HRW urges U.S. to protect sexually abused immigrants detained:

Written by DPA
Wednesday August 25, 2010 9:45

News article translated from Spanish into English by me.

Human Rights Watch proposes changes to immigration detention policy to ban the guards of another detainee review gender and prevents the transfer of arrested if they are not the same sex.

Human Rights Watch denounced several cases of sexual abuse of immigrants in detention centers and urged U.S. authorities to "strengthen" the protection of persons in their custody, to make public the allegations and "to ensure" justice for victims.

According to the human rights organization, today released the report "Prisoners and at Risk: Sexual Abuse and Harassment in the immigration detention system in the U.S.," sexual abuse cases "have quietly emerged as a pattern over immigration detention system nationwide is expanding rapidly. "

In this regard, he urged the U.S. Customs and U.S. Immigration (ICE) to make "improvements quickly to improve the supervision of the entire system of detention and to ensure responsibilities."

"ICE has finally recognized the need for stronger protection of people arrested on sexual abuse, but should catch up quickly," concluded the researcher of women's rights at Human Rights Watch, Meghan Rhoad.

"ICE needs new rules and make sure they have the resources to ensure compliance with hundreds of installations in the detention system," he added.

In this sense, HRW proposes a series of "changes" in the immigration detention policy which include the prohibition of the guards frisk prisoners of another kind, as well as restrictions on the transfer of arrested if they are not the same sex, between others.

It considers that it should ensure that victims of abuse are informed of the possibility of obtaining a visa that allows them to remain in the country to cooperate with the law in criminal cases related to abuse.

"ICE's reticence on this issue sends the wrong message to the detention facilities and detainees who are at their mercy," said Rhoad.

HRW also highlighted the fact that it is not known with certainty the number of cases of sexual abuse among immigrant detainees because of the lack of a record of them and fear of victims to report them, as urged ICE to "improve "your system to collect this information and" make it public. "

"The incidents that we know could easily be the tip of the iceberg, because people who might have been victims of abuse are usually deported," the expert claimed.

Last Updated (Thursday, September 9, 2010 09:12)

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