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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:46 pm
Time: 8:46 pm
Results for prisoner abuse
6 results foundAuthor: New York University School of Law, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice Title: By the Numbers Findings of the Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project Summary: Two years ago, revelations about the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq shocked people across the world. In response, U.S. government officials condemned the conduct as illegal and assured the world that perpetrators would be held accountable. Two years later, it has become clear that the problem of torture and other abuse by U.S. personnel abroad was far more pervasive than the Abu Ghraib photos revealed-extending to numerous U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan, Iraq, and at Guantnamo Bay, and including hundreds of incidents of abuse. Yet an analysis of alleged abuse cases shows that promises of transparency, investigation, and appropriate punishment for those responsible remain unfulfilled. U.S. authorities have failed to investigate many allegations, or have investigated them inadequately. And numerous personnel implicated in abuses have not been prosecuted or punished. In order to collect and analyze allegations of abuse of detainees in U.S. custody in Afghanistan, Iraq, and at the Guantnamo Bay detention facility, and to assess what actions, if any, the U.S. government has taken in response to credible allegations, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First have jointly undertaken a Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project (DAA Project). The Project tracks abuse allegations and records investigations, disciplinary measures, or criminal prosecutions that are linked to them. (This briefing paper does not discuss allegations of torture or abuse at secret U.S. detention facilities in other countries, or allegations of torture following illegal rendition or other informal transfer to other countries.[1]) This briefing paper presents the Project's preliminary conclusions based on data collected as of April 10, 2006. It also highlights a number of individual cases that illustrate the following key findings: Detainee abuse has been widespread. The DAA Project has documented over 330 cases in which U.S. military and civilian personnel are credibly alleged to have abused or killed detainees. These cases involve more than 600 U.S. personnel and over 460 detainees. Allegations have come from U.S. facilities throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and at GuantnamoBay. (These numbers are conservative and likely lower than the actual number of credible allegations of abuse. See box, "Methodology and Sources of Information," opposite.) Only fifty-four military personnel-a fraction of the more than 600 U.S. personnel implicated in detainee abuse cases-are known to have been convicted by court-martial; forty of these individuals have been sentenced to prison time. Available evidence indicates that U.S. military and civilian agencies do not appear to have adequately investigated numerous cases of alleged torture and other mistreatment. Of the hundreds of allegations of abuse collected by the DAA Project, only about half appear to have been properly investigated. In numerous cases, military investigators appear to have closed investigations prematurely or to have delayed their resolution. In many cases, the military has simply failed to open investigations, even in cases where credible allegations have been made. DAA Project researchers found over 400 personnel have been implicated in cases investigated by military or civilian authorities, but only about a third of them have faced any kind of disciplinary or criminal action. And even in cases where U.S. military investigations have substantiated abuse, military commanders have often chosen to proceed with weaker non-judicial forms of disciplinary action instead of criminal prosecution. In cases where courts-martial have convened, only a small number of convictions have resulted in significant prison time. Many sentences have been for less than a year, even in cases involving serious abuse. Of the hundreds of personnel implicated in detainee abuse, only ten people have been sentenced to a year or more in prison. No U.S. military officer has been held accountable for criminal acts committed by subordinates under the doctrine of command responsibility. That doctrine provides that a superior is responsible for the criminal acts of subordinates if the superior knew or should have known that the crimes were being committed and failed to take steps to prevent them or to punish the perpetrators. Only three officers have been convicted by court-martial for detainee abuse; in all three instances, they were convicted for abuses in which they directly participated, not for their responsibility as commanders. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has investigated several cases of abuse involving its personnel, and reportedly referred some individuals to the Department of Justice for prosecution. But few cases have been robustly investigated. The Department of Justice appears to have taken little action in regard to the approximately twenty civilians, including CIA agents, referred for criminal prosecution for detainee abuse by the military and the CIA, and has shown minimal initiative in conducting its own investigations into abuse cases. The Department of Justice has not indicted a single CIA agent for abusing detainees; it has indicted only one civilian contractor. Details: New York: New York University School of Law, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice; Human Rights Watch, 2006. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 26, 2012 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/ct0406webwcover.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United States URL: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/ct0406webwcover.pdf Shelf Number: 127000 Keywords: Detainees, AbuseHuman RightsPrisoner Abuse |
Author: Martinez, Daniel E. Title: No Action Taken: Lack of CBP Accountability in Responding to Complaints of Abuse Summary: Data obtained by the American Immigration Council shine a light on the lack of accountability and transparency which afflicts the U.S. Border Patrol and its parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The data, which the Immigration Council acquired through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, covers 809 complaints of alleged abuse lodged against Border Patrol agents between January 2009 and January 2012. These cases run the gamut of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse. Although it is not possible to determine which cases had merit and which did not, it is astonishing that, among those cases in which a formal decision was issued, 97 percent resulted in "No Action Taken." On average, CBP took 122 days to arrive at a decision when one was made. Moreover, among all complaints, 40 percent were still "pending investigation" when the complaint data were provided to the Immigration Council. The data indicate that "physical abuse" was the most prevalent reason for a complaint, occurring in 40 percent of all cases, followed by "excessive use of force" (38 percent). Not surprisingly, more complaints were filed in sectors with higher levels of unauthorized immigration. During the time period studied, more than one in three complaints filed against Border Patrol agents were directed at agents in the Tucson Sector. After accounting for the different numbers of Border Patrol agents in each sector, the complaint rate remained the highest in the Tucson Sector, with the Rio Grande Valley Sector a close second. Complaint rates as measured in terms of numbers of apprehensions were highest in Del Rio, Rio Grande Valley, and San Diego. Taken as a whole, the data indicate the need for a stronger system of incentives (both positive and negative) for Border Patrol agents to abide by the law, respect legal rights, and refrain from abusive conduct. In order to do that, complaints should be processed more quickly and should be carefully reviewed. Furthermore, the seriousness of the complaints demands an external review. Details: Washington, DC: American Immigration Council, 2014. 14p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 1, 2014 at: http://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/No%20Action%20Taken_Final.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/No%20Action%20Taken_Final.pdf Shelf Number: 132573 Keywords: Border PatrolBorder SecurityIllegal ImmigrantsImmigrant DetentionPrisoner Abuse |
Author: No More Deaths Title: A Culture of Cruelty: Abuse and Impunity in Short-Term U.S. Border Patrol Custody Summary: In 2006, in the midst of humanitarian work with people recently deported from the United States to Nogales, Sonora, No More Deaths began to document abuses endured by individuals in the custody of U.S. immigration authorities, and in particular the U.S. Border Patrol. In September 2008 No More Deaths published Crossing the Line in collaboration with partners in Naco and Agua Prieta, Sonora. The report included hundreds of individual accounts of Border Patrol abuse, as well as recommendations for clear, enforceable custody standards with community oversight to ensure compliance. Almost three years later, A Culture of Cruelty is a follow-up to that report-now with 12 times as many interviews detailing more than 30,000 incidents of abuse and mistreatment, newly obtained information on the Border Patrol's existing custody standards, and more specific recommendations to stop the abuse of individuals in Border Patrol custody. The abuses individuals report have remained alarmingly consistent for years, from interviewer to interviewer and across interview sites: individuals suffering severe dehydration are deprived of water; people with life-threatening medical conditions are denied treatment; children and adults are beaten during apprehensions and in custody; family members are separated, their belongings confiscated and not returned; many are crammed into cells and subjected to extreme temperatures, deprived of sleep, and threatened with death by Border Patrol agents. By this point, the overwhelming weight of the corroborated evidence should eliminate any doubt that Border Patrol abuse is widespread. Still the Border Patrol's consistent response has been flat denial, and calls for reform have been ignored. We have entitled our report "A Culture of Cruelty" because we believe our findings demonstrate that the abuse, neglect, and dehumanization of migrants is part of the institutional culture of the Border Patrol, reinforced by an absence of meaningful accountability mechanisms. This systemic abuse must be confronted aggressively at the institutional level, not denied or dismissed as a series of aberrational incidents attributable to a few rogue agents. Until then we can expect this culture of cruelty to continue to deprive individuals in Border Patrol custody of their most fundamental human rights. Details: Tucson, AZ: No More Deaths, 2010. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 23, 2014 at: http://www.nomoredeathsvolunteers.org/Print%20Resources/Abuse%20Doc%20Reports/Culture%20of%20Cruelty/CultureofCrueltyFinal.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.nomoredeathsvolunteers.org/Print%20Resources/Abuse%20Doc%20Reports/Culture%20of%20Cruelty/CultureofCrueltyFinal.pdf Shelf Number: 133123 Keywords: Border Patrol (U.S.)Border SecurityHuman Rights AbusesIllegal ImmigrantsImmigrant DetentionImmigrationPrisoner AbuseUndocumented Immigrants |
Author: U.S. Department of Justice. United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Title: CRIPA Investigation of the New York City Department of Correction Jails on Rikers Island Summary: Attorney General Eric Holder and United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara announced today the completion of the Justice Department's multi-year civil investigation pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act ("CRIPA") into the conditions of confinement of adolescent male inmates on Rikers Island. The investigation, which focused on use of force by staff, inmate-on-inmate violence, and use of punitive segregation during the period 2011-2013, concluded that there is a pattern and practice of conduct at Rikers Island that violates the rights of adolescents protected by the Eighth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The investigation found that adolescent inmates are not adequately protected from physical harm due to the rampant use of unnecessary and excessive force by New York City Department of Correction ("DOC") staff and violence inflicted by other inmates. In addition, the investigation found that DOC relies too heavily on punitive segregation as a disciplinary measure, placing adolescent inmates in what amounts to solitary confinement at an alarming rate and for excessive periods of time. Many of the adolescent inmates are particularly vulnerable because they suffer from mental illness. Details: New York: United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, 2014. 79p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 30, 2014 at: http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/August14/RikersReportPR/SDNY%20Rikers%20Report.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/August14/RikersReportPR/SDNY%20Rikers%20Report.pdf Shelf Number: 133871 Keywords: AdolescentsCorrectional AdministrationInmate ViolenceJail AdministrationJails (New York City)Prison ViolencePrisoner AbusePrisonersRikers IslandSegregation |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: Tiger Chairs and Cell Bosses: Police Torture of Criminal Suspents in China Summary: After cases of police brutality against criminal suspects emerged in 2009 and 2010, China's government announced new measures to curb torture and wrongful convictions. These included restrictions on the conduct of interrogations and prohibitions on using detainee "cell bosses" to oversee other detainees. The Ministry of Public Security claims that the use of coerced confessions has dropped significantly as a result of the reforms. Tiger Chairs and Cell Bosses- based primarily on an analysis of hundreds of newly published court decisions and interviews with recent detainees, family members, lawyers, and former officials-finds that the measures adopted between 2009 and 2013 have not gone nearly far enough to fully address abusive interrogations. Some police officers deliberately thwart the new protections by taking detainees from official detention facilities or by using torture methods that leave no visible injuries. Procurators and judges may ignore clear evidence of mistreatment, rendering China's new "exclusionary rule" - which prohibits the use of evidence directly obtained through torture - of little benefit. Police torture of suspects in pre-trial detention remains a serious concern. Former detainees described physical and psychological torture, including being forced to spend days shackled to a "tiger chair," hung by the wrists, and deprived of sleep for prolonged periods. While measures adopted since 2009 appear to have reduced certain abuses, they are being grafted onto a criminal justice system that still offers police numerous opportunities to abuse suspects and affords the police enormous power to resist any judicial supervision. Absent more fundamental reforms in the Chinese criminal justice system that empower defense lawyers, the judiciary, and independent monitors, the elimination of routine torture and ill-treatment is unlikely. Details: New York: HRW, 2015. 143p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 13, 2015 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/china0515_ForUpload.pdf Year: 2015 Country: China URL: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/china0515_ForUpload.pdf Shelf Number: 135632 Keywords: Human Rights AbusesPolice BrutalityPolice MisconductPolice Use of ForcePrisoner AbusePrisonersTorture |
Author: Correctional Association of New York Title: Voices From Clinton: First-Hand Accounts of Brutality, Torture, and Cover-Up from People Incarcerated at an Infamously Abusive New York State Prison Summary: New York State prisons are plagued by a pervasive and entrenched culture of staff brutality, violence, abuse, racism, dehumanization, and intimidation, as well as the routine infliction of solitary confinement. As Correctional Association of NY (CA) reports on Clinton, Attica, Greene, Fishkill Correctional Facilities and other prisons have long documented, these abuses and their cover-ups are regular and typical practices in Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) prisons. An underlying culture and environment of abuse - not the acts of a few individual bad actors - drive the dehumanization and brutalization taking place. This culture is undergirded and fueled by racism, staff impunity, a lack of meaningful programs, a history of violent repression (especially at Attica and Clinton), and a reliance on force, punishment, and disempowerment. In the mid-1990s, the New York Times reported that federal judges "have repeatedly found that excessive force by guards has violated [incarcerated persons'] civil rights," that corrections experts found the settling of 10 brutality lawsuits at Clinton to be "extraordinary, since [incarcerated persons] rarely win such cases and officials rarely settle them," that Clinton had an internal culture that tolerates a higher level of violence than others, and where guards are more likely to test the boundaries of what is considered acceptable force," and that vast racial and cultural disparities between incarcerated persons and staff exacerbated conflicts. As reported in the CA's 2014 Clinton report, as well as in its August 2015 documented investigations, officers at Clinton have engaged in the most horrific violence against incarcerated people long before the June 2015 escape, in its immediate aftermath, and still today. People incarcerated at Clinton have given first-hand accounts of being suffocated by plastic bags, physically beaten so severely as to result in broken bones, and other forms of brutality, harassment, and abuse. The June 2015 escape and its aftermath only exacerbated the abusive conditions and provided opportunities for staff to utilize longstanding tactics of dehumanization, racism, and brutality. The following narratives provide an in-depth look at the ongoing brutality, torture, and cover-up at Clinton C.F. Based on over 40 interviews, as well as correspondence with over 75 people, the narratives are a representative sample of the experiences, insights, and analyses of people incarcerated at Clinton in 2015. These narratives paint a picture of several recurring themes of staff violence and abuse at Clinton, including: 1) suffocation of people during interrogations; 2) severe and widespread brutality in the aftermath of the June 2015 escape; 3) longstanding and ongoing brutality at Clinton to this day; 4) people with special needs targeted for abuse by staff; 5) widespread use of solitary confinement, including for years and decades; 6) a lack of transparency and accountability for abuses; 7) the denial of the most basic rights and living conditions; and 8) racism and dehumanization at the core of all abuses. Something must be done to stop these human rights violations - at Clinton and across New York State prisons. Due to its infamous history and ongoing horrors, the state should close Clinton, along with Attica, to send a clear message that New York State will no longer tolerate staff brutality, torture, and abuse. Details: New York: Correctional Association of New York, 2016. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 26, 2016 at: http://www.correctionalassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Voices-From-Clinton-FINAL-6-2016.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.correctionalassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Voices-From-Clinton-FINAL-6-2016.pdf Shelf Number: 140458 Keywords: Prison ConditionsPrisoner AbusePrisonersPrisons |