UN raises alarm over rising deaths in US immigration custody, calls for 'prompt & independent investigation'

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Friday raised concerns over the rising instances of deaths in the US immigration custody, demanding a "prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigation” into the matter. In a statement, Türk called on the US President Donald Trump administration to face the investigative watchdogs within its own Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The UN official also raised alarm over the use of force by American authorities against people detained in its expanding immigration detention system across the country. The latest assertion by the UN official came at a time when President Donald Trump is facing pressure amid the surge in deaths within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

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These also include a significant series of suicides and a lack of transparency from the US president and his federal agencies. “Those responsible for violations of the law must be held to account, and the rights of the victims’ families to truth, justice and reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence must be upheld,” Türk said in a statement on Friday.

He called on the federal government’s Homeland Security watchdog office to investigate the deaths in ICE custody, along with the use of force on detainees in immigration jails. The statment also follows a scathing report by Human Rights Watch released this week about deaths in ICE detention. The report alleged “violations of ICE policy and international human rights law”.

UN official expresses concern

Meanwhile, Türk also expressed alarm over the use of solitary confinement inside ICE detention centres. “All these factors exacerbate vulnerability and raise serious concerns as to whether some of these deaths in ICE custody could have been prevented,” Türk added.

It is pertinent to note that in the past, the United Nations said that the use of solitary confinement for more than 15 days is considered “torture”, in a report that accused the US of using the punishment excessively in its prisons and jails, as well as overuse worldwide.

In the midst of international scrutiny, the US inspector general’s office within the DHS announced the two separate investigations on Wednesday, after an increasing number of deaths in ICE custody and multiplying allegations of abuse and mismanagement inside ICE facilities.

“We are conducting this evaluation because of an increase in detainee deaths in ICE custody each year since fiscal year 2022,” the DHS inspector general’s office said when announcing its internal investigation. The American watchdog maintains that it will look at whether “systemic factors, policies, or processes” played a role in deaths between 1 October 2021 and 31 March of this year.