More than 252 Venezuelans returned to El Salvador amid US President Donald Trump’s mass deportations have reported being subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual assault, while in custody, according to a report released Wednesday by the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch.
The 81-page report presented a series of reports of torture and inhumane conditions suffered by Venezuelans, many of whom are asylum seekers.
According to the report, the Venezuelans were held in isolation in a high-security prison at the Terrorist Detention Center (Secot) for four months until July 18, when they were sent to Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange between the two countries.
Donald Trump began his second term earlier this year by implementing tougher immigration policies and pushing for mass deportations at home after pledging to fight illegal immigration.
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The report said 40 people imprisoned in Secot were interviewed, as well as 150 people “with reliable knowledge of the experiences of Venezuelans detained in Secot, including family members and lawyers.”
“The U.S. and Salvadoran governments have accused most of these people of being ‘terrorists’ and members of the Venezuelan organized crime group Torren de Aragua, which the U.S. has designated as a foreign terrorist organization,” the report said.
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The report documented that detainees were subjected to continuous beatings and other forms of abuse, including sexual violence. “Many of these abuses amount to torture under international human rights law,” the group reported.
“Guards and riot police attacked them in the corridors of the prison module and in isolation cells in the Sekot area, known as the ‘island’,” the report said.
The report said inmates were attacked during daily raids for allegedly violating prison rules, such as talking loudly with other inmates, showering outside of authorized hours, and requesting medical attention.
Detained Venezuelans reported being assaulted from the moment they arrived in El Salvador and throughout their detention.
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