Washington ? Indian prisons are “a national disgrace” in which 11 people have died and hundreds have tried to kill themselves or escaped over the past three years, government officials said Tuesday.

Senators said they were deeply troubled by the report of the situation from the Interior Department’s top watchdog and likened the jails to the U.S. military’s mistreatment of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

Earl Devaney, the department’s inspector general, painted a grim picture for the Senate Finance Committee. His report, capping a year of investigation, found at least 11 fatalities, 236 suicide attempts and 632 escapes since the Bush administration took office in January 2001.

The report’s release coincided with the opening Tuesday of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs had 2,080 people in 70 Indian jails, detention centers and other correctional facilities as of mid-2002, according to the latest figures from the Justice Department. One jail in six held twice its recommended maximum of prisoners.

Problems chronicled by Devaney included mixing of juveniles with adults that resulted in the raping of a youth; poorly trained and inadequate numbers of staff; “countless” assaults on detention officers; and broken toilets, showers and sinks. His staff toured 27 jails and interviewed 150 BIA and tribal officials.

“I reject the notion that it’s simply a matter of money. I think it’s a matter of will,” he said in answering senators’ questions. Congress has increased BIA’s yearly budget for law enforcement, including prisons and other detention facilities, to $170 million from $149 million three years ago. Another $150 million for new construction has come through Justice Department grants since 1997, but the agency completed only two of 13 planned new jails.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Finance Committee, described the events in Iraq as a reminder that the way people are jailed is a measure of the United States’ commitment to human rights.

“I think the IG has it exactly right when he says these jails are a national disgrace,” Grassley said. “The IG notes that the conditions are often worse than those in Third World countries. Once again our government has failed to uphold its responsibilities to Native Americans.”

Dave Anderson, the Interior assistant secretary who heads the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said his agency was trying hard to correct long-standing problems. “We are making progress but recognize a lot more work needs to be done,” he said.