Several Central New York activists have traveled to Iraq with Voices in the Wilderness to oppose sanctions against the country and to oppose the U.S.-led war there.

Judge John D. Bates' final ruling on the $20,000 fine is expected in October, said Bill Quigley, who is representing Voices in the Wilderness in the federal case.

If the group loses, it will appeal, Quigley said. The group does not plan to pay the fine, he said.

Even as their federal case appears doomed, several members of the Chicago-based international organization are publicly supporting Dr. Rafil Dhafir, a Manlius oncologist jailed since February 2003 on charges he violated U.S. sanctions against Iraq and defrauded people who donated money to his charity, Help the Needy.

"We could well understand that people had to do something, out of faith and conscience, and to practice the rights of mercy," Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness co-founder, said during a recent visit to Syracuse. "What we couldn't understand was why someone like Dr. Dhafir was put in prison."

Dhafir's lawyer, Devereaux Cannick of New York City, filed a motion in late July, seeking dismissal of the charges against the Iraqi-born oncologist, saying that selective prosecution violates Dhafir's right to due process and equal protection. In interviews and in court papers Cannick has said others who violated U.S. sanctions to provide money or goods to Iraq, including activists and corporations, have not faced civil or criminal charges.

In an Aug. 16 response to Cannick's motion, the prosecution describes Dhafir's actions as different from those of the peace activists.

"He diverted money from the HTN accounts for his own business purposes, and generated his own donations to Help the Needy by inflating his Medicare billings for work he claimed to

be doing when in fact he was away from his medical office raising funds overseas," reads an excerpt from court documents filed by the U.S. attorney.

Nor does the case reflect selective prosecution of Muslims since Sept. 11, 2001, the prosecution says, because the investigation had started two years before that.

In addition to violating the Iraqi sanctions, Dhafir has been charged with mail, wire and tax fraud, Medicare fraud and making false statements. His trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 27 in federal court in Syracuse.

Cannick could not be reached Sunday.

Kelly recently finished a three-month federal sentence for protesting what she says are torture techniques taught at the Army's School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Ga., now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.

In late August, she met Dhafir, who is being held without bail, during a brief visit at the Onondaga County Correctional Facility in Jamesville.

"I found him so engaging," she said. "He's kept his spirits up. He radiates a sense of welcome and a sense of confidence."

Ed Kinane, a longtime Syracuse activist who has participated in Voices in the Wilderness delegations to Iraq and also served a federal sentence for an arrest at the Georgia army base, also visited Dhafir.

"I feel a kindred spirit with him," Kinane said. "He's being prosecuted for diverting funds for the Iraqi people. I did that. A lot of people are doing that. Why he is being singled out?"

Kelly and Kinane are among seven local and national activists who have written to U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue as part of "Operation Free Dhafir," a campaign organized by Madis Senner, of Syracuse, a leader of Dhafir's supporters.

Kelly and Kinane said they have not received any response from Mordue.

In her letter, Kelly said Voices in the Wilderness organized 70 delegations to Iraq "in open and nonviolent violation of the economic sanctions."

"We could easily understand why Iraqis living in the U.S. would feel morally obliged to help the people whom they'd left behind in Iraq," she wrote.

© 2004 The Post-Standard

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