Pubdate: Tue, 27 Feb 2007
Source: Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 2007 Newsday Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/308
Author: Anthony M. Destefano
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Religious+Freedom+Restoration+Act

MAKING A CASE FOR 'SACRED' MEAT

During a search of a Staten Island garage last year, federal agents 
made a disturbing find: Among packages of smoked fish and clothing 
they discovered 33 pieces of African bushmeat, including the arm of a 
primate and pieces of a small rodent known as a cane rat.

Now the garage owner, a Liberian immigrant named Mamie Jefferson, 39, 
finds herself a defendant in what her attorney believes is one of the 
first cases in New York, and perhaps the country, that involves 
charges of bushmeat smuggling.

The case pits federal officials who believe bushmeat poses health 
concerns against some West African immigrants here who say the eating 
of cooked flesh of wild animals is a sacred act that is worthy of 
protection under federal religious-protection law.

Federal agents began to focus on Jefferson, also known by the surname 
of Manneh, after they uncovered bushmeat in January 2006 during an 
inspection at Kennedy Airport of boxes addressed to her. The airport 
search uncovered primate parts hidden in a legal shipment of dried 
fish from Africa, court records stated. After the airport search, 
agents visited Jefferson at her Staten Island home, where she 
consented to the search of her garage. Jefferson legally sells the 
fish within her West African community on Staten Island, said Jan 
Rostal, the federal defender representing Jefferson.

In an unrelated case, Jefferson is serving a 2-year term in state 
prison for trying to run over on Staten Island last year a woman she 
suspected of being her husband's girlfriend, prosecutors said. As a 
result, her husband is taking care of the children - nine of 
Jefferson's and two young relatives.

"The entire family and the babies miss her a lot and want her home," 
said her husband, Zanger Jefferson, 40.

As she serves her state sentence, Jefferson is committed to fighting 
the federal charges. On Friday, her attorney filed papers in the 
federal case seeking to dismiss the charges.

Health risks

U.S. officials say the importation of bushmeat, particularly the cane 
rat, could expose the public to diseases such as monkeypox, a viral 
infection that causes symptoms similar to smallpox. Globally, the 
trade in bushmeat is an environmental concern: Conservationists 
believe the trade is endangering many African animals - especially 
monkeys and other primates - that already are viewed as threatened.

Federal officials aren't sure how large the market is for bushmeat in 
New York or elsewhere. During an interview with federal agents, 
according to court records, Jefferson said she had heard that the 
meat, which is usually smoked, had been sold in a local African 
market on Staten Island. Popular types of bushmeat include the flesh 
of monkeys, apes and bats, as well as the cane rats.

Recent statistics provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show 
occasional seizures of suspected bushmeat in the New York area and at 
other ports of entry such as Hawaii and Los Angeles.

"It is hard to find," said a wildlife service agent who operates out 
of Valley Stream. Much of what is confiscated at Kennedy Airport is 
found in hand luggage of travelers from overseas. "The big stuff is 
shipped in containers," the agent said. "Nobody has the staff to look at that."

Since 2000, agents have made sporadic seizures of what they term 
"possible" bushmeat in New York. Usually the items have been 
identified as primates, antelope, goat and cane rat from Ghana, 
according to the data.

Biologist Justin Brashares of the University of California at 
Berkeley, has developed a network of sources on bushmeat. The reports 
indicate that about 1,000 pounds of bushmeat, which is usually smoked 
before it is shipped from Africa, makes its way each month into West 
African ethnic markets in New York City. Nationwide, about 15,000 
pounds of bushmeat come into the country each month, he said.

Jefferson's case is promising to turn into a test for the little 
known federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a 1993 statute 
designed to protect groups from prosecution for using controlled 
substances as part of religious services. Last year the U.S. Supreme 
Court negated an investigation of a small Brazilian sect in New 
Mexico for using a psychotropic plant that was made into a tea known 
as hoasca. The beverage, which is hallucinogenic, contains 
dimethyltryptamine, which is on the federal list of controlled 
substances, also known as Schedule One.

"If the Supreme Court says these folks have the right to use a 
Schedule One drug in a religious way, why can't these Africans use 
this bushmeat in a similar religious way?" Rostal, Jefferson's 
attorney, asked in an interview. Rostal sees the use of bushmeat in 
the West African immigrant communities as having a religious 
significance that escapes many Westerners.

A spiritual meal

A number of Jefferson's fellow congregants at an African church in 
the Stapleton section of Staten Island, none of whom want to be 
identified because of concerns about immigration repercussions if 
they go public, apparently agree. They have given Rostal an affidavit 
to explain the spiritual importance of bushmeat.

"Bushmeat is sacred to us because it is the free, wild animals of our 
homeland, and these animals are gifts from God and filled with 
spiritual power," the congregants said. "When we eat the bushmeat, we 
get closer to God and we take in that spiritual power to our bodies."

But federal officials and some health experts say the wild African 
meats can harbor disease. Some studies, investigators said in court 
papers, have linked bushmeat to HIV, SARS and Lassa fever, a viral 
disease passed by a small rodent. Another concern is that Ebola, a 
severe and often fatal viral infection, is harbored in some monkeys.

While health experts agree there is a risk of infection from 
bushmeat, some of them believe the danger is low, particularly 
because the vast majority of the product is smoked. A 2005 report by 
a British government advisory committee concluded that, among 
immigrants in the British Isles, the risk of disease was "extremely 
low" from ingesting smoked bushmeat cooked in "traditional" ways - 
such as by stewing for about two hours.

The bigger risk of illness, the British study concluded, was from 
contamination in the kitchen of other foods that come in contact with 
"disease organisms that may be present on the bushmeat prior to 
cooking." The study also noted that food handlers could be sickened 
when they handle a carcass contaminated with the microorganism that 
transmits monkeypox.

In a recently filed legal brief to dismiss the government's 
indictment, Rostal said that if an ecologically sensitive method of 
harvesting African bushmeat could be developed, then the flesh could 
be inspected here like other imported meats. In any event, the 
amounts of bushmeat would remain small, reflecting their use in 
religious celebrations, she said.

"It is not about having it sold in supermarkets," Rostal said.

The Animals At Stake

Suspected Bushmeat Animals Seized During The Years By Federal Agents

Cane Rat

Description: Small rodents also known as grass cutters, or cutting 
grass. They are widely valued as bushmeat in parts of West and 
Central Africa. Their meat is tender and can be of high protein and 
low fat content. In

some localities they are considered a pest.

Habitat: Africa, south of the Sahara

Duiker

Description: A small antelope species with an arched body where the 
front legs are a little shorter than the hind legs. Their body shape 
allows them to duck into thickets for cover. Their name comes from 
the Afrikaans word for "diver."

Habitat: Sub-Sahara Africa

Warthog

Description: Wild African pigs that can weigh up to 300 pounds. They 
have two pairs of curved tusks in the mouth, which are used to defend 
against predators. They have poor eyesight

but a good sense of smell. The tusks give a fearsome appearance.

Habitat: African grasslands

Green Monkey

Description: Medium-sized primates, also known as the Vervet monkeys, 
they can weigh about 10 pounds. They live in large groups that can 
number as many as 80. They spend much of the day on the ground but 
stay in trees at night.

Habitat: Sub-Sahara Africa, as well as the Caribbean Islands of 
Barbados and St. Kitts.

Sources: Wikipedia, Court Records
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman