Grant him asylum
Since 1998 Sameh Khouzam has had to live with the fear of a slow brutal death at the hands of the Egyptian Islamists and the cruelty of prison in the hands of INS/ICE. Being a prisoner in the US immigration system is inhumanly degrading and 9 years of it is torture.
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Sameh Khouzam’s case is a unique one. It should be treated as such. The members of the ACLU, Amnesty International and the World Organization for Human Rights all agree that this is a case worth fighting because of its uniqueness, especially with a life on the line.
Sameh is my friend. He is an educated, articulate man who, if possible, would voluntarily return to Egypt to appeal this conviction and clear his name but would suffer a painful death long before he would have his day in court because of his religious belief. And this is the crux of the matter.
My wishes for Sameh’s future is simple – that the US will grant him asylum, to never feel fear again for his life and to find a way to piece together, for the third time, his life with a good job, a place to live, and find a life for himself. Above all I pray for the strength to put this nightmare behind him.
Susan Hazlitt
York
One of the principles that our country is founded on is no cruel and unusual punishment. The imprisonment of asylum seekers who have not committed any crimes is certainly cruel and unusual, and this is not the end of the cruelty. If they win the right to await their hearing out of jail, they are often refused permission to work. So they are released into the most expensive society on earth needing legal assistance, but without even the ability to pay for food and shelter.
For Shame,
Mark Williams