Torture Allegations At SFO Prompt Call For Federal Investigation

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday condemning inhumane treatment of foreign nationals detained at San Francisco International Airport by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.

They also called on federal officials to open an investigation into allegations by Jerome Aladdin Aba, a human rights advocate from the Philippines, who claims that interrogators forced him to strip naked in front
of an industrial fan and provided him with a gun and a hand grenade during a 28-hour detention.

Customs officials have confirmed that Aba arrived at SFO around 8 p.m. April 17 and was denied entry into the U.S. Aba was held in a secure area of the airport until around 12:30 a.m. April 19, when he boarded a
flight back to Manila.

Customs officials said that during his time in detention he had access to food, water, restrooms, reclining chairs and blankets. They categorically denied Aba's allegations that he was asked or forced to remove his clothing.

They also said customs officers would never give a detainee access to a gun, which could be used against them, and that customs does not issue grenades to their personnel.

Pam Tau Lee, chair of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines in the U.S., called that statement an "outrageous lie."

"So many thousands of migrants have told horror stories of the violent attacks, withholding of food and water, intimidation and coercion, and humiliating and misleading interrogation they've experienced at the hands
of CBP agents," Lee said in a statement Tuesday. "It is well documented that such abuse has become routine practice for the agency, but we will not stand for the CBP's 'business as usual' behavior."

Copies of the supervisors' resolution have been forwarded to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, as well as U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris.

• PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Activist Denied Entry At SFO, Flies Back To Philippines

• ALSO SEE: SFO Worker Killed Colleague's BF So He Could Date Her: DA

-- Bay City News/Image via Renee Schiavone, Patch