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Public Law Solicitors
Brook House Inquiry Report Highlights Racism, Abuse and Inhuman Treatment of Immigration Removal Centre Detainees (19 September 2023)
Date: 19/09/2023
The Chair of the Brook House Inquiry has published her report, which uncovers instances of racism, abuse and inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees.
Duncan Lewis represents six people who were formerly detained at Brook House and Reverend Nathan Ward, a whistle-blower who worked at Brook House and helped bring the mistreatment to light.
The Chair has recommended that there should be a maximum period of immigration detention of 28 days to bring the UK within comparable norms for civilised countries. The Chair explicitly rejected any suggestion that the findings of extensive violence, inhuman and degrading treatment was the consequence of the actions of a small number of people. She has roundly rejected that analysis as presented by the Home Office and G4S at the inquiry.
The following are some of the key findings:
- The Chair found that there were 19 incidents - at least one a week - amounting to inhuman or degrading treatment. These incidents included considerable violence, humiliation and degradation of detainees.
- The Chair found the entire safeguarding system to be dysfunctional. The law and practice around removal from association was routinely misunderstood, misinterpreted and misapplied by both G4S and the Home Office. Crucially, she found that the confusion appears to be continuing under Serco.
- There was a misuse of force against 11 of the 13 detainees whose cases were examined in detail and pain was deliberately and unnecessarily inflicted on four of them during the inappropriate use of force.
- The Chair found serious failings in processes designed to protect vulnerable detainees like suicidal people and torture victims from being detained, or from mistreatment while in detention, particularly in relation to suicidal people. She found that healthcare did not understand their obligations towards detained individuals and failed to appreciate their key safeguarding role.
- The Chair found explicit racism and found that Brook House appears to have been a breeding ground for racist views in the relevant period and was perceived as an acceptable environment in which to express them. The chair found a culture of dehumanisation.
Lewis Kett, Solicitor has said:
‘We are grateful to the Chair for publishing her extensive findings today. Our clients have been subjected to extensive violence, racism and humiliation. The Chair’s report brings to light the abuse they have suffered at the hands of the state, and will play an important role in their ongoing recovery. The Chair found numerous instances of inhuman and degrading treatment resulting from systemic failures and a toxic culture. With government plans afoot to rapidly expand the detention estate, it is imperative that these recommendations are implemented swiftly, and in their entirety, to prevent more needless suffering.’
The legal team representing the six formally detained at Brook House and Reverend Nathan Ward is Lewis Kett, Nicholas Hughes, Sophie Lucas, Jamie Bell and former Duncan Lewis Solicitors Charlotte McLean and Lottie Hume instructing Stephanie Harrison KC, Gordon Lee, Una Morris and Alex Schymyck, of Garden Court Chambers, and Alex Goodman KC, of Landmark Chambers.