The United States should immediately halt the transfer of immigrant detainees to the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, where they face "abusive and inhumane detention conditions that may amount to ill-treatment," Human Rights Watch said in a report released Friday.
The human rights organization's findings are based on interviews with 20 Venezuelan immigrants who were secretly transferred to the base and held for up to 16 days before being deported.
Those interviewed were never informed they would be taken to Guantánamo, nor were their families notified, said Human Rights Watch investigators. They described being held in unsanitary conditions, denied access to legal information, and isolated in solitary confinement for nearly the entirety of their detention.
“The US government has taken immigrants to Guantánamo and subjected them to incommunicado detention in appalling conditions,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement. “No immigrant or asylum seeker who leaves their country in search of protection should be taken to a place like this.”
The report details the psychological and physical toll of the confinement. Some detainees reported attempting suicide out of despair.
One told Human Rights Watch investigators: “I was so desperate that I tried to cut my wrists with the edges of plastic water bottles, but they weren’t sharp enough.”
The majority of those interviewed were held in a high-security unit known as Camp 6, in two-by-three-meter individual cells with concrete beds and a combined sink-toilet.
“The worst part was the confinement, isolated, not knowing what would happen to us,” a 35-year-old man told Human Rights Watch.
The detainees said they were kept isolated for up to 23 hours a day.
“We weren’t allowed to talk, so at night we shouted through the cracks in the doors to let each other know we were still alive,” a 30-year-old deportee said.
The report found that many immigrants were detained after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, accused of belonging to a Venezuelan criminal group based on their tattoos and nationality alone.
One 30-year-old man recounted being accused of gang affiliation during a scheduled asylum appointment. After being shackled and placed on a plane, he was shocked by what he saw upon arrival.
“After the plane landed, I saw lots of barbed wire and fences,” he said.
The detainees also reported a lack of basic hygiene and sanitation.
A 38-year-old construction worker described his cell as filthy and smelling of sewage.
“The water was yellow, parts of the sink were rusty, the ceiling and walls were damp, and there were insects and cobwebs everywhere,” he told Human Rights Watch. “It was completely filthy, and I got sick because of it.”
“Everyone in immigration detention should be treated with basic humanity, which includes the right to meaningful human contact,” said Goebertus. “This isn’t a privilege. It’s a fundamental right.”
