- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Chicago City Council Committee Approves $5.5Mln for Burge Torture Victims

© Flickr / Thomas HawkChicago police
Chicago police - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The Chicago City Council Finance Committee has approved a $5.5 million reparations fund for citizens who were tortured during former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge’s tenure.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Chicago City Council Finance Committee has approved a $5.5 million reparations fund for citizens who were tortured during former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge’s tenure in the 1960s and 1970s, according to media reports.

“The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee unanimously approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to create a $5.5 million ‘reparations’ fund to compensate victims allegedly tortured by the convicted former Area 2 Commander [Jon Burge] and his co-horts,” The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Tuesday.

On April 14, 2015, media reported the Chicago authorities would offer a reparations package to the victims of torture.

New allegations about police misconduct in Chicago’s Homan Square have surfaced, with a man arrested and detained at the controversial facility saying he was threatened with forcible heroin injection during interrogation. - Sputnik International
Chicago City Council to Vote on Burge Police Torture Package on Wednesday
Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton, the Chicago attorney, said that scholarships, counselling and career training will be made available to the heirs of deceased torture victims.

In October 2013, a Burge ordinance was introduced in the City Council to provide financial compensation and material support to torture survivors and their families, but was never passed.

The law must get final approval from the entire Chicago City Council on Wednesday, which will include a $100,000 cap on individual awards, and if the reparation fund is approved, it will be divided evenly among the victims, according to local media.

Burge was released in February 2015 from a halfway house after serving less than four years in prison for lying about torture of suspects, but was never prosecuted for torture.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала