UN demands accountability after 23 deaths in US immigration custody

UN demands accountability after 23 deaths in US immigration custody



UN High commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk looks on during the 63rd session of United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, in Geneva, on September 7, 2026. — AFP pic


Summary

• The UN rights chief urged the US to ensure accountability for 23 immigration custody deaths in 2026 and halt deportations to dangerous areas.
• Reports highlight the highest death rates in ICE custody in over a decade, linked to Trump's immigration crackdown.
• Concerns were raised about US plans to equip ICE agents with electric shock gloves, potentially increasing violence during operations.

First Published: Monday, 07 Sep 2026 5:56 PM MYT


GENEVA, Sept 7 — The United Nations rights chief on Monday demanded accountability for swelling numbers of deaths in US immigration custody, and urged Washington to halt deportations to places where people face “irreparable harm”.

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council, Volker Turk highlighted that “four more people have died in US immigration custody since my last update to this council” in June.



That meant there had been “a total of 23 deaths in 2026 alone”, he said, insisting that “there needs to be accountability for these deaths”.


US President Donald Trump has made combating illegal immigration a top priority of his second term, with authorities rounding up thousands of people and expanding detention centres.


A joint report by Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights in June said that the rate of people dying in ICE custody has reached its highest level in over a decade amid Trump’s crackdown.


The UN rights chief on Monday also called out a range of other US immigration enforcement practices, including forcing migrant returns to dangerous places and to countries they had no connection to.

“I urge the United States to halt the return of people to places where they could suffer irreparable harm, including Haiti, and to ensure due process for all removals to third countries,” he told the council.


The UN rights chief also voiced alarm at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency’s reported plans to “equip immigration agents with electric shock gloves”, warning this would “increase the violence associated with their operations”.

The plan to purchase the shock gloves, which was first reported by The Associated Press, calls for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the ICE parent agency, to spend $10 to $20 million on what are described as “distraction and de-escalation” devices.

ICE has come in for criticism for a series of fatal shootings during enforcement operations, including those of two American citizens in Minnesota in January who were involved in anti-ICE protests.

Critics have focused on the forceful tactics used by ICE agents in rounding up migrants and on an alleged lowering of the standards of training for new recruits. — AFP

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The 1997 ASEAN Summit: Defending Universal Rights

Albright ... assert[ed] that basic freedoms are global:

Ms. Albright was reported to have lectured Malaysia, “It would be a great mistake to consider these principles imposed by the West,” and as promising that the United States “would be relentless in its opposition to any attempt to water down the declaration.” -- [The New York Times].

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The US of A - What hypocrisy!!!