ITALY: Illegal immigrants in Italy say authorities have beaten them, given them sedatives and gagged them during expulsion, Amnesty International said yesterday.
In a review of Italy's treatment of immigrants, the human rights group dismissed government assertions that the number of complaints at temporary detention centres had been declining and instead pointed to "consistent" allegations of abuse.
Many incidents involved unnecessary detention, the inability to file asylum claims and a lack of access to legal counsel at the centres, which process migrants for possible deportation, the group said. But some accusations were more serious.
Amnesty researcher Nerys Lee cited a court case in southern Italy in which detainees accuse authorities of severe abuse after an escape attempt from a centre in November 2002.
"One man, after being spat at, slapped, beaten with a truncheon and force-fed raw pork, had his clothes taken off and was forced to stay in an outside courtyard in the winter cold for several hours," Amnesty said.
Since the Italian government did not grant it access to the centres, Amnesty said it was unable to independently confirm the allegations or interview immigrants to see if their rights were being respected before deportation.
"(But) the number, consistency and regularity of the allegations . . . has led Amnesty to believe that there is a substantial cause for concern," said Mr Lee.
Recent high-profile cases of rape and murder by illegal immigrants have turned immigration into a hot political issue in Italy. - (Reuters)