Ashcroft gets his "ash" sued for cavalierly violating civil rights of swarthy men...
sfgate.com
Civil rights attorneys sue attorney general, alleging abuse of post-Sept. 11 detainees
TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, April 17, 2002
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(04-17) 09:54 PDT NEW YORK (AP) --
Civil rights attorneys sued Attorney General John Ashcroft and other U.S. officials Wednesday, alleging widespread abuse of hundreds of Middle Eastern men detained on immigration violations after Sept. 11.
The class action lawsuit filed in federal court says the plaintiffs have been subjected to unreasonable and excessively harsh conditions. It asks a judge to issue an order protecting the detainees' due process rights and to appoint a monitor to oversee their treatment.
The Center for Constitutional Rights in New York said the lawsuit was the first alleging jailhouse abuse to be filed on behalf of the detainees. Some are still behind bars.
Several lawsuits have been filed on behalf of detainees elsewhere, including some calling for a ban on secret Immigration and Naturalization Service hearings.
"There's no explanation for why they're being held," center attorney Barbara Olshansky said. "These people are being treated worse than criminals."
In some cases, detainees were "placed in tiny, windowless cells for over 23 hours a day," the suit alleges. "Many class members have suffered physical and verbal abuse by their guards. Some were badly beaten."
Calls for comment to the Justice Department and Immigration and Naturalization Service were not immediately returned Wednesday. INS spokesman Bill Strassberger has said the government insists on a high standard of treatment for detainees.
The plaintiffs cite several examples of poor treatment, including the case of Asif-ur-Rehman Saffi, a native of Pakistan, who was arrested at La Guardia Airport in New York on Sept. 30 after his tourist visa expired.
Although an immigration judge ordered him to be deported, the lawsuit alleges he was jailed until March and locked in an isolation unit. Guards allegedly subjected him to strip searches and "severe beatings to the point of unconsciousness," the suit said. |
