By Michael Janofsky
New York Times
26 February 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 - The Justice Department inspector general said Friday that dozens of subcontractors hired in 2003 to help Iraq rebuild its prison system did not undergo thorough background checks into allegations of misconduct by some of them at American prisons.
However, the report concluded that none of their backgrounds would have disqualified them from working in Iraq and that none of them had any involvement in the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
The report, which was made public on Friday, was prompted by a request for an investigation last June from Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. He raised concerns that several of the men who had been hired were unqualified because of allegations of "serious misconduct" in lawsuits when they served as ranking officials in the prison systems of their states.
Mr. Schumer asked that the inspector general, Glenn A. Fine, review the screening process and explain why some background information might have been "disregarded when these individuals were appointed."
While the lawsuits ended in settlements or administrative findings of no fault, none resulted in findings of misconduct, the report said, describing many of the suits as "standard complaints filed by inmates against correctional officials."
Mr. Fine said in the report that the hiring agency, the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program, was unaware of the allegations, but that even if officials had known of them, the charges would not have been judged serious enough to bar the men from being hired.
The report said that inadequacies in background checks should be addressed with a series of new procedures. The report includes 11 recommendations for change, including the use of a database that provides information on civil court cases, as well as criminal records of applicants to work in the program.
Mr. Schumer said he was not entirely satisfied by the report's findings. "It's very disturbing that the Justice Department would select subcontractors with checkered pasts to bring 'order' back to Iraq's prison system," he said in a statement. "The only silver lining in this awful incident is that the Justice Department is finally taking real steps to ensure that the guards and administrators we give to Iraq's prison system will help them, not make things worse."
Mr. Schumer's initial complaint focused on four consultants hired because of their expertise in running prisons: Lane McCotter, who had been a state prison director in Texas, New Mexico and Utah; Terry Stewart, who had worked in the Arizona prison system for 17 years; Gary DeLand, who had headed the Salt Lake County and later Utah prison systems; and John Armstrong, who retired in 2003 as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Corrections.
The report said initial background checks found references to "controversies and lawsuits" involving each, but the information was insufficient to raise any serious concerns. Further investigations, prompted by Mr. Schumer's letter, generated more information, but still nothing that would have prevented their hiring, the report said.
As for any links to the abuses at Abu Ghraib, the report said the subcontractors had either left Iraq before the abuses occurred or they did not supervise military personnel stationed at the prison who were accused of abusing prisoners.
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Citation: Michael Janofsky, "Flaws Reported in Screening Subcontractors for Iraq Prisons," New York Times, 26 February 2005.
Original URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/26/politics/26prison.html?ei=5070&en=0d24b84ff42ef459&ex=1110085200&pagewanted=print&position=
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