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| Prison Facilitates Prayer |
| By The Roanoke Times |
| Published: 10/17/2005 |
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Officials at Wallens Ridge State Prison have taken steps to accommodate Muslim inmates who complained about not being allowed to pray at the maximum security prison. Some inmates also claimed they received death threats from a guard who had recently returned from military service in Iraq with a hatred for Muslims. Both issues were discussed during a recent meeting between prison officials and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, according to Noman Bajwa, civil rights coordinator for the group. Bajwa said he was assured that prison officials would look for a volunteer chaplain to monitor Friday services for Muslims. That would allow the gatherings to be held in the prison gymnasium, as they are for inmates of other religions. Prison officials also agreed to provide small towels for Muslims to use as prayer rugs, which previously had not been allowed outside their cells. As for the guard accused of threatening inmates, Bajwa said he was told that the state Department of Corrections had taken disciplinary action. Prison spokesman Larry Traylor said he could not comment on personnel matters. After the council expressed concerns about the treatment of Muslim inmates at the Wise County prison earlier this year, Department of Corrections Inspector General June Kimbriel and Wallens Ridge Warden David Robinson met with Bajwa in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 7. In July, inmate Lorenzo McLean complained that prison officials were violating his right to pray in his cell. The inmate said he encountered problems with one particular correctional officer who had recently returned from military duty in Iraq. The correctional officer said he hates Muslims and threatened to kill them if they did not stop praying, teaching Islam and congregating, McLean's sister said at the time. Five other inmates made similar allegations against the same guard, Bajwa said. Although Traylor declined to comment on the situation Thursday, he said in July that the allegations were being investigated. Bajwa said he was not told last week of any details involving the disciplinary action taken against the guard, who he said has since returned to Iraq. Wallens Ridge has about 125 Muslim inmates, Bajwa said. While inmates are supposed to be allowed to pray individually in their cells and in small groups in adjacent living areas, Bajwa said Muslim tradition calls for at least 12 participants in group prayers. But before such gatherings can be held in the gymnasium, prison rules require a volunteer chaplain to lead the services. As part of last week's meeting, the Department of Corrections agreed to look for such a volunteer. Complaints by Muslim inmates are just the latest controversy for Wallens Ridge, which opened in 1999 atop a mountain at the edge of Big Stone Gap. The 1,200-bed facility was built as a supermax prison -- designed to hold the most dangerous inmates -- and is identical to Red Onion State Prison, which opened the year before on the other end of Wise County. Groups such as Human Rights Watch have complained of excessive force by guards armed with stun guns, five-point restraints and shotguns that fire rubber pellets. Critics have also said Virginia did not need two supermax prisons. Since then, Wallens Ridge has been reclassified as a maximum security prison. |
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