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May 09, 2008
Two responses in the NY Times to aricle and editorial about detention centers
Two of the five letters printed by the NY Times today in response to the "Death by Detention" editorial and the article “Few Details on Immigrants Who Died in U.S. Custody” (front page, May 5).
To the Editor:
Your May 6 editorial “Death by Detention” was right to point out the secrecy and lack of transparency surrounding the treatment of immigrant detainees held in for-profit facilities. But your call for holding detention centers to the same enforceable standards that apply to prisons would do little to help.
Sadly, there are no enforceable national standards for prisons and jails in the United States. There is one national accreditation body that had developed standards, the American Correctional Association, but its standards are not enforceable, and there is no requirement for facilities to be accredited.
There are constitutional standards that fluctuate as the Supreme Court changes its view of the meaning of the Eighth Amendment.
There are standards imposed by the international treaties that we have signed and ratified, including the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, but the Bush administration was dismissive of the criticisms of our prison systems made by the committee of oversight last year.
We should develop enforceable national standards, including systems of oversight and monitoring, for all places of detention in the United States.
Jenni Gainsborough
Director, Washington Office
Penal Reform International
Washington, May 6, 2008
To the Editor:
The suffering and death of immigrants in United States detention facilities point to a still bigger outrage: the alarming breakdown of health care for detained immigrants and asylum seekers. This is a direct result of the longstanding abdication of responsibility by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Public Health Service, private contractors and local jails for the health of immigration detainees in their custody.
The harsh circumstances of detention and the detrimental effect on health have been known for years, and the victims include asylum seekers who have come to this country to escape persecution in other lands, only to find themselves imprisoned instead of supported while their claims are pending.
Congress and immigration officials must immediately take at least four steps:
First, they should provide the funds needed to protect the health of immigration detainees.
Second, they should enforce compliance with established standards of medical care in detention facilities, no matter who operates them.
Third, they should release from detention asylum seekers who pose no risk of flight or danger to the community.
Fourth, a bill to address many of these issues, introduced this week by Representative Zoe Lofgren, should be passed quickly.
Fifth, both Congress and the appropriate executive agencies should investigate the deaths of immigrant detainees in United States custody, ensuring that the health and human rights of those still in these facilities are protected.
Frank Donaghue
Chief Executive
Physicians for Human Rights
Cambridge, Mass., May 5, 2008
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Posted by lois at May 9, 2008 06:13 PM