A prison in the United States is accused of serving pork and offering "a starvation diet" to Muslim inmates during Ramadan.
This week, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed a lawsuit against the Alaska Department of Corrections on behalf of two Muslim plaintiffs held at a prison in Anchorage.
According to the lawsuit, prison officials violated the inmate's constitutional rights by denying them adequate meals during Ramadan and even served them bologna (a form of pork) sandwiches.
"The Constitution and Congress forbid prisons from compelling inmates to choose between their faith and food," CAIR's National Litigation Director Lena Masri said in an official statement.
"We hope that a court will do what Anchorage Correctional Complex officials will not: ensure that Muslim inmates are not starved or forced to violate the principles of their faith during the holy month of Ramadan."
#CAIR Lawsuit: Alaska Muslim prisoners being given meager food, pork products during Ramadan
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) May 23, 2018
A nonprofit that advocates for the civil rights of... https://t.co/t2GzQey98U
"A starvation diet"
Although the Muslim inmates allegedly requested special meals and an altered eating schedule to coincide with their fasting, the prison neglected to do so.
U.S. law requires prisons to "allow for the temporary accommodation of multi-day religious fasting and dietary prohibitions, including fasting during Ramadan," the lawsuit filing explains.
Instead of regular hot meals ranging from 2,600 to 2,800 calories that are the norm in the prison, the Muslim inmates have been given "cold meals" of only 500 to 1,100 calories in total.
Additionally, these meals sometimes contained pork products, reducing what the inmates could eat even further.
CAIR argues that this amounts to offering the prisoners "a starvation diet." The lawsuit asks the court to require the prison to provide a "balanced nutritional diet ... free of pork products" for all Muslim inmates.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed suit against Alaska Department of Corrections officials on Wednesday alleging that Muslim prisoners in an Alaska prison are being "starved" and fed pork products during Ramadan.https://t.co/XYuZZyQ1yF
— Manvinder Singh (@Beardactivist) May 23, 2018
"Their food was confiscated from them"
The prison, however, appears to contest the lawsuit's claims.
Megan Edge, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Corrections, told The Hill that she would not comment directly on ongoing litigation.
However, she said that the prison provides "sack meals" to Muslim prisoners during Ramadan that they can eat at their convenience.
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