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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 8, 2004

DOJ INSPECTOR GENERAL OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO FORMER US PRISON OFFICIALS WITH CHECKERED RECORDS SERVING IN IRAQ IN RESPONSE TO SCHUMER LETTER

Investigation comes in response to numerous Schumer revelations involving past tolerance of prisoner abuse by officials chosen by DOJ to rebuild Iraqi prisons

DOJ Inspector General to Schumer--Inspector General's office to conduct investigation based on Schumer letter; letter asked series of pointed questions regarding recruitment, selection and vetting of US prison officials with questionable histories for sensitive duty in Iraq

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that, in response to a letter he sent last week to the Department of Justice, Inspector General Glenn Fine is opening an investigation to examine how former US prison officials with troubling records concerning the abusive treatment of prisoners were named by the Department of Justice to positions of authority in the reconstitution and running of Iraq's prison system.

"It defies imagination that official after official who had checkered records concerning the mistreatment of prisoners in the United States were appointed to major positions in this most sensitive of prison situations," said Schumer. "Many questions remain unanswered, including how these officials were chosen, who recruited them and what kind of vetting system was in place, and I hope that Inspector General Fine will get to the bottom of all of them."

Over the past month Senator Schumer has revealed information concerning the checkered records of former corrections officials Lane McCotter and Gary Deland of Utah, John Armstrong of Connecticut and Terry Stewart of Arizona. Each of these individuals served as the head of the corrections department in their respective states and had tenures in that position that were marred with scandal, including incidents involving tolerating of prisoner abuse. Three of these questionable individuals, McCotter, Deland and Stewart, were named by the Department of Justice to serve in senior roles rebuilding the Iraqi prison system.

Based on these revelations Senator Schumer had repeatedly called on the Department of Justice to investigate how these individuals were chosen for duty and what type, if any, of vetting system they were required to go through. These calls culminated in a letter to the Department's Inspector General last week.

Schumer most recently revealed information concerning Terry Stewart, one of a handful of former prison officials recruited by the Department of Justice to help rebuild Iraq's prison system, had come under scrutiny for numerous incidents involving the mistreatment of inmates while serving as the head of the Arizona Department of Corrections from 1995-2002. In 1997, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division named Stewart in a suit brought against the Arizona Department of Corrections concerning a pattern of sexual assault against female prisoners by male prison guards. Stewart was charged with knowingly turning a blind eye to repeated incidents of sexual abuse by guards against female prisoners ranging from sexual assault, rape and sodomy to watching female prisoners undress and use the restroom. The suit was eventually settled after the Arizona Department of Corrections agreed to make major changes in numerous prison policies.

Under Stewart's watch prisoners at Arizona facilities were also made to stand outside in the summer for up to four days in the summer and for up to 17 hours in the winter without sanitation, adequate drinking water, changes of clothing, proper food or protection from the elements. In a third questionable incident a class action suit was brought against the Arizona Department of Corrections during Stewart's tenure charging that the prison system had failed to properly use protective custody to shield certain at-risk inmates from harm.

Schumer's revelations concerning Stewart came on the heels of his discoveries concerning John Armstrong, who was forced from his post as the head of Connecticut’s corrections department for defending abuses of prisoners before eventually serving in a high-ranking management position overseeing the Iraqi prison system. Armstrong was selected for service in Iraq under a Department of State program. While running Connecticut’s prison system, Armstrong made a practice of shipping even low-level offenders to a supermax facility in Virginia which was notorious for its use of excessive force - ranging from unjustified use of stun guns shooting 50,000 volts through prisoners to locking inmates in five-point restraints for such lengthy periods that they were routinely forced to defecate on themselves.

Armstrong resigned under a cloud of credible allegations that he tolerated and personally engaged in the sexual harassment of female employees under his command.

Lane McCotter, who had a similarly disturbing history of defending inmate abuses, was also tapped to be one of four individuals sent by the Department of Justice to redevelop Iraq’s prison system. McCotter was forced out of the top spot in Utah's Department of Corrections when a schizophrenic prisoner died after being strapped to a chair naked for sixteen hours. His record was further tainted when the DOJ investigated a New Mexico prison that was run by a private corrections firm that employed McCotter for failing to provide inmates with a safe environment and adequate medical facilities.

Gary DeLand served in the same position later held by McCotter, as head of Utah's Department of Corrections, in the late 1980's. According to Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, Deland was well known for the "sadistic" manner in which he ran the state's penal institutions. DeLand was also recruited to help reconstitute Iraq's prison system, including Abu Ghraib.

"A pattern like this just doesn't happen spontaneously," said Schumer. "It is time for the Department of Justice to explain how lightening managed to strike four times in the same place. This why I am calling on the Inspector General to investigate how the United States government manage to send four individuals with histories of involvement in prisoner abuse cases to oversee a prison system that is now notorious for prisoner abuse. Given the far reaching impact of the revelations of abuse at Abu Ghraib it is vital that we answer this fundamental question, and we must answer it soon."

Senator Schumer letter to Inspector General Fine attached.

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