Probes into Justice Department civil rights abuse drop sharply

The number of alleged civil rights abuses investigated by the Justice Department's inspector general has sharply decreased, according to a new report.

The office processed 834 complaints alleging misconduct by Justice employees from January through June, according to a semiannual report to Congress. Comparatively, the IG processed about 2,000 complaints between June 2004 and December 2004. From December 2003 to June 2004, about 1,600 complaints were investigated.

The IG acknowledged in the new report that it does not investigate all complaints that are received. Many involving Justice employees are referred to internal affairs offices, while others are outside the IG's jurisdiction and are referred to other departments, according to the report.

"The significant reduction in the total number of complaints processed this reporting period compared to prior reporting periods was largely attributable to the OIG's filtering of repeat complaints from individuals whose earlier complaints did not warrant investigation," the report said.

Out of the 834 cases that were processed this year, only 13 warranted an investigation, the report said. The IG concluded that 624 complaints did not require further investigation or did not fall within the its jurisdiction. None alleged misconduct by Justice employees relating to use of any provision of the USA Patriot Act, the report added.

Critics have long said that the Patriot Act, passed in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attack, grants the government too much power and sets the stage for abuse. Congress is poised to reauthorize the Patriot Act after its August recess.

Of the 13 complaints that the IG deemed worthy of investigation, seven involved allegations of a potentially criminal nature, such as offensive remarks against Muslims and alleged mistreatment of the Koran, the report said. The IG closed three investigations after finding there was no mistreatment.

The remaining six complaints appeared to raise administrative issues and were referred to Justice components for further investigation, the report said.

One complaint was referred to the FBI. "In this complaint, a Muslim citizen alleged that her family's civil rights were violated when they were stopped from boarding an aircraft and questioned for 45 minutes by airport officials," the report said. "After receiving permission to board the aircraft, the complainant and her family were asked by an FBI official to leave the plane because their names appeared in a database as possible matches for persons of interest."

The other five complaints were referred to the Bureau of Prisons. "The complaints included allegations that BOP staff verbally abused and threatened Muslim inmates, retaliated against Muslim inmates for filing complaints, placed Muslim inmates in segregation, confiscated Muslim inmates' religious articles, and denied Muslim inmates telephone privileges," the report said. BOP closed one case for being unsubstantiated and has opened investigations in the four others.

The IG continues to investigate four cases from its last reporting period. Those involve the FBI's investigation that erroneously targeted a man from Portland, Ore., in connection with the March 2004 train bombings in Madrid, Spain, as well as allegations that prison officers abused and mistreated Muslim inmates.