New Attorney General Guidelines May Legitimize Racial and Ethnic Profiling Washington, DC – September 25, 2008: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest and largest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization, is deeply concerned by new FBI guidelines that could lower the threshold for federal law enforcement officers to conduct investigations of individuals on the mere suspicion of questionable activity or meeting the FBI’s assessment of what it considers to be a threat. Last week, SALDEF, along with other civil rights groups, met with Justice Department officials and reviewed draft language of the revised Attorney General (AG) Guidelines governing the investigative powers of the FBI in matters of national security. The new guidelines, which are slated to be approved on October 1, 2008, represent a major shift in public policy. These new guidelines would allow the FBI to recruit informants, conduct pretext interviews without identifying the agency the investigator works for, and allow for physical surveillance of persons, including U.S. citizens, in the United States without evidence of criminal activity. Additionally, they would replace existing guidelines for five types of guidelines: general criminal, national security, foreign intelligence, civil disorders and demonstrations. Currently these intrusive investigative measures are already in place to investigate criminal conduct, which is based on physical evidence. The new AG guidelines will lower the standard for utilizing intrusive investigative techniques by not requiring evidence of criminal conduct, but simply the mere accusation of impropriety. “The new guidelines will rely heavily on information from the Intelligence Community. Unfortunately, such information is highly suspect due to its high risk of being incorrect – as we have seen in the past,” said SALDEF Legal Director Rajdeep Singh Jolly. “The use of weak information to justify intrusive investigative techniques without evidence of criminal activity should be alarming to all Americans.” Although the Justice Department reassured meeting participants that investigations will not be conducted solely based on race or ethnicity, many scenarios were discussed that included a heavy reliance on actual or perceived race, ethnicity, and religion to initiate investigations. The guidelines are the latest reflection of the government’s desire to become more proactive in protecting the United States. While SALDEF firmly believes that national security should be of utmost importance and that policies should reflect such priorities, all Americans have an obligation to speak out when those policies violate or threaten to violate our privacy and civil liberties. FOR SIKHS — Be aware of your surroundings. Do not submit to interviews voluntarily without first consulting with an attorney in your state. If you believe that an individual you are speaking with is an FBI Agent, respectfully disengage from the conversation and contact SALDEF immediately at legal@saldef.org. For more information about the new regulations, please visit the links below: ACLU Asks Inspector General to Investigate Abuses of FBI Guidelines – ACLU PR, September 23, 2008 Problematic Attorney General Guidelines Implemented While FBI Safeguards Pending – ADC PR, September 23, 2008 New FBI Guidelines Open Door to Further Abuse – ACLU PR, September 12, 2008
