USA: special registration process must be reviewed

USA: special registration process must be reviewed


10 January 2003 -- Today is the deadline for males from the second round of
Arab and Muslim
countries and North Korea to register with the United States immigration
authorities under new security rules. Amnesty International is calling on
the US authorities to ensure respect for the human rights of non citizens
and to review the special registration process to ensure that it is
administered fairly and complies with the principle of non-discrimination
under international law.

"The US government must ensure that immigration laws are not applied
in a way which violates fundamental protections against discrimination
under international law. They must also ensure that these individuals are
treated humanely and that the rights of all those questioned, arrested or
detained are scrupulously observed in accordance with international law."

"The registration process must be administered fairly, and those
facing questioning, detention or other legal proceedings should be given
prompt access to lawyers. Anyone seeking asylum must be given a full and
fair hearing and no-one should be deported to a country where their
security may be at risk. The US government must investigate all allegations
of ill-treatment thoroughly," Amnesty International said.

Amnesty International's concern follows the detention last month of a
large number of Middle Eastern and Muslim men and boys, after they had come
forward voluntarily to comply with the first deadline to register with the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

The National Security Entry-Exit Registration System requires those
already in the US to appear before immigration officers to provide detailed
information about their locations, jobs, studies and visa status.
Individuals are photographed and fingerprinted as part of this registration
program which aims to track foreigners in the USA on temporary visas.
According to reports, those who fail to comply face criminal charges and
immediate expulsion from the country.

The new regulation required males aged 16 and over from Iran, Iraq,
Syria, Libya and Sudan who do not have permanent resident status to report
to the INS by 16 December 2002. While the order applied throughout the
country, most of the detentions took place in southern California during
the days before expiration of the deadline, when many people turned up to
register.

Most of the detainees were held for minor visa violations, including
expired visas or failing to provide adequate documentation; many reportedly
had pending applications for extensions, or had nearly completed the
process for legal residency. There were also reports that people believed
to be in compliance with immigration regulations were also detained.

Detainees were reportedly:

· denied food and necessary medicines and access to lawyers;

· forced to sleep standing up on concrete floors, in freezing
conditions with no blankets;

· subject to strip searches and hosed down with cold water;

· shuttled between states in prison buses shackled and in handcuffs
looking for free cells.



Relatives of some detainees are reported to have said that detainees
were told they would be deported without seeing their families again.

Detainees included a 16-year-old boy on a student visa seeking
permanent residency to be able to join his mother and stepfather, a US
citizen, and an Iranian Jewish man whose application for permanent
residency had been held up in INS proceedings for 5 years.

It is believed that around 400 people were detained, 18 of whom,
according to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, remain in
detention, though this number has been disputed by immigrant organisations.

Civil rights and immigrant groups have questioned the selective nature
of the treatment so far, noting that all the detainees are from Muslim
states, with the exception of North Korea.

Males from 15 other mainly Muslim countries from the Middle East and
North Africa are required to register over the next two months and include
Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea ,
Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen who must
register by 10 January, and those from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, by 21
February.

Amnesty International does not dispute the requirement of immigrants
on temporary visas to be tracked and registered. However, if people are
being detained or singled out for harsh treatment solely on grounds of
their nationality or gender this would appear to breach international
standards prohibiting discrimination.



****************************************
Nina Tesenfitz
Pressesprecherin
amnesty international
Sektion der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e.V.

amnesty international. Für die Menschenrechte.

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