Asylum seeker’s petition claims mistreatment
Political activist says he is being kept in inhumane conditions
A political activist from the Democratic Republic of Congo being held in an immigration detention facility near Grants as he seeks asylum is being kept in inhumane prison conditions without medical care, according to a petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.
The writ of habeas corpus, filed in federal court Friday, says the man hasn’t been given his required medication for tuberculosis and has at times been kept in solitary confinement, where he was forced to sleep on a floor with no mattress.
The petition, which, if granted, would allow the man to come before a federal judge to argue his case, says he fled the DRC after government agents killed his friends as the group canvassed communities supporting a candidate opposing the current ruler, Joseph Kabila Kabange.
The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in a February 2017 report says there is documentation of the killings of hundreds of protesters by the army under Kabila Kabange.
The petition says the asylum seeker was at times jailed and seriously beaten for his work in opposing Kabila Kabange. He fled to Brazil and made his way to the U.S., where he officially petitioned for political asylum at the El Paso port of entry.
“Our client risked everything to resist the brutal dictatorship that has a stranglehold on his home country,” New Mexico Immigrant Law Center attorney Rebekah Wolf said in a statement. “America has long been a refuge for the politically oppressed, and our client deserves better than to suffer abuse and neglect in one of our country’s worst run for-profit prisons.”
CoreCivic, the corporation contracted by the federal government to run the prison system, did not immediately return an inquiry for comment.
The petition also names federal immigration and homeland security officials.
The ACLU says the detainee hasn’t been offered a bond hearing or other customary chances for release from incarceration while his case is processed through the courts.
A federal magistrate judge has been assigned to review the case to see if it merits a hearing before a higher level federal judge.