Many Post-September 11 Detainees Still Deprived Of Basic Human Rights Amnesty International Report Finds

3/14/2002

From: Wende Gozan, 212-633-4247 or Gabriela Betancourt, 212-633-4268, both of Amnesty International USA

NEW YORK, March 14 -- Six months after the September 11 attacks, a significant number of the approximately 1,200 non-U.S. nationals originally detained in the aftermath of the tragedy continue to be deprived of their human rights in violation of international law and the Immigration and Naturalization Service's own standards, Amnesty International said in a report released today. The human rights organization's latest report is based on information about more than 200 cases compiled through interviews with attorneys, detainees and their relatives and a review of documents and other reports.

While the detentions have been surrounded by extreme secrecy, the organization's research confirms that basic rights have been violated, including: the right to humane treatment; to be informed of reasons for detention; to have prompt access to a lawyer; to be able to challenge the lawfulness of the detention, and to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise. These rights are important safeguards against arbitrary detention. Amnesty International has received reports of cruel treatment, including: prolonged solitary confinement; heavy shackling of detainees during visits or when they are taken to court; and lack of adequate exercise.

"The government's treatment of these individuals is simply unacceptable and is a violation of international law," William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), said at a press conference to release the report, "Amnesty International Concerns Regarding Post September 11 Detentions in the USA." "Ironically enough, their treatment is in many instances a violation of the standards set by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service itself."

Amnesty International has examined documents showing that scores of people arrested in the wake of September 11 were held for more than 48 hours -- 36 were held for a month or more and one man for nearly four months -- without being charged with a violation. An "interim rule" introduced shortly after September 11 allows the INS to hold people for up to 48 hours without charge or for a further undefined period "in an emergency, or in other extraordinary circumstances."

Amnesty International also has received disturbing reports of people being held well beyond the dates posted for voluntary departure, deportation to their home countries, or after bail had been set and was ready to be met. Some 300 men -- mainly from Muslim or Middle Eastern countries -- are believed to remain in INS detention, and an unknown number have been deported or released on bail.

The many egregious examples highlighted in the report include:

-- Rabih Haddad, a Lebanese national, charged with overstaying his tourist visa, who has been held in solitary confinement since Dec. 14 in Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center. According to his letters from prison, his cell windows are whited out so he has no view; he is handcuffed while being escorted to showers 10 steps from his cell; and he is allowed only one 15-minute call to his family every 30 days.

-- A Mauritanian national was still detained more than four months after the date he agreed to "voluntary departure" when Amnesty International interviewed him in February. He had reportedly applied for an extension of his visa. On Oct. 11, while his extension was pending, he was arrested and held on a visa overstay violation. He was granted a voluntary departure at the end of October and his attorney's office supplied the plane ticket home.

-- The wife of a detainee held in solitary confinement at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) since September was permitted to visit him for the first time only on Dec. 19 and, as of late February, had only been permitted to visit him once more. In February, Amnesty International received reports that his visiting rights were suspended for 60 days as punishment for failing to stand up when a guard came into his cell during prayer.

"The harshly punitive conditions in which these detainees are held appear excessive, considering that many of them have been charged with routine visa violations for which they would not normally be detained," Dr. Schulz said. "We certainly recognize our government's obligation to take all necessary measures to protect its citizens from potential security threats. However, we are concerned that many of these people are being held on flimsy evidence, pending broad criminal probes, without due safeguards."

Amnesty International is calling for a full inquiry into conditions at the federal MDC, where some 40 detainees, many held for routine visa violations, are reportedly confined to sealed, usually solitary cells for 23 hours or more a day and subjected to other deprivations. Federal authorities denied Amnesty International's request to visit this facility. Amnesty researchers were given access to detainees at the Hudson County Correctional Facility and Passaic County Jail in New Jersey.

The organization also is urging the authorities to release detailed information on all detentions as requested under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Amnesty International and other human rights groups and to ensure that all those arrested or detained are treated humanely and provided with their rights under international law and that individuals are not deported to a country where they would be at risk of serious human rights abuses.

--- Amnesty International's report updates a memorandum sent to the U.S. Government in November 2001: Memorandum to the U.S. Attorney General -- AI's Concerns relating to the post 11 September investigations. Both reports are available on www.amnestyusa.org.