El Paso, TX (KKOB) – An 84-page report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union says that current and former immigration detainees at Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss property in El Paso, were either beaten by guards or witnessed others being beaten. According to the report detainees reported being denied necessary medical care, forced to live in filthy conditions and fed inedible meals and they say they were prevented from contacting their lawyers or family members.
Of the 71 detainees contacted over a five month period, about 90% — said they were assaulted by the staff or had seen others physically abused. The new report about the living conditions inside Camp East Montana are similar to earlier reports by The Associated Press and others organizations. 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.
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.”
