Bicameral Helsinki Commission writes to Chertoff

Somewhat late but never useless... the Congress is making more public statements regarding DHS and the condition of detention for undocumented immigrants. It sounds like the WP articles on health care in detention got many people's attention...

No one said anything about Menendezs' speech last week except a New Jersey newspaper, but at least we are now able to see a pattern -- even if it is slow --- eventually there will be enough people interested in humane immigration reform that a good bill will be passed by Congress.

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Politico.com
June 13, 2008
Categories: Diplomacy

Dems: Explain detainee drugging

The bicameral Helsinki Commission, chaired by Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) and Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-Fla.), asked Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff today to explain why and under what conditions U.S. authorities have drugged detainees who were not in need of medical attention.

"We write regarding the recent report in The Washington Post, "Some Detainees Are Drugged for Deportation" (by Amy Goldstein and Dana Priest, May 14, 2008). According to this article, The Washington Post has identified more than 250 cases since 2003 in which the government has, without medical reason and without consent, given psychiatric drugs to immigrant deportees," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Chertoff. "The forced medication of detainees may violate both domestic and international law; moreover, these reports further tarnish the already badly damaged reputation of the United States."

The letter in full — which is also signed by commission members Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Reps. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) — is after the jump.

The Honorable Michael Chertoff

Secretary

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Washington, DC 20528



Dear Secretary Chertoff:



We write regarding the recent report in the Washington Post, "Some Detainees Are Drugged for Deportation" (by Amy Goldstein and Dana Priest, May 14, 2008). According to this article, the Washington Post has identified more than 250 cases since 2003 in which the government has, without medical reason and without consent, given psychiatric drugs to immigrant deportees. The forced medication of detainees may violate both domestic and international law; moreover, these reports further tarnish the already badly damaged reputation of the United States. We urge the Department of Homeland Security to cooperate fully with investigations of these allegations undertaken by Congress.

As members of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission), we were particularly alarmed to read that in 2007, of the 53 deportees drugged without their consent, 50 of them were administered Haldol, a medication designed to treat schizophrenia and acute psychotic states. Due to its abuse by Soviet psychiatric prisons, Haldol has a particularly noxious reputation. The Helsinki Commission has long voiced its concern about medical treatment that may violate international norms, from Russia to Slovakia, and we urge your department to respond seriously and credibly to the issues raised by the Post article. This includes examination of the threat to detainees' health; possible violation of medical ethics by persons employed by DHS; and the policy-making process which resulted in practices that may have been both dangerous and illegal.