Overview

• Lawyers representing the 252 freed men have filed federal suits alleging the U.S. government violated due process and is liable for state-sanctioned torture at Cecot.
• Court filings detail beatings, sexual violence, overcrowding and prolonged isolation suffered by deportees in Pavilion 8 of the maximum-security facility.
• U.S. federal judges are considering contempt proceedings against officials who ignored earlier orders halting removals under the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act.
• Venezuelan authorities have opened a human rights investigation into CECOT after ex-detainee testimonies demanded accountability for abuses.
• All 252 Venezuelan men were released on July 18 in a prisoner swap that exchanged them for Americans held in Caracas.