Control agency criticizes DEA for not reporting torture committed by peers in Latin America

A federal watchdog criticized the US anti-drug agency, DEA, for not promptly reporting human rights violations committed by its law enforcement counterparts in Latin America, who admitted to having subjected criminal suspects to simulated drowning, suffocation and torture.

The management advisory memorandum, released Tuesday by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General, focuses on the DEA’s obligations under what is known as the Leahy Act, which prohibits the United States from providing assistance to security forces that violate human rights.

Foreign policy officials and units that work closely with the DEA on the front lines of the war on drugs must undergo investigation to comply with the law, which is one of the United States’ most important tools to promote respect for human rights among security forces.

The Inspector General, as part of an ongoing audit of the DEA’s use of polygraph examinations as an element of the investigative process, found five cases in which the DEA failed to notify the State Department of potential violations it found last year.

In one case, three officials from an unnamed Central American nation admitted to waterboarding and placing plastic bags over the heads of suspects to obtain information, the watchdog said. Another, also from Central America, who had received approval to receive training from another US federal agency, admitted to using an electroshock weapon until the suspects passed out or vomited. Finally, an official from a DEA-run unit in a South American country admitted to punching a detained suspect while he was handcuffed to a chair.

In all four cases, the drug agency waited until the Inspector General raised its concerns—in one case, nearly nine months—before reporting its findings to the State Department.

So far, the DEA has not responded to a request for comment.

However, as part of the audit, the agency told the Inspector General that, at the time of the incidents, it did not have a policy, procedures and training to ensure that potential violators were brought to the attention of the State Department. It has since updated its policies to train officers in accordance with Leahy Act guidelines and ensure violators are identified promptly.

Last week, the Inspector General released a 49-page report detailing how, in recent years, the DEA hired nearly 300 special agents and investigative analysts who failed a required polygraph exam during the onboarding process, or who provided information that disqualified them during the exam.

Although polygraph examinations are generally not admissible in legal proceedings, they are frequently used by federal law enforcement agencies and for national security clearances.

The DEA has long been a stumbling block among federal law enforcement agencies by not requiring its applicants to pass a lie detector test before being hired. However, the agency tightened its procedures in 2019, following a series of scandals in other countries, including revelations that an agent, once a star in Colombia who conspired with the cartels, was hired despite showing signs of deception in the polygraph.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels YouTube, WhatsApp and to newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.