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Refugee sues over solitary

 A teenage refugee from South Sudan is suing the Children's Ministry in British Columbia over allegations he was held in solitary confinement for four months.

The youth, known in court documents as K.C., filed a civil claim in B.C. Supreme Court saying his rights were infringed at the Burnaby Youth Detention Centre.

He says in the documents that he had an altercation with a correctional officer and that the ministry held him alone for the allowable 72 hours, but then cleared out an entire living unit and locked him up.

K.C. alleges he was confined between Nov. 4, 2014 and March 17 of this year, when he was 17 years old.

His lawyer Chris Terepocki says the youth came to Canada as a convention refugee at least five years ago, but has been imprisoned since October 2014 on allegations of murder and attempted murder.

Ministry spokesman Bill Anderson would not comment while the case is before the court, but says separate confinement arrangements are made only in very rare circumstances.



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