Comment on FR Doc # 2011-01905

Robert Hinchman, Senior Counsel Office of Legal Policy, Department of Justice Dear Mr. Hinchman: I am writing to urge the Department of Justice to act quickly to adopt strong national standards addressing sexual abuse in detention. The Department has estimated that 216,600 detainees were sexually abused in U.S. facilities in 2008 alone. As a nation, we cannot allow this shameful violence to continue. All detention facilities must be held accountable for protecting the human rights of those in their custody. They must be required to institute strong, fair, commonsense measures that will result in safer facilities for both staff and inmates. For example, I urge the Department to ensure that the standards apply to immigration facilities, that they prohibit youth from being held in adult prisons and jails, and that they limit cross-gender viewing and pat searches. Furthermore, the standards must ensure that prisoner rape survivors receive support – not further punishment – if they choose to report assault. Survivors must not be place in involuntary segregation, they must be able to speak to a community-based victim advocate during the investigation, and they must have access to a clear, fair grievance system. Finally, I urge the Department to ensure that the final standards include strong oversight provisions. The standards will be meaningless unless they are monitored and enforced by independent, outside agencies. With rampant sexual abuse in prisons and jails across the country, we can no longer rely on corrections facilities to police themselves.