SCHUMER: DOJ EXP. PRISON CONTRACTORS W/ ? PASTS TO REBUILD IRAQI PRISONS

[paineinthearse]

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/press_releases/2005/PR41494.DOJIraqPrison.022505.pf.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 25, 2005

SCHUMER: DOJ EXPORTED PRISON CONTRACTORS WITH CHECKERED PASTS TO REBUILD IRAQI PRISONS

Senator’s Letter to DOJ Sparks Inspector General Investigation Revealing that Dozens of Subcontractors Were Hired Without Proper Clearances in Iraq

Schumer Inquiry Prods DOJ to Implement New Controls on Selection of Guards, and IG Makes Other Recommendations

In June of 2004, Senator Charles E. Schumer asked the Department of Justice to investigate and report on how the Department hired at least three individuals to oversee the reconstitution of Iraq’s prison system, despite credible allegations of serious misconduct when those individuals previously served as prison officials in the United States. The Justice Department referred the matter to its Inspector General and today Schumer received the Inspector General’s report on this matter.

During the Inspector General’s review, the IG learned that “dozens of subcontractors without the proper clearances had been hired for the Iraq program.” These included people who were placed in charge of the prisons and up and down the line. As a result of that discovery, Justice began to design and implement procedures intended to address those “weaknesses.” Justice has also hired three former high level Bureau of Prisons officials to provide corrections expertise that Justice lacked at the inception of the Iraq program.

Schumer said, “It is very disturbing that the Justice Department would select subcontractors with checkered pasts to bring ‘order’ back to Iraq’s prison system. The one silver lining in this awful incident is that the Justice Department is finally taking real steps to insure that the guards and administrators we give to Iraq’s prison system will help them, not make things worse.”

“It was bad enough that we already knew three of these guards previously engaged in serious misconduct, but this IG report today shows that many others were similarly hired. The bottom line is that we should not be exporting our dirty laundry as we are trying so hard to clean up Iraq’s problems. If prison guards are not qualified to work U.S. prisons because of previously poor behavior or lack of proper clearances, they should not be considered good enough by our Justice Department for jobs in Iraq’s prisons,” Schumer stated.

The Justice Department said it did not know about the allegations regarding the three officials before they were hired for the Iraq program, but said that those allegations would not have dissuaded them from hiring the officials.

Based on the request made by Sen. Schumer, the Justice Department has already made several improvements to the clearance and hiring process. Here are some of the highlights:

· As part of the background check on candidates, Justice uses a standardized memo to determine whether the candidate should receive clearance. As part of this review, Justice discovered that the memo is not in line with the Department’s own policy regarding risk assessment established in 2002. Justice has since created a new memo that complies with that policy.
· Created a full time position to oversee the subcontractor clearance process. Hired someone with military and corrections experience on Feb. 7, 2005.
· Improved tracking and record keeping process for clearance requests.
· Asked SAIC, the subcontractor, to modify the background check questionnaire to include information about lawsuits filed against or by the candidate.
· DOJ is now performing a Google search on all subcontractor candidates.
· DOJ drafted new Standard Operating Procedures for the subcontractor clearance process.
· DOJ has developed a computerized database to track clearance requests.
The Department of Justice also provided 11 new recommendations to improve the hiring process and clearance checks:
1. Develop and implement a training program for the clearance process.
2. Require annual briefings on the clearance process to relevant staff.
3. Develop and distribute periodic reports on security packet processing to the managers.
4. Require that waiver requests be in writing, and require reasons for the waiver.
5. Ensure that all applicants be asked about their lawsuit history.
6. Require new contractor to develop a web site with requirements for new subcontractor applicants.
7. Formalize requirement that written documentation of clearance status accompany Justice’s report on each candidate, and that this requirement be included in the SOP.
8. Track and review Google, LexisNexis, PACER and Accruint searches on candidates, and perform a cost benefit analysis of performing those searches. Take a closer look at whether red flags on a candidate’s background should preclude them from getting certain positions.
9. Give notice to all candidates about the searches that will be performed.
10. Draft and adopt clear guidance on who the searches will be performed and what information will be considered disqualifying.
11. Have the contractor create and maintain a database of subcontractors with security clearances.

The full text of the DOJ I.G. Report can be found at http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/special_reports/2005/Justice%20Packet%

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[stepnw1f]

1. They Are Bankrupting America

to make their pickings easy. Boy are they (Neo-Cons) in for a surprise.

[paineinthearse]

2. Guards to Replace German Troops at Bases

Somewhat related....

================

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-us-army-germany,0,806466.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

Guards to Replace German Troops at Bases

By Associated Press

February 25, 2005, 4:49 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- The German army is withdrawing troops that were sent to guard American military bases on German soil after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the U.S. military will hire private security guards to take their place, Army officials said Friday. The Army is proposing spending $100 million on contract guards in an emergency measure submitted to Congress last week, budget documents show.

The Bundeswehr, or German army, deployed 800 soldiers after the attacks, and then sent another 2,600 in the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder opposed the war on Iraq, but pledged German troops would help to secure the dozens of U.S. military installations in Germany. U.S. officials did not say why Germany was withdrawing its guards now.

The $100 million is a small piece of the Bush administration's $81.9 billion emergency spending proposal that would pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as U.S. counterterrorism efforts worldwide. About half of the total is going to the U.S. Army, with the rest going to other military services, other parts of the government, and U.S. allies.

Army officials say current war funding will run out in May, and they are pressing Congress for quick approval of the measure. It consists of combat pay for deployed soldiers, money to replace destroyed weapons and expended ammo, and funds to retool several units destined for service in war zones.

more....

[Doctor_J]

3. there's a big surprise

corruption-wise, the BFEE puts Mussolini to shame.

[paineinthearse]

4. Feds Unaware of Prison Officials' Problems

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-prison-abuse-contractors,0,1002025.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

Feds Unaware of Prison Officials' Problems

By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press Writer

February 25, 2005, 8:23 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department hired dozens of people without security clearances to help set up Iraq's police and prison system and was unaware of allegations against four former state prison officials sent there after the U.S.-led invasion, the department's inspector general said Friday. The information would not have changed the decision to send the men to Iraq, even if officials had known of civil lawsuits against them, Inspector General Glenn Fine said.

Fine said his review of the contractors' time in Iraq also "found no evidence to suggest that they played any role in the abuses" at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison. However, Fine found weaknesses in the hiring process for people who were to work with Iraqis in designing a police force and prison system. Among the dozens hired without receiving security clearances, 22 contractors were sent to Iraq without background checks, he said.

The Justice Department has since hired three former Bureau of Prisons officials to help with recruitment and oversight, Fine said. Job candidates also are now asked explicitly whether they have been sued for civil rights violations. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who requested Fine's review in June, said, "The one silver lining in this awful incident is that the Justice Department is finally taking real steps to insure that the guards and administrators we give to Iraq's prison system will help them, not make things worse."

Schumer had complained that the four former state officials had backgrounds that should have precluded them from the private contracting jobs. Fine said he found nothing to substantiate that claim. In one instance, Terry Stewart was sued by the Justice Department in 1997, when he ran Arizona's Corrections Department, for alleged misconduct by department employees that occurred before he was the director, Fine said. violations.

more......

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On the Net:

Justice Department inspector general: http://www.usdoj.gov/oig

[Roland99]

5. Everything's just "fine". No need to look any further

Yeah....right.