Report reveals US prison abuse, prompts calls for investigation

Months after the closure of a violent prison unit in Illinois, a report has brought to light more accounts of persistent abuse within the facility, calling for a probe into the officers involved, reporters from National Public Radio said on Thursday.

Christie Thompson, reporter for The Marshall Project, and Joseph Shapiro, NPR News Investigations correspondent, wrote in an article in NPR Investigations many people said they were beaten by police while wearing shackles, suffered from a dangerous lack of mental health care and were not able to file complaints.

The report was released by the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, compiling over 120 stories of individuals formerly incarcerated in the Special Management Unit, a high-security section of the Thomson Penitentiary, around 150 miles west of Chicago.

"We found rampant racism, and many people who were subjected to unnecessary restraint and forced to cell with individuals known to be dangerous," said Maggie Hart, senior counsel with the committee.

Five suspected homicides occurred within the Special Management Unit at Thomson. "This caused major trauma. They knew they could get away with these abuses," Hart said.

The Bureau of Prisons closed the unit in February after finding "significant concerns" about the "institutional culture". Around 350 individuals were transferred to other prisons, where many report continued solitary confinement, the committee said.

Theresa Raymond's son, 32-year-old Victor Gutiérrez, recently died at Thomson, though not, Raymond believes, in the Special Management Unit. Gutiérrez's death was ruled a suicide, but Raymond cited bruises on "his face, neck, stomach and arms." "All I want is answers," she said.

US Senator Dick Durbin said "anyone who violated the civil rights of individuals incarcerated at Thomson should be held accountable."