Illegal immigrants in Italy say authorities have beaten them, given them sedatives and gagged them during expulsion, Amnesty International said yesterday.

In a review of Italy's treatment of immigrants, the human rights group dismissed government assertions that the number of complaints at temporary detention centres had been declining and instead pointed to "consistent" allegations of abuse.

Many incidents involved unnecessary detention, the inability to file asylum claims and a lack of access to legal counsel at the centres, which process migrants for possible deportation, the group said.

But some accusations were more serious. Amnesty researcher Nerys Lee cited a court case in southern Italy in which detainees accuse authorities of severe abuse after an escape attempt from a centre in November 2002.

"One man, after being spat at, slapped, beaten with a truncheon and force-fed raw pork, had his clothes taken off and was forced to stay in an outside courtyard in the winter cold for several hours," Amnesty said in the report.

Since the Italian government did not grant it access to the centres, Amnesty said it was unable to independently confirm the allegations or interview immigrants to see whether their rights were being respected before deportation.

"(But) the number, consistency and regularity of the allegations... has led Amnesty to believe that there is a substantial cause for concern," Lee said.

Recent high-profile cases of rape and murder by illegal immigrants have turned immigration into a hot political issue in Italy. Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu this month accused immigrants of committing up to half of all crimes in some Italian regions and denied there was abuse at the centres.

The government had no comment on this report, but has previously said all claims for asylum were carefully weighed.

Amnesty, however, said the detention centres themselves appeared to be part of the problem - along with fast-track expulsions that have seen thousands of immigrants swiftly flown back to Africa, including, it said, possible asylum seekers.

The UN High Commission for Refugees has also previously accused Rome of breaking international law by preventing UNHCR officials from meeting migrants before their deportation.

Amnesty said that immigrants have accused authorities of "excessive and abusive administration of sedative drugs" during the expulsion procedures.