Chicago Police Department's Secret Facility in Homan Square
By Noah Charnas and Matthew Zhu
In Chicago’s Homan Square there is a warehouse owned by the
Chicago Police Department. At Homan Square, the CPD randomly detains people
while violating many human rights. Because the warehouse and its operation is
off-the-books, the detention process there is called “disappearing”. When a
detainee was detained, the police don’t have to report it which opened
detainees to many human rights abuses.The statistics and data surrounding Homan
Square are also very incomplete. There are 7,000 reported cases, but CPD did
not report cases that did not end in a charge or cases before 2004. Since the
warehouse was purchased in 1995, there is a substantial period of time that
isn’t documented. From the disclosed statistics there is a clear racial bias as
82% of reported detainees were black.
There are many human rights abuses that occur at Homan
Square. First, the CPD denied the right to an attorney. In 68% of the disclosed
cases, the detainee did not have access to an attorney. Even for those that
did, many said the access was limited and superficial. Second, the
interrogation tactics that were used are very similar to those employed in
Guantanamo Bay such as isolation, deprivation of food and being cut off from
outside contact. Reports have also shown that police have used racial slurs and try to physically and sexually abuse detainees in order to extract information out of them.
Homan Square is a very interesting topic to think about when considering the different discussions that we have had in this course. With the readings of Just Mercy, that set the basis for this course and consumed most of our attention in the beginning of the year, we are very familiar with racial injustices within the justice system. Stevenson focused more on the ways that the law disproportionately affects black people due to racist judges, juries, and cities. The events at Homan Square focus on those that are supposed to be the enforcers of justice: the police. Racial biases are still prevalent throughout America and through other recent instance of police brutality, many of these incidents have been brought to the public eye. Within our discussions of the UDHR and subsequent human rights documents, we noticed how certain documents specified that it was illegal to discriminate based on race, color, religion, etc. The events at Homan Square clearly exemplify discrimination and denial of rights based off of race and color; therefore breaking the laws and policies that are the basis for the current human rights regime. Other reports of sexual abuse, only add to the catastrophe that has taken place in the middle of Chicago.So, we ask you:
Who's responsibility is it to take action against the Chicago Police Department, the international community or the federal government?
How can we prevent human rights abuses, such as the one at Homan Square, from occurring?
What changes can the government make to provide all citizens the freedoms, that are taken away due to racial discrimination, they are obliged to?
Links:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/02/behind-the-disappeared-of-chicagos-homan-square/385964/
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