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FBI Investigating Local Homeland Security Agents |
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from channeloklahoma.com
Entered into the database on Friday, August 19th, 2005 @ 09:56:04 MST |
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OKLAHOMA CITY -- Allegations that as many as six federal Homeland Security
deportation agents assaulted and tortured a Nigerian man who was shackled at
Oklahoma City's Immigration and Customs Enforcement office are being investigated
by the FBI, according to a published report. Complaints were filed by the Nigerian, Daso Abibo, 51, and by Deanna Burdine,
65, a former Homeland Security employee who says she walked in on the assault. Abibo was deported to Nigeria for working in the United States without a permit.
His effort to seek asylum was unsuccessful. After the alleged assault, Abibo wrote a letter from the Oklahoma County Jail
in which he said he was attacked by five or six Homeland Security employees
after telling an officer he wanted his attorney to review a deportation-related
document before signing or placing his fingerprint on it. "In a flash, five, maybe six officers attacked me,"
he wrote. "My legs were in shackles," he stated. "One officer grabbed
my neck from the back with his hand pressing it. Another officer was holding
tight on my ears, twisting and pulling hard on them as if to pull them off my
head ... One officer was twisting my left hand, while another was busy knocking
on my Achilles heel's tendon. It was a nightmare. It was so painful, I asked
them to shoot me ... dead so they could get what they want. "This is lawlessness under the law," he complained. "I never
fought back." Burdine supported Abibo's account in letters to the FBI and Oklahoma City federal
prosecutor's office. Burdine was fired in April. She says her dismissal was retaliation for filing
the complaint. Burdine is seeking her job back through arbitration. Amnesty International has written a letter to the director of Homeland Security's
Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties protesting the alleged assault and
asking for an investigation. "According to current and former DHS employees in Oklahoma City, ICE officers
routinely abuse detainees there," Susan Benesch of Amnesty International
said in the letter. "There seems to be a pattern and practice of abuse
on the part of ICE officers in Oklahoma City." FBI spokesman Gary Johnson confirmed that the agency is investigating the case
but declined to discuss any findings, The Oklahoman reported in Sunday's editions. Carl Rusnok, regional spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, denied
there has been any widespread abuse of detainees. "There is no abuse of detainees by any ICE officers," he said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's regional office in Dallas issued a written
statement saying the alleged assault is being investigated by the department's
inspector general. No comment will be made until the investigation is complete,
officials said. |