Is it true that a new report by amnesty international has shown that torture is being committed in chrome detention center and alligator Alcatraz in Florida?
Executive summary
A new Amnesty International report published in December 2025 concludes that conditions and practices at Florida’s Krome North Service Processing Center (Krome) and the Everglades Detention Facility, widely known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” include treatment that “amounts to torture or other ill‑treatment” in some cases, citing prolonged solitary confinement at Krome and use of a punitive “box” at Alligator Alcatraz [1][2]. Amnesty’s 61‑page investigation documents overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, medical neglect, and enforced‑disappearance‑style practices and calls for independent investigations and closure or reform of those facilities [3][4].
1. Amnesty’s central finding: practices that may legally qualify as torture
Amnesty’s report explicitly states that certain disciplinary measures — notably prolonged solitary confinement at Krome and confinement in a small metal “box” at Alligator Alcatraz — meet the legal threshold of torture or other ill‑treatment under international human rights standards [2][3]. The organization characterizes broader detention conditions at both sites as “cruel, inhuman and degrading,” linking specific practices to those legal conclusions [5].
2. What investigators documented on the ground
Researchers who conducted a September 2025 field mission and subsequent reporting documented overflowing toilets, fecal matter seeping into sleeping areas, limited access to showers, lights on 24 hours, insect infestations, poor food and water, and barriers to legal counsel and due process — conditions Amnesty says were observed at Alligator Alcatraz and Krome [2][6][4]. Amnesty reports also that Alligator Alcatraz operates without the basic tracking mechanisms found in ICE facilities, facilitating incommunicado detention described as “enforced disappearances” [3][7].
3. How the research was done — and its evidentiary basis
Amnesty’s findings are based on a September research trip to southern Florida, a tour of Krome enabled by ICE, interviews with four detainees who had been held at Alligator Alcatraz and Krome, and conversations with local advocacy groups; the report is the product of that primary research and documented testimony [1][8][5]. Amnesty requested access to Alligator Alcatraz but reports it did not receive a response from Florida authorities, meaning some conclusions rely on detainee testimony and corroborating local sources rather than an on‑site Amnesty tour of the Everglades facility [9][5].
4. Independent reporting and public reaction
Mainstream outlets — including The Guardian, Axios Miami, WGCU, and local public radio — summarised Amnesty’s conclusions and reiterated allegations that practices could amount to torture and enforced disappearances, amplifying calls for state and federal inquiries [6][9][4][7]. At the same time, Florida officials — through a spokesperson for Governor Ron DeSantis — dismissed the report as politically motivated, calling some allegations fabrications, illustrating a clear partisan split in public response [10].
5. Recommendations, legal stakes and policy implications
Amnesty urges immediate independent and transparent investigations into deaths and allegations of torture, bans on shackling and prolonged solitary confinement, confidential legal access, and the closure or decommissioning of Alligator Alcatraz — recommendations aimed at compliance with international human rights obligations and U.S. constitutional due process concerns [3][11]. The report also frames the facilities within broader budgetary and policy choices in Florida that expanded detention capacity in 2025 [7][5].
6. Bottom line and reporting limits
It is accurate to say Amnesty International’s new report alleges and concludes that some treatment at Krome and Alligator Alcatraz amounts to torture under international law and documents systemic abuses; those are Amnesty’s findings and legal judgments based on its investigation [2][1]. Independent, adjudicated findings by courts or federal investigators confirming or rejecting each specific allegation are not detailed in the sourced reporting provided here — and Florida officials have publicly disputed the report’s characterisation — so further independent inquiry and official investigations are required to move from allegation to legal determination beyond Amnesty’s authoritative advocacy and documentation [10][9].