The Mexican drug lord is being held in a New York prison cell 23 hours a day with the lights on at all times, according to letter from the human rights group

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Held without access to sunlight or his relatives, Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is under more restrictive captivity than any other US prisoner, his court-appointed lawyers said on Thursday.



Mexico extradited Guzmán, who is the head of Sinaloa cartel, to New York in January, a few hours before President Donald Trump took office. Guzmán, who escaped from two Mexican prisons and was a key figure in a bloody drug war, is seen as a flight risk by the US government.



Guzmán is restricted to his New York City cell for 23 hours a day, with the lights on at all times. He has one hour of exercise in a small interior cage with no access to fresh air or sunlight, Amnesty International said in a letter to assistant US attorney Andrea Goldbarg dated 28 March.



The human rights group is “concerned that the conditions imposed on [Guzman] appear to be unnecessarily harsh and to breach international standards for humane treatment”, the letter said.

Amnesty is seeking access to the Metropolitan correctional center in lower Manhattan to interview Guzmán.

He has not been allowed to speak to his wife or other family members, and the conditions of captivity exceed any other mainland US prison, including the super-secure Colorado prison known as Supermax, public defense attorney Michelle Gelernt said.



“Mr Guzmán is being held under the worst, most restrictive conditions of any prisoner currently detained by the United States government,” Gelernt said.



“Even convicted prisoners held in the notorious federal Supermax in Colorado are allowed to watch television in their cells, exercise outside where they can speak with other inmates, and speak with their families. Mr Guzmán enjoys none of these benefits.”



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In a filing on Wednesday to US district Judge Brian Cogan of the eastern district of New York, Guzmán’s lawyers said the strict confinement puts Guzmán at risk of psychological damage, and that he may already be “hearing non-existent sounds”.

US prosecutors have argued that such tough measures – called special administrative measures – are needed to prevent Guzmán from communicating with his cartel cohorts still running the multinational trafficking organization, and to prevent a repeat of his two Mexican prison escapes.

In his most recent escape in 2015, Guzmán walked out of prison through a mile-long highly engineered tunnel from his cell, a sign of the huge influence he was able to wield even from behind bars.



The US confinement conditions, especially restrictions on communicating with family members, means it is tough for Guzmán to contract private lawyers, since he is not able to speak to his family to arrange payment or discuss potential attorneys, Gelernt said.