By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) – Detainees at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Texas told two rights groups they were beaten by guards, denied medical care and prevented from contacting family and lawyers, according to a report issued on Wednesday.
The report, issued by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, spans dozens of pages and is based on 80 interviews HRW conducted with detainees that focused on conditions at Camp East Montana, which is located at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss in El Paso.
“People detained at Camp East Montana reported routine beatings and other excessive force by guards, chronic malnutrition, and unsanitary and degrading living conditions,” the report said, citing interviews. “Together, these abuses violate fundamental protections under U.S. and international human rights law.”
The report is the latest in a string of investigations documenting abuses at the facility, the largest immigration detention center in the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, said in a statement that reports of inhumane conditions at the facility were “categorically false”.
“No detainees are being beaten or abused,” it said, adding ICE took seriously the safety and health of those who are detained and did not deny anyone medical care.
“All detainees receive full due process and are provided with proper meals, water, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” it added.
One detainee, identified in the report as Ismael M., 28, from Honduras, was quoted as saying he experienced depressive episodes and suicidal thoughts during his more than five months in detention.
“I sometimes look at my bed sheets, and I wonder if it would be easier to hang myself instead of trying to survive this torture,” he was quoted as saying.
Camp East Montana has repeatedly faced criticism from immigration advocates.
It failed to issue use-of-force reports, did not give medicine to seriously ill detainees and wasted tens of millions in taxpayer dollars through rushed contracts, a U.S. government watchdog report said last month.
ICE has been the face of an immigration crackdown and deportation drive that President Donald Trump has pursued and which has been condemned by human rights groups as being in violation of free speech and due process rights.
Human rights groups say the crackdown has created an unsafe environment, especially for ethnic minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling.
Trump says his actions are aimed at improving domestic security.
About 50 people have died in ICE custody around the country since Trump took office in January last year.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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