Justice Dept. Finds Evidence of Abuse of Sept. 11 Detainees

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Inspector General Says VideoTapes Show Physical, Verbal Abuse by Prison Officials
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 18, 2003; 1:03 PM


The Justice Department's inspector general announced today that investigators had found hundreds of prison videotapes that were not turned over by federal prison officials during an earlier investigation and that the tapes confirm reports of serious physical and verbal abuse of immigrants detained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.




Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found that "some officers slammed and bounced detainees against the wall, twisted their arms and hands in painful ways, stepped on their leg restraint chains and punished them by keeping them restrained for long periods of time," according to a report released today.

The report also found that jail personnel improperly taped meetings between detainees and their lawyers and overused strip searches to punish them.

Fine's office concluded that as many as 20 guards at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, N.Y. were involved in the abuse and recommended discipline or counseling for 12 of those who remain employed there.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11865-2003Dec18.html