US Deportations to El Salvador Spark Widespread Human Rights Outcry.
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The United States’ recent mass deportation of Venezuelans and Salvadorans to El Salvador has triggered serious human rights concerns, with the fate of hundreds of deportees now shrouded in uncertainty. According to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), over 100 Venezuelans and at least 30 Salvadorans deported under the US Alien Enemies Act are believed to be held at El Salvador’s maximum-security Centre for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), a prison notorious for its harsh conditions and lack of transparency.
Reports from families and lawyers indicate that many deportees were not told they would be sent to a third country, nor given a chance to challenge their removal in court. Upon arrival in El Salvador, detainees are kept incommunicado, denied access to legal counsel, and cut off from family contact. Official lists of those detained have not been published, and the legal status of these individuals remains unclear. “Families we have spoken to have expressed a sense of complete powerlessness in the face of what has happened and their pain at seeing their relatives labelled and handled as violent criminals, even terrorists, without any court judgment as to validity of what is claimed against them,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
Inside CECOT, conditions are grim. Detainees are confined for up to 23 hours a day in overcrowded, windowless cells, sleeping on metal bunks without bedding. Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have documented patterns of abuse, lack of medical care, and in some cases, treatment amounting to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment. Many deportees have no criminal charges or convictions, yet are treated as high-level gang members, with the Salvadoran government declaring they “will never leave” the facility. The US government, meanwhile, has not provided clarity on the legal process or the criteria used for these deportations, raising questions about due process and the risk of wrongful detention.
International law prohibits sending individuals to countries where they may face torture, arbitrary detention, or other serious harm, a principle known as non-refoulement. UN experts and rights advocates warn that the current practice violates both US and international standards, especially as many deportees are at risk of further abuse or even onward deportation to Venezuela, where threats of enforced disappearance and torture remain high.
“This situation raises serious concerns regarding a wide array of rights that are fundamental to both US and international law—rights to due process, protection from arbitrary detention, equality before the law, and protection from exposure to torture or other irreparable harm in other States,” Türk emphasized.
The lack of transparency and legal safeguards has left families in distress, often learning of their loved ones’ fate only through leaked videos or social media posts showing them in CECOT. Human rights groups have filed lawsuits and called on both the US and Salvadoran governments to immediately clarify the status of detainees, allow legal and family contact, and halt further deportations until rights can be guaranteed.
As international pressure mounts, advocates stress that the rights to freedom, fair trial, asylum, legal defense, and protection against torture are not privileges, but obligations that must be upheld at all times. The unfolding situation serves as a stark warning about the dangers of bypassing due process and the human cost of harsh immigration enforcement.
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