UN calls for ‘prompt investigations’ of deaths in US immigration custody

Posters of immigrant detainees who have died in ICE custody are posted on a pole outside Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, on 12 June. Photograph: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Posters of immigrant detainees who have died in ICE custody are posted on a pole outside Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, on 12 June. Photograph: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis/Getty Images UN calls for ‘prompt investigations’ of deaths in US immigration custody High commissioner for human rights calls for ‘those responsible for violations of the law’ to be held to account US politics live – latest updates The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, on Friday raised the alarm internationally about deaths in US government immigration custody and called for “prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigations”. Türk’s call came as the Trump administration faced investigations by watchdogs at its own Department of Homeland Security (DHS) into deaths and use of force against people detained in its expanding immigration detention system across the country. Donald Trump is coming under increased pressure amid the surge in deaths within Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) custody, which comes under the DHS, including 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 . Türk’s call on Friday followed an announcement by the federal government’s Homeland Security watchdog office that it will be investigating deaths in ICE custody and use of force on detainees in immigration jails. Similarly, it 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”. Türk also expressed alarm over the use of solitary confinement inside ICE detention centers. “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. The UN has previously 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. The US inspector general’s office within the DHS, meanwhile, 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 of detainee deaths in ICE custody each year since fiscal year 2022,” the DHS inspector general’s office said when announcing its internal investigatio