH?WINTER / 2005

“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”- George Orwell

Introduction:

It is imperative to speak the truth as a natural reaction to the forces that want to silence it. Truth is a very powerful and meaningful word. When an issue becomes controversial, it means that somewhere the truth is being resisted; the more controversial things get, the more the resistance is mobilized to deny or block the truth.

The United States was formed by refugees who fled religious persecution. The America has housed so many refugees and been so generous in the past. Being a refugee is having all control taken away from you, with little or no options.

When clan violence in 1992 threatened international relief efforts in Somalia, U.S. President George Bush sent in American troops to provide relief for thousands of Somalis who were caught in the deadly civil-war. For that most Somalis including myself are grateful. We were disheartened when the military withdrew before establishing central government.

Friends tell me that there’s more hostile attitude among many people in the U.S. toward refugees lately. Unwarranted suspicion is cast over large pool of people including refugees.

In the beginning of 2004, a senior U.S. official who’d recently left office gave an interview on TV. He quoted another senior official saying, “They’re reproducing faster than we’re killing them”. Then he went on to ask, is this genocide? I believe the official was Richard Clarke. “Do you kill people after getting to know them...” the script in a scene from the movie Collateral. In order to build a better world, America should defend and integrate young progressive refugees and not alienate them. Refugees should not be persecuted, preyed upon and/or criminalized without breaking the law.

Background Information:

My name is Anwar Abdi, was born in Somalia in the 70s. In the mid 80s there was fighting and curfews were placed in the parts of the country and there was sense that civil-war was looming near. I was a child when parents concerned for security arranged for me to live in Abu-Dhabi UAE with relatives. Full-blown civil-war broke out in Somalia in 1991, my family members were displaced as refugees and many relatives killed.

In 1992, after completing high school, it was difficult for relatives to support me. I was worried that if I stayed in UAE, I’d have problems as the country was not accepting refugees. In that same year, I came to Kiev Ukraine with the prospects of going to Western Europe. However I was afraid to travel with smugglers as it was dangerous adventure and there was war in Somalia.

I approached and registered with UNHCR office in Moscow in Dec., 1993. While in Moscow I studied at Moscow Power Engineering Institute, Academy of Oil and Gas before graduating from Ufa State Petroleum Technological University in Ufa, Russia in 2001. I changed schools because of insufficient funds.

I did not want to return to Somalia because I feared reprisals. With so many killings and the tradition of collective punishment and revenge, I would be easy target in a country in civil-war where I had not lived since my childhood.

In Russia xenophobia and racism were rampant. The problems of Russia in transition from Soviet-era were many: the mafia, violent neo-Nazi groups and corrupt police who would all target foreigners, especially Africans, Asians and Latin Americans.

Russia, coping with its colossal domestic crisis, could not officially accept or integrate refugees from outside the CIS, even though it’s signatory to the Geneva conventions. And it’s for this reasons the United Nations had to resettle African refugees in a third country so they would not be targeted on Moscow streets. More than 100 Somalis died during my stay. The last one was a friend, he was attacked on the way to his home; I buried him in December 2002 outside Moscow.

In July 2001, my case was passed to the Resettlement Unit in Moscow. The Resettlement Unit would process cases and pass on to the embassies of U.S., Canada and Norway or UNHCR HQ in Geneva, Switzerland. I was sponsored by the U.S. State Dept. refugee resettlement program. I came under intense scrutiny and background check before entering the United States in 2003.

In Oct. 2003, I applied for my first job at Emerson Process Management. I wrote an email to my reference person at the UN office in Moscow, in which I said that almost everyone was for me except one person, the VP of the company. I had to go there on Fridays to persuade him and to check the status of the application. In January I got the offer, two months later I was laid off. Was it deliberate attempt to fail me?

In May 2004, I got email from ex-colleague, in it he mentioned about me going to Angola for a week, sometime in August. I had no plans to go to Africa. I kept thinking about it, perhaps he meant the notorious Angola in Louisiana. I assumed he was warning me of something.

Then one weekend, I went to have lunch at the Golden Corral restaurant with friends, and there was this couple next to us. The man asked the woman, “Where does he work now”? And she replied, “he works for a cable company as installer”. How did these folks know me? At the time, I was struggling with a small job as satellite dish installer. I mistakenly gave my resume with the application. The installers ganged up on me.

The local manager was in cahoots with the other installers. I guess they had some deal to filch stuff. In June, the harassment was too much; I emailed Eddie, the regional manager for the southeast.

On 27th June 2004, I had accident falling through the ceiling of a customer’s house. One of the installers said “the insurance is cancelled”. Things got worse after that day, and harassment increased dramatically. I got frustrated and wrote to the HR manager Nneki Makenzie. She was out of town. On Sundays only the installers worked, the managers on duty took advantage of that and searched my car without permission.

They, Eddie and Chris Rohne, made malicious false report to the authorities in order to destroy me. The installers would say,” trust but verify”, I answered back that there was nothing to verify, that I did not fall from the sky. So there was serious slander campaign going on.

On 15th July, George Smith, who claimed to have come from Dishnetwork corporate office, said he’d ride with us. George trailed the company van and came with us to every customer we visited. I had a suspicion that he was from investigative agency as he had Clayton County GA tag. I was not bothered by his presence though; in fact I was relieved thinking at last someone was going to unravel the whole secrecy about Dishnetwork.

About the same I received an email from Sarah Butler, the employment manager at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the resettlement agency, inquiring how and where I got jobs. I answered her email telling her the job websites.

Shortly after that I received email from Aerotek, employment agency. Kari Backen, employment agent, arranged for an interview with Cornerstone Controls, an Emerson Process Management representative in Cincinnati Ohio. They wanted me to work on a pharmaceutical project for Ely Lilly.

Before the interview, I visited children of extended relatives at the hospital, they had car accident in Columbus, Ohio. Two guys were waiting near the elevator, one of them said, “it’s going to be hard to arrest him”. My view is that I was trailed all the time in Ohio.

When in Columbus, I called my friend Obo Okeffe, a Nigerian, who’s a postgraduate student at Russian State University of Oil and Gas, Moscow.

We talked about the interview and his plans to attend the Society of Petroleum Engineers conference which was to take place in September in Houston, Texas. Our telephone conversation was tapped. How did I know? Nokia phone has features that show when it’s is tapped. So we cracked some jokes, like where am I? Is this Congo, Somalia or the United States?

Why would the United States bring a refugee all the way from Russia and basically destroy him? There was no immediate logical answer, except it had to be the elections.

I remembered the email about the notorious “Angola”. Igor Berkovich of Emerson, Eddie and Chris Rohne of Dishnetwork, Ian of Cornerstone Controls would apprise one another of my movement and situation.

The trip was a sucker-trap. No wonder I was denied reimbursement for the travel expenses, I got very upset. I was setup and almost got pushed over the cliff.

To lose the “tail”, I woke up early, put on music from Top Gun, set up the GPS system on the laptop and drove down I-75 at speed limit. There was fog in the mountains between Kentucky and Tennessee but drove at speed limit anyway stopping only once to refuel. Back in Atlanta, I was trailed all the time. I reported it to LIRS and members of the Somali community. I watched TV as the Heritage Foundation presented some anti-foreign student lectures. David Kay gave passionate speech about Somalis and people from that region of the world, and why it’s necessary to deny employment of such people at pharmaceutical and chemical plants.

Authorities would not contact or interview me for honest dialogue; instead they contacted members of the Somali community in Atlanta. The local investigators intentionally overlooked or didn’t put into equation the petty tribal politics of the Somalis. Tragically Somalis are handicapped by ignorance and hatred to see anyone, outside of the tribe, as would-be foe. The local mosques were also contacted. Tribal conservatism and extremism were mutually reinforcing to my disadvantage.

I’ve rented the basement room of a home owned by a Somali family. While I was away for the interview in Cincinnati, my room was searched for

incriminating items and possibly ‘bugs’ were planted. They’d even know when I sneeze. I only read this kind of thing in novels. The first week of August, it went from trailing to explicit action to coerce and induce Somalis and others to tell about my whereabouts. I did everything possible to avoid arbitrary detention based on slander and God knows what.

On 3rd August, there was sting operation under way. I could not believe that so many cars and people were out to get me. It was incredible that such a thing would happen in the United States- the champion of human rights and liberty.

Alertness and survivor instinct that saved me in Russia came in handy. I had to yell and scream to the public that I pose no risk whatsoever, not even to ants. I called Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the UN, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and the office of a congress woman telling them, “I’m only a refugee, and what theses folks are doing is inhumane!”

The exercise was for political purpose and an attempt to get publicity in view of the fact that it happened just days after the Democratic National Convention. I requested them to pass the message to the “average American” and the truth be known.

I knew that 9/11 attacks generated some backlash and Islamphobia in the United States. That said I never thought I would be targeted for religion and/or for having a technological degree: control systems. In some Faustian bargain, perhaps someone calculated that refugees are defenseless- easy sacrifice

Only ethnical background and resume was enough to get me in trouble big time. The other refugees who came with me are spared the trouble, because they lacked English with agricultural or medical degrees.

When it became too much to bear by myself I had to come to Washington DC area to get legal assistance from human rights defenders. The incident made me want to seek out clarity.

In DC area, I had three cousins; Abdisamad 40, Abdiasis 43 and Abshir 68. They’ve been in the U.S. for a while. I thought they’d be in a position to help or at least give a ride. After telling them what happened and the reason for coming, they seemed to be at lost and terrified.

I’ve requested the cousins to give me a ride to down town Washington to see human rights defenders. They refused. I bought a printer and fax machine to telecommunicate with human right groups. As a refugee, I was NOT interested in the elections and its outcome, rather I was preoccupied with survival and how to stay away from persecution based on bogus accusations.

Controlling the fall-out:

On 10th August, Abshir and Abdisamad insisted that I see a doctor to help me cope with ‘depression’. We went to Ziad Khalil, MD a family practitioner. After talking with me, he said I was ok that cousins were just concerned. He suggested me to leave the South and go to Michigan. Ziad Khalil also referred us to Woodburn Center for Community Health.

Ahmed Yassin, Shombe, who I think works for the FBI as interpreter, and a friend of Abdiasis, frequently visited the home. He said to Abdiaziz, “they will kill him, don’t kill yourselves”. I wanted to believe that this wasn’t happening.

On 23rd August, Abdiaziz, Abdisamad and I visited Dr. Cornet at Woodburn Center for Community Health. Dr. Cornet, a Haitian, said he understood the problems facing Somalis. He asked me to think about taking medicine to calm me down. I’ve told him that more than anything I needed human rights advocate.

When we came out from the center, the cousins went ballistic. We argued for a while, I told them that I knew the consequences of been forced into drugs. That something fishy was going on and they were not forthcoming. I’ve warned them someone was trying hard to drive wedge between us. They gave reassurances that I’ll be left alone if I took the pills. I knew right then that my cousins were only functionally literate, not enlightened, or they were hypocrites beyond imagination.

On 24th August, I visited Dr. Pastor at Woodburn Center for Community health. He prescribed Abilify. Two cops came in the center; they took a look

and went back. As I was coming out from the center there were six police cars waiting. The cops looked at me as to intimidate me.

I did little research and bought the medicine the next day. Abilfy is for schizophrenia patients. I’m not schizophrenic but took the 5mg pill anyway in the hope that I’d be left alone. I threw up and could not sleep at night. In the morning, I caught Abdisamad talking to his over-the-phone supervisor/handler that the “fallout is under control”. He went on to say, “he’s going to tax the system, throw him out”. I confronted him but he’d avoid me.

On 25th August, Ahmed Yassin Shombe and Abdiasis staged a stunt; they talked to Allan Ebert, a lawyer, to give lip service and try to calm me. Allan Ebert said the story was embarrassing in election year; he would try to find out facts through his liaisons and friends using backdoors. Allan also said, “We need to save faces here”.

As I was in the basement watching TV, the three cousins would meet upstairs and discuss the situation. I sneaked up. They said, “We don’t care where they take him, even if they kill him”. They said, “If he was Ali (their brother in Ohio), we could have defended him”. They went on and on talking about how the Russians are involved in the case and the elections.

Downstairs, I did some soul-searching looking back at my past in Russia. In 2002, there was a group of retired Russian military officers, some Indians and two Somalis at the embassy who set up a Fund, a charity to export arms to Somalia. I reminded them that it was in violation of a 1992 UN resolution, arms embargo on Somalia. I maybe wrong but one of the Indians involved is in U.S. custody since August 2003. One of the Somalis was on FSB payroll, as were some of the others. They might want to settle score for spoiling their party. There was another Russian in Ufa, a FSB agent, who did not like my close friendship with fellow students, American teachers and Mormons. He froze my tuition fees from extended relatives in the bank for a month and almost got kicked-out from school for the delay. Other than that I had no problem with the Russian secret service.

Intimidation at Mt. Vernon/ North Virginia Health Institute:

On 30th August, Abdisamad and Abshir called the Police on me. It was uncalled-for, probably done to get reward as I’d later find out. While doing

the paperwork, the police officers joked, “the chicken has been running without headlights”. Under TDO I was taken to Mt. Vernon Mental Hospital.

I slept the night. In the morning, as I woke up guys were working on the ventilation in the hall way in front of my room. Then they’d come inside the room to work on the sockets and ventilation. During the day, I called relatives.

At midnight strange smelling gas was in the room. It was suffocating; I pulled the bed near the door and stayed awake all night. I approached the nurse telling her about the chlorine smelling gas.

The next day, my blood pressure was abnormally high. One of the nurses said, “We don’t have to give him anything, he smoked enough”. (Gasp!) After food break, I saw two men wearing slick suits go into the room. I went in and asked them what they were doing, “just inspecting repair work” they replied. I went to the head nurse and demanded the names of the men in case something happened to me. She refused, and the men slipped away.

There were people in the unit saying “they’re going to kill him”. And one person said the reason is because he wrote something about “population”.

I called Amnesty International and gave my name and told them what was going on. Few hours later, Amnesty staff called back to check if I was still alive. I also called Abdullahi M. Mirre, the former Somali Education Minister.

In the afternoon I was transferred to Northern Virginia Health Institute. I went to a unit where undercover agents disguised as mental patients shouted threats like “This is war. This is war”.

It might been coincidental, as Bill Clinton was undergoing operation on his heart, someone freaked out and shouted, “ damn you Clinton..Damn you Clinton”.

After staying there for five days, I was discharged. While leaving in the hall way, there were about 30 people with one person sitting on a chair and head covered with a black garbage bag. This effort was an act of intimidation.

Dr. Coburn diagnosed me to have something called “severe cultural distortion”. Yeah right! He prescribed Zyprexa to slow my thought processes, to relax. I was in hibernation for days! Then I stopped taking it. I was not sick or anything, why take tranquilizer that would make me brainless when I needed to be observant to stay alive.

At home I’d keep myself busy cooking spaghetti and watching the Athens Olympics.

Onslaught in the Media:

In August and months leading up to Nov. 2, people would come on TV/Radio and basically destroy me with their comments. In DC the host on an NPR program took a non-scientific poll of the listeners in which 59% said he should be killed while 30 % said he should be protected. The listeners condone extrajudicial murder (gasp!). In subtle ways they’d systematically attack me by slander and name-calling such as these: Commie, Fascist, Anti-Semitic, Pig, Queer, Terrorist, Cockroach, and Frankenstein etcetera.

I am NOT a communist, nor have I ever been one. It’s way-wrong to smear me as “commie” when the Russians are no longer “commies” themselves. I was victimized and harassed by neo-Nazi skinheads on Moscow streets; does that make me a fascist? I don’t think so.

I am not anti-Semitic either, I’ve lived with Arabs and my teachers were Jews.

In my understanding terrorism is a new phenomenon, associated with Arab-Afghans such as the 9/11 terrorists and others namely Islamic radical extremists, ETA, warlords etcetera. These days, the easiest way to obliterate a progressive knowledgeable Muslim is to brand him/her a ‘terrorist’, the argument stops right there because of bandwagon.

Terrorists distorted and hijacked my religion. Branding innocent refugee a terrorist is a wrongdoing of the highest order. I find this cynical branding as unjustifiable, despicable and the worst kind of discrimination based on ethnicity and religion.

“Whipping the boy” for yelling:

As a result of the smear campaign, I’m now facing the threat of being fished-out-in-broad-daylight and of expulsion to Somalia where civil-war has made conditions so dangerous that the United States and the international community will not send their own employees there.

I pose no threat to United States security interests. Facts are obscured and reduced to side issue in the name of ‘security’. In reality the U.S. should develop and educate new leadership for Africa in order to counter real terrorism and extremist organizations. It would be a tragedy if the United States kills or alienates by discrimination its future trade partners.

I’m alarmed by the attempts to pass anti-refugee laws that would target special group of people based on religious and ethnic backgrounds. I’m concerned for the little protection and relief provided by U.S. and international laws to refugees.

The surveillance and witch-hunt continue to this very day. In the Twin Cities, I went to Super America convenient store to buy something and there were two police men talking, “there’s a new Somali guy in town, teasing police.” Just before Christmas at the mall, a Somali said to me,” watch out for yourself, brother” and walked away.

This witch-hunt without probable cause and persecution ought to stop as there’s nothing to investigate.

I have hope and believe in America’s traditional hospitality to the refugees of the world, as BARRACK HUSSEIN OBAMA said, “Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope: the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has place for him, too”.

ANWAR M ABDI DEEF610 E 15TH #22MINNEAPOLIS MN 55404 USA