Turin's CIE - International University College of Turin

language support in a similar way [to prison]. Unfortunately, everything happens in this
sort of heavy atmosphere within the unconcerned CIE environment, and so everything is
vague and the space for rights is very limited” (Interview 10).
Our interviewees criticised the ad hoc provision of interpreters because the interpreters who
are used can range from police officers and Red Cross staff to family members who interpret via
telephone. Using non-professional interpreters challenges lawyer-client confidentiality and it
limits the questions that lawyers can ask clients, particularly when the authorities are
interpreting:
“There is a lack of interpreters and language may play a key role in the interview. It
happened that I once had to ask a detainee about the way in which he had been detained in
Lampedusa, to hypothesise about whether there had been a kidnapping of person [by the
authorities]. The only person who could help me with interpretation was a police officer!
Clearly, I could not enter into specific questions about the issue. We are missing a law that
[specifically] regulates CIE interviews, also in relation to interpreters” (Interview 5).
Similarly, using well-meaning interpreters who are not professionally trained increases the risk
of accidently relaying important and at times technical legal information inaccurately:
“We have lots of problems with those who do not speak Italian. Sometimes Red Cross
workers help us as interpreters but they are not so keen on doing it. They help us only when
they realise the person really needs to talk with a lawyer to explain something. Once I had
to speak on the phone with my client’s sister in Italian and then pass the phone to my client
so that her sister could explain to her in Arabic what I was saying. Very complicated!”
(Interview 8)
5. LACK OF TRUST
Immigration detainees are vulnerable and often trying to decipher a foreign legal system in a
second language, so they rely on the help and expertise of professionals. Consequently, a lawyer
can be a detainee’s most significant support or link to the outside world. However, detainees
often complain that they cannot get in touch with their lawyers, even for matters as
fundamental as organising telephone advice or an appointment. Lack of communication can
foster a lack of trust.
Sometimes detainees who were transferred from jail to CIE consider their interactions with
their previous lawyer to have been a failure and they frequently hold lawyers responsible for
their additional CIE detention. Our study revealed that often criminal lawyers do not clearly
explain to their immigrant clients about the identification procedure and the realistic possibility
of being detained in CIE after release from prison.
Many detainee interviews showed a general distrust of a system that does not appear
transparent or based on the rule of law: “There is a mafia-like agreement involving police, judges
and lawyers. The lawyer has an unfair agreement with the CIE in order to extend the detention as
this would mean more money for the Italian Government from the European Union” (Interview
15). This detainee did not perceive of their personal lawyer as a personal representative but
rather as another element of an untrustworthy system that was acting in concert.
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