PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 2002
  
Contacts: Denise Gilman, (202) 319-1000, ext. 121
Jennifer Mason, (202) 419-2454

JUVENILE ASYLUM SEEKER ABANDONED FOR EIGHT MONTHS IN IMMIGRATION
DETENTION AND ASSAULTED BY PRISON GUARDS FILES CIVIL RIGHTS LAWSUIT
AGAINST INS OFFICIALS AND PIEDMONT REGIONAL JAIL

On October 31, 2002, Malik Jarno, a 17-year-old Guinean boy who is seeking asylum in the United States, filed a civil rights lawsuit in United States District Court in Alexandria, Virginia against INS officials, officials and employees of Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Virginia, and the Piedmont Regional Jail Authority. Jarno alleges violations of his constitutional rights stemming from his prolonged INS detention in inappropriate and dangerous facilities and from two episodes of physical abuse, in which he was pepper sprayed and severely beaten by prison guards. Jarno is represented in this lawsuit by the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and the law firm of Holland & Knight. The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area is also providing support for the case. The allegations of the lawsuit include the following:

  • The INS Detained Malik Jarno for Eight Months Before Bringing Him to See a Judge
    Jarno, a juvenile who is moderately mentally retarded, was forced to flee Guinea after the Guinean government destroyed his neighborhood, targeted his family and killed his father, brother, and uncle. Jarno made his way to the United States and arrived at Dulles Airport on January 28, 2001. He was immediately detained. However, Jarno was not brought before an immigration judge until late September 2001 - after he had been detained for almost eight months. During those eight months, INS officials ignored Jarno's pleas for attention and assistance, which he made in person to INS detention officers as well as in written letters.

  • The INS Placed Malik Jarno in Inappropriate and Dangerous Facilities
    Despite the fact that Jarno is a juvenile and has diminished mental capacity, the INS placed him in facilities appropriate only for adults, in violation of its own rules. One such placement was Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Virginia, a local facility which contracts with INS to house adult immigration detainees. INS officials detained Jarno there for approximately seven months, despite knowing that he would be housed with the adult criminal inmate population, that he would receive no services to meet his special needs and that INS detainees have suffered from abuses at the hands of Piedmont Regional Jail guards.

  • Piedmont Regional Jail Guards Pepper Sprayed and Severely Beat Malik Jarno
    Jarno's experience at Piedmont Regional Jail bears out its reputation as a dangerous place for immigrant detainees. In early November 2001, without any provocation, a Piedmont guard shot Jarno in the face with pepper spray at close range. A few hours later, after Jarno had begun to recover from the intense pain caused by the pepper spray, a group of Piedmont guards tackled him, threw him to the ground twice, kicked him and punched him, again without any provocation. These attacks are part of a pattern and practice of abuse by Piedmont guards towards INS detainees, and are indicative of the failure of Piedmont to train its personnel adequately regarding appropriate interactions with the non-criminal immigrant population housed at Piedmont.