Source: OLIVER TEVES
The Philippines' human rights commission and Justice Department are investigating reports of mistreatment and corruption at an immigration detention center, an official said Thursday.
Investigators from the Commission on Human Rights who visited the detention facility on Tuesday said they were particularly concerned about the health of ailing elderly detainees, including two from Japan.
The investigators also warned detention officers that the cage-like solitary confinement cells violated humanitarian laws.
In addition to abuse, the foreign detainees claim they are forced to pay hundreds of thousands of pesos (thousands of dollars) to be released, even for a simple overstay in the country.
"The people who can afford it pay and get out, the ones who cannot literally serve indefinite sentences here," they said in an Internet blog.
The detainees' allegations are being addressed by the Justice Department, which oversees the immigration bureau, Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar said.
"When we heard about this ... I asked for an immediate investigation," Salazar said.
Salazar said he earlier visited the detention center and spoke with most of the roughly 70 detainees.
He said their cases are being assessed to determine which can be disposed of quickly to "reach our target of zero detainees."
One American detainee, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, told The Associated Press he had to give money to guards who escorted him whenever he withdrew money from a bank. Others had to pay for fuel for vehicles that take them to court hearings, he said.
The detainees also complained of a lack of medical care and food rations so small that they would "not be sufficient to sustain a Chihuahua."
Detention warden Noel Carandang acknowledged extortion in past years but said he stopped the practice when he took over in December.
He said the facility has limited funds for medicine and food, and that detention officers have no role in determining which detainees should be released.
He said most of the detainees are overstaying aliens but some face criminal charges such as fraud, rape or working without a permit.
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The Philippines' human rights commission and Justice Department are investigating reports of mistreatment and corruption at an immigration detention center, an official said Thursday.
Investigators from the Commission on Human Rights who visited the detention facility on Tuesday said they were particularly concerned about the health of ailing elderly detainees, including two from Japan.
The investigators also warned detention officers that the cage-like solitary confinement cells violated humanitarian laws.
In addition to abuse, the foreign detainees claim they are forced to pay hundreds of thousands of pesos (thousands of dollars) to be released, even for a simple overstay in the country.
"The people who can afford it pay and get out, the ones who cannot literally serve indefinite sentences here," they said in an Internet blog.
The detainees' allegations are being addressed by the Justice Department, which oversees the immigration bureau, Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar said.
"When we heard about this ... I asked for an immediate investigation," Salazar said.
Salazar said he earlier visited the detention center and spoke with most of the roughly 70 detainees.
He said their cases are being assessed to determine which can be disposed of quickly to "reach our target of zero detainees."
One American detainee, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, told The Associated Press he had to give money to guards who escorted him whenever he withdrew money from a bank. Others had to pay for fuel for vehicles that take them to court hearings, he said.
The detainees also complained of a lack of medical care and food rations so small that they would "not be sufficient to sustain a Chihuahua."
Detention warden Noel Carandang acknowledged extortion in past years but said he stopped the practice when he took over in December.
He said the facility has limited funds for medicine and food, and that detention officers have no role in determining which detainees should be released.
He said most of the detainees are overstaying aliens but some face criminal charges such as fraud, rape or working without a permit.
