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South Africa: U.S. Supporters in Court to Back Visa for Habib
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
27 September 2007
Posted to the web 27 September 2007
Wilson Johwa
Johannesburg
A US court is to rule on a visa application by supporters of South African academic Adam Habib, who has been refused entry to the US, without explanation, since last October.
This week the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the US departments of state and of homeland security.
"What this demonstrates is that there are many people in the US concerned about the abrogation of freedom," Habib said.
"For most of them, whom I don't know, it's a question of principle."
The lawsuit names Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff as defendants.
The ACLU's view is that Habib was being illegally blocked from entering the US in circumstances that suggest he was being punished for his political views.
"In the US's quest for security -- which is legitimate -- they can't violate civil liberties of their own citizens and others around the world," Habib said yesterday.
Many artists, scholars and politicians have reportedly been kept out of the US since the start of ideological exclusion in 1952. "Once again, the Bush administration is stifling debate by preventing US audiences from engaging prominent scholars face-to-face," said Melissa Goodman, a staff attorney for the ACLU .
The US embassy declined to comment.
Habib is the University of Johannesburg's deputy vice-chancellor of research, innovation and advancement. He said the ban denied him the opportunity to engage in the robust academic and political debate that is central to the American democratic system.
"While my exclusion from the US may not be debilitating, why should I be subjected to these inconveniences without any explanation?"
Even his children are persona non grata in the US.
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"I presume they have been excluded because I have been excluded and I think that's completely unreasonable. It's just unacceptable," he said.
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