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November 18, 2004
Judge Finds Evidence That Asylum Seekers Were Abused
NEWARK, N.J. -- Evidence shows political asylum seekers were abused and harassed while detained at a privately operated facility that lacked clean food, clothes and bedding, a federal judge found as he refused to dismiss a lawsuit by nine immigrants.
A lawyer for the immigrants said Wednesday that the groundbreaking ruling means that detainees "cannot be held in conditions where they are denied adequate conditions like food and clothes and warmth: the basic conditions of civilized life."
"You don't need to beat someone to a pulp until they're ready to die to violate human rights law," said the lawyer, Penny M. Venetis, associate director of the Constitutional Law Clinic at Rutgers School of Law-Newark.
Judge finds evidence that asylum seekers were abused
By JEFFREY GOLD
Associated Press Writer
November 17, 2004
The ruling, filed Nov. 10 by U.S. District Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise in Newark, is the latest milestone in a lawsuit filed in 1997 against what was then called the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the company that ran its detention center in Elizabeth.
The judge dismissed charges against the INS and its officials, saying the government cannot be sued. He also dismissed some charges against the company's guards, finding that individual actions did not rise to the level of international human rights abuses, Venetis said.
But he refused to dismiss all charges against Correctional Services Corp. and its officials. The Sarasota, Fla.-based company was known as Esmor Corp. when it operated the INS detention center.
Venetis said her clients will seek a trial date. She also said the decision could affect detainees held after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Correctional Services is among the nation's largest prison contractors, with the ability to house about 7,400 people in 31 adult and juvenile facilities in 11 states, according to documents it filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company reported 2003 revenues of $135.8 million.
Company spokesman Bernard A. "Skip" Wagner referred inquiries to general counsel John Mentzer, who did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The ruling came after the judge reviewed thousands of pages of documents and transcripts from depositions of 30 people, including company officials and seven of the nine asylum seekers. The other two have been deported, Venetis said.
The judge said the evidence showed that detention center administrator Willard Stovall was "fully aware" of abuses, and listed 21 examples, including the beatings of detainees and the sexual assault of one female detainee.
Other examples cited by the judge were sexual harassment that included guards watching women detainees take showers, broken toilets, defective heating, and lack of access to supplies such as toothbrushes and toothpaste.
In addition, guards interfered with detainees' efforts to practice their religions, whether they were Christian, Hindu or Muslim, the judge said.
Venetis said the ruling was the first on international human rights by a federal judge since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the topic in June. "This is a very major event because Judge Debevoise interpreted the Supreme Court's finding to mean that you don't need physical torture to violate international law, that it can occur in the United States by corporations doing business with the United States," she said.
Venetis said the ruling could also allow any of the 1,200 aliens detained on immigration violations in the post-Sept. 11 sweeps to sue, even though most have since been deported.
The Elizabeth center was operated by Esmor, then based in Melville, N.Y., until shortly after a June 1995 riot, when about 100 immigrants broke windows, destroyed furniture and overpowered guards, claiming they suffered physical abuse and other inhumane conditions.
The INS closed the center and fired Esmor after its investigation found that poorly trained guards abused the detainees physically and mentally, gave them spoiled food and deprived them of sleep. The detention center reopened in January 1997 after renovations were completed by its new operator, Corrections Corp. of America, of Nashville, Tenn.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--immigrants-detent1117nov17,0,2110068,print.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
Correctional Services Corp: http://www.correctionalservices.com
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
Posted by lois at November 18, 2004 05:41 PM