[109187] in Cypherpunks
Air travellers to USA risk kidnapping and torture by police
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Anonymous)
Sat Mar 13 09:40:47 1999
Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 15:27:51 +0100 (CET)
From: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Reply-To: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
Subject:
Air travellers to USA risk kidnapping and torture by police
Date:
Mon, 22 Feb 1999 21:40:21 -0800
From:
pnet@proliberty.com
To:
heartland@proliberty.com
Do you think my title "kidnapping and torture" is too strong?
What would you say if I took you against your will and strapped you to a
hospital bed for two days just to watch you shit?
- Tom Paine
From: "Noce,Craig" <nocec@oclc.org>
To: "Fear-List (E-mail)" <fear-list@mapinc.org>
Subject: FEAR: Customs Officials Face Lawsuits Over Drug Searches SEARCH
AND SEI
ZURE
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 15:31:55 -0500
MIME-Version: 1.0
Sender: owner-fear-list@mapinc.org
Reply-To: "Noce,Craig" <nocec@oclc.org>
Organization: Forfeiture Endangers American Rights http://www.fear.org/
FEAR now has a discussion forum at
http://www.libertyjournal.com/liberty_forums/index.cfm?cfapp=10
November-December 1998
U.S. Customs officials are facing numerous lawsuits because of invasive
drug
searches, many involving pregnant women or people who say they were
targeted
because of race (Connie Cass, "Customs draws lawsuits from searches for
drugs," Tampa Tribune-Times, December 6, 1998, p. 9).
In Florida, Janneral Denson, 25, said her baby was born prematurely
because,
when she was seven months pregnant, U.S. Customs officials forced her, as
part of a drug search, to ingest a prescription laxative (240 mg of
"Go-Lytely," according to the complaint). The generic name for "Go-Lytely"
is polyethylene glycol. Denson said she was taken from the
Fort-Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in 1997 and shackled to a
hospital bed for two days so Customs officials could monitor her bowel
movements. Denson said her son, born twelve days later, suffered damage
from
the incident. Janneral is represented by Florida attorney Barbara Heyer.
Two Jamaican-born women, both U.S. citizens, have each filed $500,000
lawsuits against Customs over body cavity searches and X-rays in Tampa,
Florida. One of the plaintiffs learned after the search that she was
pregnant and suffered from agonizing fear that the search might have harmed
the fetus, according to Warren Hope Dawson, a Tampa, FL, attorney who is
representing both women in separate cases. Her baby was born healthy.
Customs policy requires officials to test women for pregnancy before
performing an X-ray search, but the pregnant woman was not tested,
according
to Dawson.
In the 1997 fiscal year, Customs officials searched 49,592 international
airline passengers. Many airline passengers undergo multiple types of
searches. Counting only the most invasive search (followed by the
percentage
caught with drugs), 105 of the passengers searched were frisked (9%);
47,021
were thoroughly patted down (4%); 1,772 were partially or fully
strip-searched (25%); 675 were X-rayed (35%); and 19 underwent a body
cavity
search by a doctor (63 %). Many passengers were detained for hours, even
days, without being able to call a lawyer or a family member.
Some passengers sue Customs, alleging that they were detained because of
their race. Sixty percent of persons X-rayed or who underwent body cavity
searches were black or Hispanic, according to Customs figures. Customs
Commissioner Raymond Kelly said race is not a factor. "There are
higher-risk
countries and higher-risk flights," he said. "Those flights may be more
populated by a particular ethnic group."
Customs officials say the searches are necessary to combat resourceful drug
smugglers, including persons who swallow drug-filled balloons, who insert
drugs into body cavities, or hide drugs in prosthesis. "We still have a
major drug problem in this country," said Kelly, "We have to do this."
Customs Service Offers X-Ray Option to Strip-Searches
At two U.S. airports, the U.S. Customs Service is testing the option of
granting suspected drug smugglers the option of being strip-searched or
taken to a nearby hospital for an X-ray (Chris Woodyard, "Customs tests
X-ray drug search," USA Today, November 25, 1998; Associated Press,
"Inspectors Try X-Rays, Not Strip Search, at Airport," Seattle Times,
November 25, 1998; Associated Press, "X-Rays Offered as Alternative to
Strip-Searches," Washington Post, November 27, 1998, p. A7).
In October, Customs began testing the X-ray option at Kennedy International
Airport in New York and Miami International Airport through January 13.
X-rays can reveal items, including packages of drugs that are hidden in
body
cavities, ingested, or underneath clothing. "We are trying to make this
unpleasant but necessary part of our jobs less unpleasant," said U.S.
Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly. According to Kelly, about 35% of the
1,700 persons searched each year are found to be carrying drugs.
Customs reportedly started looking into the X-ray option after U.S. Sens.
Carol Moseley-Braun and Dick Durbin, both Illinois Democrats, called for an
investigation of discrimination in strip-searches at Chicago's O'Hare
airport (see "Senators Want Probe of Customs Searches in Chicago,"
NewsBriefs, July-August 1998, p. 13). "They're missing the boat," said
Atlanta Senior Customs Inspector Cathy Harris. "They are still demeaning
travelers no matter how you look at it."
U.S. Customs Service, Dennis Murphy, Spokesperson
1301 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20229
Tel: (202) 927-1770
Web: <http://www.customs.ustreas.gov>.
Attorney Barbara Heyer
1311 S.E. 4th Ave.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
Tel: (954) 522-4922.
Attorney Warren Dawson
1467 Tampa Park Plaza
Tampa, FL 33605
Tel: (813) 221-1800.*
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- tppt: Tom Paine, Perpetual Traveller; webmaster@proliberty.com
================================================================
The USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world (1.6 m)
Most of those in prison are there for victimless 'crimes' (63%)
Since 1979, property seized without trial, has increased by 2500%
In the 'War On Drugs', drugs do not die. People do.
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