WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd October, 2018) A Russian asylum seeker held in a US immigrant detention center, who went on a hunger strike to protest poor medical treatment, ended his fast amid threats of force-feeding and the imposition of a spate of unwarranted disciplinary measures, according to Human Rights Watch.
In a letter to Acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Ronald Vitiello on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch focused on the plight of Viacheslav Poliakov, a Russian national and asylum seeker.
"Mr. Poliakov told Human Rights Watch he and two other men started their hunger strike on August 22," the letter from Human Rights watch US Executive Director Nicole Austin-Hillery stated. "Under threat of being force-fed, he... began drinking electrolytes."
The letter described Poliakov's experience in detail to illustrate Human Rights Watch's concerns with similar treatment of detainees at detention centers throughout the United States.
"I write to share our concerns about the treatment of a hunger striker at Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington and to ask for careful review of the treatment of hunger strikers throughout the US immigration detention system," the letter said.
In addition to being threatened with a feeding tube, Poliakov told Human Rights Watch that he was put into isolation after announcing his strike, denied access to a telephone, the recreational yard, television, newspapers, and the prison's law library, the letter explained.
The letter noted that ICE has obtained court orders to force feed hunger striking detainees in the past, and there have been allegations of unwarranted disciplinary measures against hunger strikers at detention centers throughout the country.
HRW requested that ICE allow independent medical professionals to review and monitor the status of Poliakov and other hunger-striking detainees at Northwest Detention Center and throughout the immigration detention system in a manner consistent with international ethical standards.
