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2h ago

Human Rights Watch Says U.S.-Deported Venezuelans Were Tortured at El Salvador’s CECOT Prison

The new report challenges government claims about the detainees’ criminal ties, intensifying pressure for an independent probe of U.S. transfers to Bukele’s prison system.

In this photo provided by El Salvador’s presidential press office, a prison guard transfers deportees from the U.S., alleged to be Venezuelan gang members, to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (El Salvador presidential press office via AP)

Overview

  • Human Rights Watch reports that 252 Venezuelans deported by the United States to El Salvador in March and April were subjected to near-daily beatings, incommunicado confinement, contaminated water, and some cases of sexual violence at CECOT.
  • The group’s profiles, according to the report, show roughly half had no criminal record and only 3% had U.S. violent-crime convictions, undercutting official portrayals of them as terrorists or gang members.
  • White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the deportations, saying President Trump is committed to removing dangerous criminal and terrorist illegal aliens.
  • Former detainees say conditions worsened after a visit by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and they recount a brief May hunger strike to protest the beatings.
  • El Salvador returned the 252 to Venezuela in a July 18 prisoner exchange, and rights groups are calling for an end to third-country transfers and for independent investigations.