ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is the largest investigative wing of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). HSI is responsible for ensuring that perpetrators of war crimes, genocide, torture and other gross human rights abuses do not evade justice and accountability for their crimes by hiding in the United States. Over the past several years, ICE/HSI has repeatedly demonstrated the agency's unique ability to identify, investigate, prosecute and remove some of the world's most brutal human rights violators and notorious war criminals.
The agency's efforts in this arena are spearheaded by the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit (HRVWCU), a specialized unit of highly dedicated, skilled agents, intelligence officers, analysts, criminal research specialists, historians, and prosecutors. Based in Washington, D.C., the HRVWCU coordinates and oversees the two primary missions of the investigative program:
-To identify, investigate, prosecute, and where applicable, to remove human rights violators in the U.S.; and
-To prevent individuals involved in the commission of human rights violations from entering and obtaining safe haven in the United States.
ICE's unique set of federal authorities stems from its role as the primary U.S. federal law enforcement agency charged with investigating the illicit movement of people, goods and money across U.S. borders. ICE uses these authorities to investigate violations of federal criminal law including customs and immigration offenses, as well as violations of law under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). As a result, ICE has one of the most wide-ranging sets of investigative authorities amongst U.S. federal law enforcement agencies. These various authorities have proven to be an invaluable asset when investigating human rights violators. Since ICE launched its No Safe Haven Initiative in 2004, ICE led-investigations have resulted in the arrests of approximately 200 suspected human rights violators. Criminal violations include visa/passport fraud, false statements, perjury and torture resulting in sentences ranging from six months to 97 years in U.S. federal prison.
A recent example of the use of ICE's various legal authorities is evident in the case of Chuckie Taylor, an American citizen and the son of former Liberian president Charles Taylor. During the course of a multi-year investigation into American citizens involved in arms trafficking to West Africa, a violation of U.S. arms export control laws, ICE agents learned that Chuckie Taylor planned to travel to the U.S. In March 2006, ICE agents arrested Taylor for making a false statement on his U.S. passport application. This arrest was the result of an international investigation, initiated and led by ICE, that included the assistance of the FBI and the Department of Justice. Based on the investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office charged Chuckie Taylor with five counts of torture, conspiracy to torture and two federal firearm offenses for his role in the torture and murder of several victims in Liberia during his father's regime. Taylor was convicted of all counts and was sentenced to 97 years in federal prison. What began as an investigation using ICE's authorities ultimately resulted in the first use of the federal torture statute since its enactment in 1994.
In addition to its criminal authorities, ICE uses its administrative authority under the INA to investigate and prosecute human rights abusers. ICE uses administrative charges such as genocide, torture or extrajudicial killing to hold human rights violators accountable even if there are no viable criminal charges. In many instances, administrative charges are used to ensure a suspected human rights violator's return to face charges in his or her home country. Since 2004, ICE has successfully removed over 300 known or suspected human rights abusers from the United States.
Under the agency's Human Rights Target Tracking Initiative, ICE's agents, criminal research specialists, and intelligence officers work with their domestic and international counterparts to identify serious foreign human rights abusers and to prevent them from seeking safe haven in the U.S. Since formally undertaking this initiative in June 2008, ICE has been instrumental in preventing the successful admission of over 40 human rights violators or war crimes suspects.
An instrumental part of ICE's investigations of human rights violators are the designated ICE agents assigned to field offices around the U.S. and to the ICE Attaché Offices around the globe. These agents travel around the world to identify and interview witnesses and gather evidence to support their investigations. They travel to countries and regions devastated by war, operating in difficult environments without running water, electricity or paved roads. They visit torture chambers, prison camps, military bases and other buildings where atrocities have been committed. In doing so, these agents put ICE in a position to present evidence to prosecutors to ensure perpetrators of human rights violations do not go unpunished for their actions.
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A special thanks to the men and women of DHS for their ongoing contrabutions.
