ACTION PLEDGED ON RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN AIRPORT SEARCHES

WASHINGTON -- After testimony from two women strip-searched by U.S.
Customs Service agents, a lawmaker said yesterday he wants to
guarantee basic rights to international travelers detained at American
airports for drug searches.

"We no longer live in an America that will tolerate the basic civil
liberties of our citizens being violated by law enforcement officers,"
said Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., adding he is preparing legislation to
address the problem.

Amanda Buritica of Port Chester, N.Y., and Janneral Denson of Palm
Beach, Fla., told a House Ways and Means subcommittee about their
treatment by customs agents.

Buritica, a Colombian-born U.S. citizen, said she was searched and
forced to take laxatives by agents who suspected her of carrying drugs
when she arrived at San Francisco International Airport in 1994 on a
flight from Hong Kong.

Denson said she was about seven months pregnant when she arrived at
the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in 1997 on a
flight from Jamaica to Florida. She said customs agents took her to a
hospital, forced her to take a laxative and shackled her to a bed for
two days so they could monitor her bowel movements. Eight days later,
she said, her son was born prematurely.

No drugs were found on either woman. A jury awarded Buritica $450,000
last year in her lawsuit against the Customs Service. Denson's lawsuit
is pending.

The Customs commissioner, Raymond Kelly, said agency policy prohibits
the selection of search targets on the basis of race. He did say there
might be "a mindset" among some agents that leads to racial
discrimination.

"We have to ferret it out," he said, insisting racial bias "will not
be tolerated as a Customs Service practice anywhere."

The two women testified at a hearing by a House Ways and Means
subcommittee on oversight into allegations customs officials have
selected airline passengers for drug searches based on their race or
ethnicity.

Denson is black and Buritica is Hispanic.

In response to allegations of racial profiling by the agency, Kelly
last month appointed an independent commission to review custom's
policies and practices.

Kelly said he also has made several internal changes, including
requiring a supervisor to authorize personal searches.

But Kelly said such searches are necessary because drug smugglers are
using all types of people to bring drugs into the country.

Lewis said his legislation would require that travelers be given
access to a lawyer within 24 hours of being detained; a magistrate
approve any detention beyond 12 hours; and customs inform travelers of
both their rights and search process and procedures.

The agency would have to keep annual data on the race and sex of
passengers stopped and searched.