Detainee Dies Lonely Death in a N.J. Jail

A 55-year-old Pakistani man, one of more than 900 people swept up in the Sept. 11 terrorist investigation, died in his New Jersey jail cell, officials said Wednesday.

Muhammed Rafiq Butt, 55, died Tuesday, apparently of natural causes, officials said.

Federal authorities provided little information about the circumstances surrounding both Butt’s detention and his death in the 1,800-bed jail in Kearny.

Their reticence was in keeping with the refusal by the Justice Department and the federal courts to provide almost any information about those picked up in the terrorist investigation--a policy that has drawn criticism from civil rights activists.

Some detainees have said they were beaten, others have complained that they were denied access to attorneys and still others have said they were not given proper medical attention or other basic jailhouse services.

Federal authorities have acknowledged some shortcomings in their treatment of detainees and, in some cases, have said they are investigating allegations of mistreatment.

But Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft has repeatedly said that no detainee’s rights are being violated and that authorities will look into any complaints of abuse.

Butt was detained Sept. 19 and initially questioned by FBI agents about the hijacked airplanes that struck the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

FBI Turns Him Over to INS

When the FBI decided that Butt was not of “interest” to their investigation, the bureau turned him over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service because he had overstayed his visa.

He then accepted an immigration judge’s decision to deport him to Jhelum, in the Punjab region of Pakistan.

“He didn’t have a hearing. He waived his hearing,” said Russ Bergeron, an INS spokesman in Washington.

“He simply wanted to be sent back home.”

He was awaiting his travel documents when his cellmate looked in on him on his jailhouse bunk at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday. He was not stirring.

Authorities said there were no visible signs of injury or trauma. A nasal swab was taken to learn if he had possibly been a victim of anthrax poisoning; he was not.

He had complained about a gum disease and was being treated with antibiotics, jail officials said. They said his heart gave out.

Terrence Hull, a first assistant prosecutor in Hudson County, said a death certificate will be filed once final toxicology results are completed in a month or more.

“We had difficulty in trying to notify his next of kin, and we did that finally through the consulate’s office,” Hull said.

Asad Hayauddin, an embassy spokesman, said his government is accepting the finding of heart failure “until we hear otherwise.”

4 Being Held on Immigration Charges

Hayauddin said he does not know how many Pakistanis are lingering in detention.

Since Sept. 11, he said, only five have contacted the embassy for assistance--four being held on immigration charges and one detained by the FBI on a weapon violation in New York.

“He did not contact us,” Hayauddin said.

“They all have a right to consular access, but he apparently refused to utilize that right, or so the INS told us.

“A lot of people do that, to avoid embarrassment. So we did not even know about him.”

Butt had no family here. He had no attorney. He had no visitors at the jail, and he never sought a bond hearing.

He had been in the United States for at least five years.

He most recently had lived on 101st Avenue in the South Ozone Park section of Queens, N.Y. Neighbors on that block said they had never heard of him.

Death Is Called ‘Totally Depressing’

Jeanne Butterfield, head of the American Immigration Lawyers Assn. in Washington, called Butt’s death “totally depressing. It’s very sad. It just underscores our concern that there needs to be more openness and transparency about this process.”

“We’ve been clamoring for information about who is being detained and do they have access to counsel. But I can’t get anything,” she said.

Nancy Chang said she feels equally helpless. Her organization, the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, is seeking any opening for information on the detainees but finds stone walls instead. With judges sealing court records and closing hearings, she hears little or nothing.

“It’s pretty extraordinary,” she said.

“The gag orders are unprecedented in their scope. It’s all very troubling.”

If he had contacted the Pakistani embassy, he would have been paid a visit by consulate officials. They would have checked on his well-being.

They would have notified his family, possibly attempted to arrange legal help for the detainee, maybe helped him secure a bond.

In normal times, he might have been set free, at least until his deportation.

“But,” Hayauddin said, “when you don’t know about someone, there is not much you can do.”