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Department of Justice Finds No Abuses of Patriot Act NewsMax.com WiresWASHINGTON – The Department of Justice has found no incidents in which the anti-terrorism Patriot Act has been invoked to abuse civil rights or civil liberties but has identified instances of mistreatment of Muslims and Arabs that did not involve the act. Tuesday's report probably will provide fodder for the Bush administration's efforts to persuade Congress to renew the law, which expires in 2005. The law, passed shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, faces a legion of critics who contend its expansion of government surveillance powers violates constitutional free speech and privacy rights. "It is clear that the government has been thoroughly responsible in its implementation of the act," said Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo. "As the president has said, it is vital that Congress reauthorize these provisions." But Rep. John Conyers, senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee whose Michigan district includes many people of Arab descent, said the report failed to identify "a single punishment or sanction" imposed on a Justice Department employee found to have violated civil rights and civil liberties. He said Attorney General John Ashcroft "needs to get the department's house in order if we are to have any credibility in pursuing the war against terror." Under the Patriot Act, the Justice Department's inspector general is required to investigate allegations of civil rights and civil liberties abuses directed against Muslims, Arabs and others in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks blamed on Islamic extremists. The new report by Glenn A. Fine, the Justice Department's inspector general, found that 1,266 complaints about civil rights and civil liberties were received between June 15 and Dec. 15, 2003. Of those, only 17 involved Justice employees and merited a full investigation. Most involved allegations of excessive force, verbal abuse and other alleged mistreatment at Bureau of Prisons facilities. The report found no abuses of civil rights or civil liberties related to the Patriot Act, which authorized more phone wiretaps, expanded government search powers and enhanced other surveillance techniques. House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said that finding should undercut "those who are intent on skewering the Patriot Act with misinformation." The inspector general checked 162 complaints involving Justice employees. An additional 384 were against other federal agencies or state and local government entities and were referred to those agencies for investigation. This Is the Worst They Can Dig Up? Among the cases that were closed:
Several other complaints remain under investigation, including one from a federal prisoner who claimed that a prison warden and some guards threatened to gas certain inmates after the Sept. 11 attacks. An Egyptian man detained after the attacks said he was improperly forced to undergo a body cavity search in the presence of numerous people, including a woman. Most of the complaints, 720, were found to be unrelated to civil liberties or civil rights. These included claims that the government is broadcasting harmful signals to people or that its agents are intercepting their dreams, according to the report. ___
© 2003 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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