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Immigration agency rebuts complaints of inmate violence

The National Immigration Agency (NIA) yesterday rejected accusations that guards at one of its detention centers in Ilan County had turned a blind eye to violence among inmates.

Chinese democracy activist Cai Lujun (蔡陸軍), who was released from the center last month, complained on Jan. 4 that that senior inmates were allowed to bully and use violence against newcomers.

NIA Deputy Director-General Wu Hsueh-yen (吳學燕) said the agency had taken Cai's complaint seriously and had immediately investigated it. He said Cai had been informed of the results of a preliminary investigation within three days.

Officials have never turned a blind eye to violent behavior in detention facilities, Wu said, and officials at the Ilan center had handled 12 incidents of inmate conflict since last July. Wu said the inmates involved had been isolated and punished.

Wu said the center, which used to house illegal Chinese migrants, began accepting detainees from other countries last May and that had raised the risk of inmate conflicts.

The Ilan center now houses people from 18 countries, so conflicts can easily erupt because of national differences, language, religious beliefs or customs, Wu said. He said the guards have tried to prevent such incidents from becoming serious.

In order to prevent conflict, the center divides inmates by nationalities and has a mailbox and hotline for inmate complaints.

Wu said he had not heard of any complaints about guards' mismanagement or inmate violence besides Cai's case.

Cai spent three years in Chinese jails before illegally entering Taiwan last July to seek political asylum.

He was sent to the Ilan holding center after turning himself in to authorities, but was released last month after receiving a temporary resident permit.
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