KIDAPAWAN CITY, 16 May 2004 — He was invited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to conferences in Washington D.C. and New York but he never made it. Instead, he was detained in Los Angeles for 24 hours and then sent back to the Philippines.
Muslim scholar Abhoud Syed Lingga, former secretary-general of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), arrived in the United States on May 12 (US time) but never got past LA immigration. During his 24-hour detention, he was not allowed to make phone calls.
Not even the UN official who had invited him to the conferences was aware that the professor was in the custody of US authorities, said Lingga’s wife, Jo.
Relatives who were supposed to pick him up upon his arrival were also interrogated for an hour.
Jo said the UN only learned of Lingga’s detention after she e-mailed Eugene Martin of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) who had invited Lingga to the conferences scheduled from May 12 to 20.
“He (Martin) was very apologetic. He said he did not expect any of these difficulties and promised to work hard to arrange everything,” Jo said.
The Inquirer learned that Lingga was denied a US visa when he first asked for one to attend the conferences. Later, the US Embassy in Manila called him up and then granted him a visa.
Lingga arrived Saturday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila and flew immediately to Cotabato City where his wife and family were waiting for him.
When the Inquirer tried to interview Lingga, he said he was “OK” but refused to comment further on the incident.
Lingga is a professor at the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies in Cotabato City. Described as a dignified intellectual by colleagues, he was behind the creation of the Muslim Alliance in 1983.
In 1996, he organized and chaired the Bangsamoro People’s Consultative Assembly (BPCA). He also inspired the organization of the group Maradeka, an Islamic democratic political organization.
He was involved in various peace negotiations between the government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Bob Alonto, also a professor at the Islamic school, condemned the incident and said they will ask the UN to act on it.
Alonto said that what happened to Lingga was proof that the US was “a racist, paranoid country out to discriminate against every Muslim who wants to enter its territories.
“We protest the shabby and unfair treatment of Professor Lingga. It’s ironic how the country which calls itself the bastion of democracy and human rights can easily violate human rights,” Alonto said.
“The US is panicking. Every Muslim they see is a terrorist. The US is (becoming) a closed-door society,” he added.
