Researcher Calls ICE Camp 'a Human Rights Disaster'

Dozens of people held at a sprawling Immigration and Customs Enforcement installation in Texas say they were either beaten by guards or witnessed others being beaten, according to a new report issued by legal and human rights advocates. The 84-page report issued jointly Wednesday by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union says men and women held at Camp East Montana, located at the Army's Fort Bliss in El Paso, recounted being denied necessary medical care, forced to live in filthy conditions, and fed inedible meals. Detainees also said they were prevented from contacting their lawyers or family members, the AP reports.

Of the 71 detainees contacted over a five-month period, 64—about 90% of those interviewed—said they had either personally been assaulted by the staff or had seen others physically abused, according to the report. "ICE's Camp East Montana is a human rights disaster," said Angélica César, a fellow at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU who was a lead researcher for the report. "The US government should shut it down, conduct independent investigations into all abuses and deaths in custody, and put an end to mass deportations and mandatory immigration detention." The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying reports of inhumane conditions at its desert tent camp were "categorically false," that no detainees are being beaten or abused, and that "ICE takes seriously the health and safety of all those detained in our custody."

The new accounts of violence and substandard living conditions in Camp East Montana are consistent with earlier reports by the AP and others news organizations. At least three detainees held at the facility since it opened in August have died, including a 55-year-old Cuban migrant who was handcuffed and stopped breathing earlier this year after being held down by guards. A local medical examiner later ruled that death a homicide, and a federal report issued last month said evidence in the case was "missing or destroyed." That report by the Government Accountability Office found mismanagement by Homeland Security had created unsafe conditions that contributed to detainee deaths and suffering even as millions of wasted tax dollars enriched contractors.