My australian friends. Some useful infos, I think. Hugs and kisses from
France; Bernard Blanc.
Subject:
Controversial "Wackenhut" Prison-Mongers
Date:
Tue, 27 Jul 1999 20:55:57 -0400
From:
"John V. Wilmerding" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Tue, 27 Jul 1999, Bill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> sent the following
article
from 'down under' ...
Wackenhut is the strong arm of the elite, especially Florida ... illegal
techniques are not illegal if you don't get caught ... they are like
Pinkerton, the other huge corporation that does the nasty bidding of
those
who control. Surveillance is rife and more the norm than the exception
by
far ... these people profit from conflict created by fear, and from the
incarceration of individuals, just as many as possible.
The Courier Mail (Brisbane) 24.7.99
SECRET LOCK-UP
A company involved in CIA spying operations on foreign governments is
running Australia's immigration detention and many of our private jails.
Marshall Wilson reports
A controversial United States-based company with links to the Central
Intelligence Agency is running all of Australia's immigration detention
centers and most of its private jails, including the high-security
Arthur
Gorrie Remand and Reception Centre at Wacol in Brisbane.
The company, Wackenhut Corporation, is named in a 1992 US House
Judiciary
Committee inquiry as having "doctored" computer software to allow the
CIA
to spy on foreign governments.
Wackenhut was allegedly involved in joint ventures to produce chemical
and
biological weapons, machine-guns, fuel-air explosives and other military
hardware.
Florida-based Wackenhut, which prides itself on pioneering the
privatization of correctional services, was authorised by the Australian
Government to run four detention centres after a tender process was
finalized in November 1997.
Investigation shows 17 companies were invited to respond, of which five
chose to contest.
Wackenhut's winning tender, through subsidiary Australasian Correctional
Services (ACS), allows it to administer sites that include the Port
Hedland
detention centre for illegal immigrants in Western Australia and the
Wacol
high security prison in outer western Brisbane.
It is also responsible for the transportation and care of illegal
migrants
housed at Villawood in Sydney, Maribyrnong in Victoria and the Perth
Detention Centre. Through ACS it also controls the Junee prison in
country
NSW and the Fulham Correctional Centre near Sale in Victoria.
But Wackenhut's involvement here has been controversial.
Within the first 13 months of another of its subsidiaries Australasian
Correctional Management (ACM) - accepting the contract to run the Arthur
Gorrie remand facility, four inmates committed suicide while another
died
in mysterious circumstances. Gang-rape was alleged to have been common
and
one inmate was set on fire.
In 1993 the Prisoners Legal Services called for an inquiry into the
center's management structure after a prison riot.
It resulted in the replacement of the jail's general manager, known to
Wackenhut insiders as a tough-talking former United States marine
colonel
with a bent for discipline.
The Courier-Mail has learned there was heated discussion over his
suitability to retain his position even after ACM director Wayne
Calabrese
flew in from Wackenhut's Florida headquarters to defend him. He was
subsequently transferred to another destination believed to be in the
US.
But Wackenhut is about much more than private prisons.
Even though key correctional service officials in Australia were well
aware
that Wackenhut was the ultimate holding company in ACRO, they remained
blissfully unaware of its recruitment policy which placed emphasis on
former intelligence, military and law enforcement types with specific
skills.
Even now, few realise that Wackenhut's global network extends into 50
countries where it runs correctional institutions in places that include
its US home base, the United Kingdom and South Africa.
A former key official with the Queensland Corrective Services Commission
who was involved in the selection of Wackenhut told The CourierMail: "If
we
had been aware of the information now available, it could have resulted
in
Wackenhut not being awarded the contract"
Founded as an investigation agency in 1954 by George Wackenhut - an FBI
special agent and admirer of the ultra right-wing John Birch Society -
the
company, which employs 70,000 people, has diversified to become one of
the
largest providers of security services in the world.
Since core business remains key US Government contracts, there are fears
about an 'altogether too cozy' relationship with those currently or
previously associated with US intelligence.
New York-based reporter John Connolly, who conducted a revealing
interview
with George Wackenhut for Spy magazine in 1992, claims at various times
members of the board have included former US Defense Secretary and CIA
deputy director Frank Carlucci; former Defense Intelligence Agency
director
Joseph Carroll; former US Secret Service director James Rowley and
former
FBI director Clarence Kelley.
When asked by Connolly, George Wackenhut denied his company was an arm
of
the CIA. Connolly remains unconvinced and says the appointment of Bruce
Berckmans once assigned to the CIA station in Mexico City - as
vice-president of Wackenhut's international operations group, is a
valuable
pointer.
Similarly, the appointment of William Casey to head the CIA at the time
that his law firm Rogers and Wells represented Wackenhut, failed to stem
rumors. The brushfire has been sparked by further allegations by former
employees that Wackenhut has, in the past, allowed the CIA to use its
corporate entity to shield covert operations abroad.
Therein lies the danger. Could it happen in Australia? What is to stop
it?
Connolly maintains US Senate Intelligence Committee revelations about
covert, often illegal, CIA overseas operations in the mid- 1970s make a
compelling case.
"Those revelations forced the CIA to do a housecleaning and it became
CIA
policy that certain kinds of activities would no longer officially be
performed. But that didn't mean that the need or the desire to
undertake
such operations disappeared. That's where Wackenhut came in," he says.
The Wackenhut Corporation continues to run an impressive website to
showcase a growing list of services that include the design and building
of
security installations, prison catering, prisoner health, jail
transportation, fire safety and protective services.
Wackenhut's original 1991 Queensland foray has led to further business,
apparently with the blessing of the Howard Government.
After what the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
(DIMA)
maintains was a "rigorous" tender process, Wackenhut now runs the
detention
centers for illegal immigrants across Australia under various
subsidiaries.
CONTACTS previously involved in conducting probity checks on winning
tenders by ACS agree they were always aware of Wackenhut's role as
ultimate
holding company. While neither would be named, they confirmed knowing
about the first of two congressional inquiries into Wackenhut's past.
"I think these people are basically in business to make a dollar and
will
go into any sort of avenue of business where they think they can turn a
dollar. Whether or not they will use unethical and/or illegal means to
do
so is something that we need to be aware of and, obviously, guard
against. Consequently you start looking at how they do business in
other
Places and hence the probity checks."
Asked why a corporation that wins regular US Government contracts and
guards some of that country's most sensitive military installations
should
not be considered a risk to Australia's security, the contact replied:
"It's a question of how far do you go? These are ultimately going to be
value judgments. Whether or not that means they've compromised
themselves
to the point where they are no longer able to provide a service, or
deliver
a product, remains to be seen."
The Courier-Mail has been assured there is no cause for concern. Asked
to
explain how probity checks of Wackenhut's past could have been missed in
the DIMA tender, another contact said: "It all depends on how much of a
probity check they did and how deep they've dug. If they haven't dug
very
deep, then obviously they're not going to come to the bottom of it.
So was DIMA aware of the murkier aspect of Wackenhut's background?
"ACS underwent a fairly rigorous probity investigation before the
contract
was signed," a spokesman told The Courier-Mail.
"We have previously stated publicly that ACS is a member of Wackenhut,
but
it is important to remember that the contract is with ACS, which is an
Australian company that operates independently of Wackenhut.
"The contract with ACS involves the department closely monitoring the
involves the department closely monitoring the company's performance and
provides for a wide range of remedies and compensation for
unsatisfactory
performance including the termination of the contract. Any improper
activities by ACS will be dealt with by the full force of the contract."
Attempts to probe contractual arrangements between Wackenhut and the
Federal Government are frustrated by "commercial in confidence" clauses.
Donald Keens, managing director of Sydney-based ACM, was unable to shed
light on Wackenhut's naming at two US congressional inquiries.
However, he was quick to confirm ACS as a Wackenhut subsidiary and that
the
US-based Wackenhut Corrections Corporation is the parent of both ACS and
ACM.
Keens is a director of both, as are Florida-based George Zoley and Wayne
Calabrese.
All three are also shown to be directors of the NSW registered Wackenhut
Correctional Services whose ultimate holding company is Wackenhut
Corrections Corporation.
Curiously, its operating address is recorded on Australian Bureau of
Statistics records as "unknown".
"You need to understand that The Wackenhut Corporation is a
separately-registered company on the US Stock Exchange to Wackenhut
Corrections Corporation," Keens explained.
Either way, given its proud policy of recruiting extensively from US
agencies that include the CIA and US military, the decision to choose
Wackenhut appears curious.
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