Man allegedly 'treated like an animal,' drank toilet water at HMP while awaiting deportation

A man was held at Her Majesty's Penitentiary in St. John's for more than a year after serving his prison sentence, enduring "catastrophic" conditions while federal authorities sorted out his immigration status, documents show.

While at HMP, one of the country's oldest prisons, Doudou Mpumudjie Kikewa was allegedly "treated like an animal," deprived of water and forced to "drink from the toilet," according to hearing transcripts from the Immigration and Refugee Board, a tribunal that makes decisions on immigration matters.

Conditions at HMP have repeatedly been condemned as deplorable. During his time at the penitentiary, the citizen of Congo, also known as Congo-Kinshasa, also faced "shocking" and "racist" treatment, according to the transcripts. 

The documents show the Francophone was repeatedly placed in solitary confinement at the prison, which had no French services available.

Convicted of identity theft, fraud and breaches of court orders in August 2019, Kikewa, 34, should have left prison about a year later. Instead, he remained at HMP until March 2022.

Serving what immigration lawyers call "double punishment," the permanent resident was declared inadmissible by the immigration board and a deportation order was issued in June 2020. He was kept in provincial prison while awaiting deportation because the board believed he presented a flight risk and a danger to the public.

In early March, Radio-Canada reported that Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province not to have stopped detaining migrants in provincial prisons or to have committed to phase out the practice. The province has since told Ottawa that as of March 31, 2025, it will no longer allow federal authorities to hold detainees in provincial prisons purely on immigration grounds.

Deportation delayed multiple times

Kikewa's deportation to Congo, a country he hadn't set foot in since he was a teenager, was delayed multiple times. Transcripts show he refused to co-operate with Canada Border Services Agency employees and wouldn't take a COVID-19 test, a measure required by Congolese authorities. His file also underwent a procedural review in Federal Court, which prolonged his case.

As Kikewa's stay at HMP dragged on, documents show his mental state appeared to deteriorate.

"[Kikewa] had begun experiencing distressing mental health issues and had been placed in solitary confinement and under suicide watch, as he had been observed banging his head repeatedly against the wall," reads a federal immigration court judgment from January 2022. 

In a statement submitted to the immigration board in February 2021, the assistant superintendent at HMP explained the prison's "inability to offer this inmate the same services that are afforded to the rest of the inmate population." 

"We do not offer programming in French and we are unable to offer ethnic diversity. Further to this, this individual does not have any family support within the area, he does not have any money in his account to purchase hygiene products and/or the canteen, he does not have any community resources for interaction through visits or phone calls."

Violent incidents with correctional staff

Newfoundland and Labrador doesn't have any federal detention centres for immigrants. In monthly detention review decisions from the immigration board, Kikewa's detention at HMP was repeatedly described as the only option available given the lack of "viable alternatives" in the province.

While Kikewa was eventually granted a transfer to a detention centre in Quebec, a province where members of his family reside and correctional workers speak French, the move took months.

"Mr. Kikewa cannot be transferred aboard a commercial plane because of security concerns, so it must be done by a private plane with the help of the RCMP," noted immigration board judge Dianne Tordorf during a July 15, 2021 hearing.

A transfer attempt occurred sometime in late summer or early fall 2021, but failed. Judge Élise Leclerc-Gagné noted, according to a transcript, that during the attempt Kikewa had allegedly received threats from a correctional officer who "said he would make his life difficult before sending him to Montreal."

Kikewa was allegedly "placed on the ground and strangled for around 30 minutes." He also received kicks to his body, according to the Feb. 15, 2021, transcript. A correctional officer also allegedly used racial slurs.

Sedative allegedly given without authorization

On March 3, 2022, about 19 months after his preventive detention at HMP began, Kikewa arrived in Montreal — but not without violence.

"What the board has understood is that there were many measures taken to secure [Kikewa]," said immigration board judge Ethan Friedman during a hearing on March 15, 2022. 

"Mr. Kikewa explained that he had been cuffed, that he … wore a mask, he couldn't see, they gave him a needle without his authorization, he had enormous difficulty breathing, he was in his seat for three or four hours for the flight. At a certain point, he passed out," said Friedman.

Friedman said Canada Border Services Agency agents had administered the sedative to help the detainee with his distress during the flight.

"The [CBSA] tried to control a difficult situation," he said.

Once Kikewa arrived at the federal detention centre in Montreal, he was kept in isolation and took only two showers between March 2 and 15, 2022, according to a hearing transcript.

"He hasn't changed his clothes since arriving. He has the same underwear on," said Friedman during a hearing on March 31, 2022.

Radio-Canada was not able to speak to Kikewa. His lawyer, Pierre-Olivier Marcoux, declined an interview because he also had not been able to reach his client.

Radio-Canada was also not able to confirm whether Kikewa's deportation has taken place.

'I think it's being handled OK right now'

Kikewa's treatment raises serious questions about the conditions faced by people detained for immigration reasons in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The provincial justice and public safety minister, John Hogan, said March 4 that immigration detention is not a common practice in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"The goal is to maintain public safety when it is needed," Hogan said. "I think it's being handled OK right now."

In total, 28 people were detained on immigration grounds in Newfoundland and Labrador between 2019 and 2023, according to the CBSA. The majority were held at HMP.

Newfoundland and Labrador's citizen's representative received two complaints based on immigration detention at provincial correctional facilities in the last year. Kikewa's lawyer also previously submitted a complaint to the citizen's representative based on his treatment at HMP.

"Detention is used as a last resort," wrote CBSA spokesperson Karine Martel in a statement.

In a statement, the provincial Justice Department said "detention of individuals on purely immigration-related grounds continues to be rare in Newfoundland and Labrador, with only two instances recorded since 2022."

"Once [Kikewa's] sentence had been served for criminal convictions, Adult Corrections advocated strongly for the Canada Border Services Agency to take custody of the individual," added department spokesperson Eric Humber. 

"Any action involving this inmate while in custody in Newfoundland and Labrador are a result of risks towards himself, staff and/or other inmates. Every inmate is subject to the rules and procedures of correctional facilities."

On March 12, the provincial government told CBSA that provincial prisons will stop accepting individuals detained solely on immigration grounds as of March 31, 2025. Newfoundland and Labrador is the last Canadian province to announce it would phase out the controversial practice.

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