[lit-ideas] Angry Mesopotamian Sky Gods in the Slammer
- From: Scribe1865@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 6 May 2004 00:15:57 EDT
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/05/national/05CHAP.html?ex=1084420800&en=c3138e
260de18844&ei=5059&partner=AOL
Report Warns of Infiltration by Al Qaeda in U.S. Prisons
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: May 5, 2004
WASHINGTON, May 4 â?? Groups promoting extremist brands of Islam have gained a
foothold in American prisons, and counterterrorism officials believe Al Qaeda
are likely to try to use the prisons "to radicalize and recruit inmates,"
according to a Justice Department investigation.
In a report from the Justice Department inspector general's office,
investigators said safeguards were so loose in the 105 federal prisons that
inmate
chapels "remain vulnerable to infiltration by religious extremists." A copy of
the
report, to be released on Wednesday, was obtained by The New York Times.
The investigation grew out of concerns among members of Congress that groups
training Muslim chaplains had terrorist ties and were breeding extremism. But
the investigation found that the problem of "radicalized" prayer sessions was
less a reflection of the chaplains than of unsupervised inmates who were
allowed to lead their own worship meetings.
"Too many opportunities for abuse of this practice exist," the report found.
The inspector general's report, the first detailed look into how the federal
prisons have dealt with extremist beliefs since the Sept. 11 attacks, will
likely prove controversial among Muslim leaders, who say they have been
subjected
to unfair scrutiny and criticism because of their religious beliefs. Several
groups that have trained Muslim chaplains have vigorously denied charges of
terrorist links, and Muslim leaders point out that charges linking a military
chaplain at Guantánamo Bay to possible terrorism largely collapsed.
The inspector general concluded that while the problem of terrorist
recruitment in the federal prisons was not necessarily widespread, officials
needed a
number of systemwide improvements to ensure tighter control. Prison officials
said Tuesday that they had already moved to fix some problems identified in the
report by demanding more information about outside groups that train
chaplains and by improving communications with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
The report found that prison officials received sparse information from the
F.B.I. about inmates or chaplains who may have terrorist connections.
"We understand the seriousness and the risks inherent with extremist
chaplains, contractors or volunteers," said Dan Dunne, a Bureau of Prisons
spokesman.
"And we've made significant changes since the review was initiated to better
screen religious service providers."
A classified addendum to the report details cases in which counterterrorism
officials assert that people leading prison prayer sessions â?? including
authorized chaplains, volunteers and inmates â?? may have ties to terrorist
groups.
In a briefing Tuesday for Congressional officials, the inspector general's
office said it found evidence that volunteers leading prayer services had been
linked to people who showed up on terrorist watch lists, and that people
associated with Al Qaeda had already managed to recruit support within the
federal
prisons, said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York.
Federal prison officials "were putting out the welcome mat to any group that
wanted to infiltrate the prisons," Mr. Schumer said. "There was virtually no
vetting of who would become a chaplain or a volunteer, and there was virtually
no supervision. It was an invitation to danger."
Senators Schumer and Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, requested the
investigation and held a hearing last year after concerns focused on the case
of a
Muslim chaplain, Warith Deen Umar, who had run New York State's Islamic prison
program and was a consultant in the federal prisons. Mr. Umar was banned from
the
state prison program after he reportedly expressed admiration for the Sept. 11
hijackers and espoused a radical brand of Islam, but he maintained he was
misquoted.
Senator Kyl said the inspector general's findings confirmed his concerns
about the spread of extremist messages in the prison system, where Muslims
represent an estimated 9,000 of the 150,000 inmates.
"There's a concern that groups may already be radicalizing people in prison,"
he said. "Some of the findings are troubling, and clearly there is work to be
done."
The report found that chapels are among the few areas in federal prisons
where large numbers of inmates can meet and talk, and it noted that several
high-profile terrorist suspects had been drawn to Islam while in prison.
Chaplains
sometimes supervise the prayer sessions with no guards present, and some prayer
sessions are conducted partly in Arabic, the report said.
Although some chapel services are videotaped, prison officials admitted that
they might not be in a position to detect radical religious messages. "Not a
whole lot of folks are in tune with that stuff," said an associate warden
quoted in the report.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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