 Return to Juvenile Justice Main Page
Amnesty International calls for Investigation of Pepper Spray Use
Posted by Brigitte Thimiakis to South Dakota Prisoners Support Group
By Ruth Steinberger
NativeTimes
On March 27, 2001, the London based human rights organization Amnesty
International, issued a public statement condemning the use of pepper
spray on Native American juveniles in the Pine Hills Correctional
Facility in Miles City, Montana.
Steve Gibson, Superintendent of Pine Hills, defends the facility's use
of pepper spray and denies any charge of racial bias against Native
American juveniles.
Amnesty International also called for a full and independent inquiry
into the use of force and OC (pepper spray) in the Pine Hills facility.
After receiving information through the Native American Times website in
early March, the organization began investigating the story.
In the recently released public statement Amnesty expressed concern that
authorities at the facility have failed to adequately monitor the use of
the spray and that documentary evidence suggests that Native American
youth had been disproportionately victimized by the spray.
Information regarding the use of pepper spray at the facility surfaced
after three boys were charged with assault following an incident in
which one of the youth had obtained an empty can of pepper spray and
attempted to spray a guard.
Documentation on the incidents reveals that pepper spray was used as a
first resort by staff when dealing with Native American juveniles,
documents contain conflicting information from staff members regarding
the same incident. Though a review of incident reports is to be made by
the director of the facility within 24 hours after an incident, Pine
Hills Director Jim Hunter, did not review incident reports spanning 14
months until they were requested through the process of discovery by an
attorney representing one of the boys charged as an adult.
On February 14, 2001, Bud Heringer presented documentation and testimony
from the youths to the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee. A bill to ban
the use of pepper spray in juvenile facilities in the state was
introduced, but was tabled for this session.
Superintendent of DOC, Steve Gibson denied the allegations of racial
intent behind the sprayings and said that the documentation released by
Heringer is false. This documentation was largely the discovery
documents released by the state to Cynthia Thornton, attorney for one of
the youths, as well as a tallying of the number of incidents reported
within those documents.
At the Senate Judiciary hearing, Steve Gibson called the allegations,
"Inaccurate and an insult to the professional staff at Pine Hills."
In a letter sent to Montana Governor, Judy Martz, Amnesty International
expressed concern, 'At reports regarding the frequent and repeated use
of Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) pepper spray to control disturbed children,
most of them Native Americans.......' The letter cited international
standards for the treatment of juveniles in confinement, as well as the
standards calling for adequate mental health care.
Said Heringer, "I have recently interviewed another boy who was released
this past January. His story is similar to the others, and very
detailed, he gave me the names of female guards who watched them shower.
What is amazing is that officials from the state claim these youth are
lying. It would just be too incredible that the first three boys
remembered the incident involving one boy who was sprayed in the exact
same way. These boys did not get together at some point to decide to all
remember an incident in which another juvenile was victimized in the
exact same way."
------>A recent investigation by the Montana DOC, under DOC
Supervisor Bill Slaughter, concluded that no wrongdoing had occurred.
Slaughter said, "We already did our internal investigation and what has
been reported has not been accurate at all." He said that the use of
pepper spray was entirely appropriate in the circumstances in which it
was used.
Reflecting on the DOC investigation, Heringer said, "The embezzler
shouldn't be doing his own audit and the bank robber does not
investigate the robbery. We need a truly independent investigation, and
a thorough one. We need the governor to appoint a lawyer, one who is not
tied to those within the system, to go over every nook and cranny and
find out what was happening here. There is one thing you call this, it's
cover up."
Heringer told Native American Times that he spoken with youth who have
recently been released and that reports "are still piling up." In a
recent interview with a Native American boy, Heringer said the boy
alleged that while he was at the Pine Hills Correctional Facility, he
was pepper sprayed, then handcuffed and shackled, guards then grabbed
the chain between his wrists and the one between his ankles, moved
cutting both his wrists and ankles. "I have been in other facilities all
over the state, and the problems that the boys report to me are all in
the Pine Hills Facility," said Heringer.
In a letter to the press issued by Steve Gibson on March 9, 2001, Gibson
stated that pepper spray can be a safer and more humane method of
handling a disturbance than restraints. According to the policy manual
for the facility, however, pepper spray is meant to be used as a last
resort, only when lesser uses of force have failed, or when the
activities of a juvenile are an immediate threat to themselves, others,
or property. Serious health effects are noted in the manual.
"I have sat at a table with youth who were handcuffed and shackled, and
we have had some really good meetings. Believe me, a child who has been
pepper sprayed isn't laughing, he is crying and is in extreme pain,"
said Heringer. "To compare pepper spray to restraints, and claim that
pepper spray is a good, safe, or humane way to go, is a totally
deceptive statement."
In the Public Statement that was issued by Amnesty International on
March 27, 2001, says that, 'Amnesty International believes that the use
of painful, inflammatory, chemical agents is not an appropriate or
humane way to control disturbed children. In fact, it appears that the
use of the spray may have caused some children in the facility to become
more agitated or resistant.
home : mission statement : contact : site map : search : store : links
DLN coalition : DLN issues : DLN nation : related issues Any reprints are under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law : See http://www.dlncoalition.org/fair_use.htm.
|
