HRW Condemns US' Use Of Solitary Confinement In Immigration Detention Centers

Non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized the use of solitary confinement in the United States, particularly in immigration detention centers.

HRW revealed that California Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities used solitary confinement for an average of 27 days, as per the data shown between 2018 and 2023. Earlier this month, detainees at California ICE facilities started a labor and hunger strike to protest their conditions, including the use of solitary confinement.

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Méndez said that solitary confinement lasting more than 15 days was a "form of torture," HRW reported. Using solitary confinement on children and people with mental health issues was also considered torture.

The organization highlighted that in many cases, solitary confinement lasted for at least 90 days, while in 42 cases, it went on for over a year. This goes against international rules that forbid prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement, which is considered torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

According to recent research, solitary confinement in U.S. immigration detention centers causes severe physical and mental harm.

More than 122,000 people are held in solitary confinement for 22 or more hours a day across the U.S. In the last five years, ICE placed people in solitary confinement over 14,000 times, often for months at a time.

In U.S. immigration detention, solitary confinement often worsens past trauma. It can lead to a decline in mental health and detainees rarely get the care they need.

Solitary confinement is linked to anxiety, depression and psychosis, and even a few days can greatly increase the risk of suicide. A recent report mentioned many preventable deaths in ICE detention facilities, including suicides, after time in solitary confinement.

ICE disproportionately uses solitary confinement on people with mental health issues and African and Caribbean immigrants. Black immigrants are six times more likely to be placed in solitary confinement than non-Black immigrants.

Immigration detention should only be used as a last resort and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called for it to be gradually abolished.