Police and the UK Border Agency are investigating a complaint by a 27-year-old man who claims he was repeatedly punched by private security guards before passing out as he was forced into a potentially lethal position during a failed deportation.
Marius Betondi said the prolonged attack by a team of four guards took place before other passengers boarded a plane to Ghana at Heathrow in January. Betondi says he was left with blood pouring from his face, cuts and bruises to his head and a broken nose.
At one point Betondi, who was handcuffed, said he lost consciousness as guards sitting either side of him at the back of the plane forced his head between his legs making it difficult for him to breath. The technique,previously nicknamed carpet karaoke by guards, is strictly prohibited as it can result in a form of suffocation known as positional asphyxia.
Details of the complaint come just days before the high court was due to hear a judicial review of the techniques used to restrain detainees during deportation.
Emma Norton from Liberty, the human rights organisation that is taking the case next week, said it had received "a great many reports" of people who claimed to have been abused or assaulted during deportation, and it said the government's policy on the use of control and restraint during removals was not fit for purpose.
She said Liberty had asked to see details of the government's policy on the use of force during deportations but had been turned down.
"We were very surprised when the home secretary refused to disclose that document to us in its entirety ... This meant that we couldn't be sure the techniques were safe to be used on an aircraft. For these reasons we decided to bring a judicial review of the home secretary's decision to withhold significant parts of that document and we are also challenging the underlying policy itself because we say it is not safe and not fit for purpose."
The latest alleged assault took place on 18 January when guards from the private security company Tascor – previously Reliance – took Betondi from Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre to Heathrow to board a flight back to Cameroon via Ghana.
According to Betondi's complaint, he did not fight back at any stage. He said the attack started when he was dragged to a seat at the back of the plane. As the handcuffs cut into his wrists he began screaming and he said it was at that point that the guards started punching him "as if it were a boxing championship".
"Blood started oozing out of my face, terribly. They broke my nose and injured my eye and all my teeth and gums, all my face was bleeding."
At one point he said he passed out as the attack continued. "They started pushing my head down, it was like they were stabbing me with knives on my spinal cord the pain I had. I went unconscious as they pressed me under that chair until one of them lifted me up and I recovered consciousness."
A doctor instructed by Medical Justice examined Betondi. Dr Charmian Goldwyn concluded: "The overall pattern of lesions is in my view typical of Mr Betondi's history of assault, and alternative explanations such as accidental injury or self-harm are far less likely causes."
Betondi, who is now back in Harmondsworth, said he was eventually taken off the plane by the escort guards. .
Tascor said it did not comment on individual cases but insisted its "methods of operations are compliant with the relevant statutory regulations, as well as agreed client guidelines and industry best practice," adding that any members who fell short of those standards would face disciplinary action. UKBA said it was aware of the alleged assault and was investigating but refused to comment further.
Next week's judicial review follows the case of Jimmy Mubenga, an Angolan refugee who collapsed while being escorted on a flight from Heathrow airport in October 2010. Passengers on the plane said they heard him shouting that he could not breathe as the guards restrained him. In the months after his death a Guardian investigation revealed that some staff had repeatedly raised concerns that potentially lethal force was being used against deportees. The whistleblowers also alleged that staff were poorly trained, and under-resourced. A current whistleblower has told the Guardian he has similar concerns about the current removals process.
Liberty says the home office was aware of the potential problems as far back as 2008 when a UKBA-commissioned report from the prison service said escort guards needed "scenario based training".
"That was in 2008 and it is now 2013 and we still don't have a robust safe policy so what has the home office been doing all of these years we don't know," said Norton.
A UKBA spokesperson did not answer specific questions about the case, but said: "Where we and the courts find that an individual has no right to be in the UK we expect them to leave. Where they refuse we will enforce their removal."
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