Human Rights Commissioner is concerned about deportations from the United States

According to US official data, 142,000 people from the United States were deported between January 20 and April 29. The fate and places of the presence of at least 245 Venezuelalia and about 30 Salvadia were still being deported to El Salvador, according to a statement issued by the High Commissioner today, Tuesday.

Volcker Turk explained that many of them were deported under the “Law of Foreign Enemies” as members of their belonging to specific criminal groups. According to the reports, they were detained in the strict guarding center of terrorism in El Salvador – “a facility in which detainees are treated with special cruelty – without obtaining legal assistance or contacting their relatives, or any other contact with the outside world.”

The United Nations Office for Human Rights stated that it has information from family and lawyers, regarding more than 100 Venezuelan, who are believed to be held in the “Terrorism Center”.

These reports indicate that many detainees were not informed of the American government’s intention to deport them to be detained in a third country, and that many of them were unable to obtain a lawyer and that they were not able to actually challenge the legality of their deportation before they were transferred by an atmosphere from the United States.

Volker Turk said: “This situation raises serious concerns about a wide range of basic rights under American and international law alike – the right to due legal procedures, protection from arbitrary detention, equality before the law, protection from torture or other damage that cannot be repaired in other countries, and the right to effective equity.”

An invitation to the American government

According to the Human Rights Office, the American or El Salvadorian authorities have not yet published any official lists of detainees, while their legal status in El Salvador is still clear. Many families who met the Human Rights Office have expressed their deep concern for not knowing the location and conditions of their loved ones.

Some knew only when they got to know their relatives from social media clips while they were at the detention center designated for terrorism or being taken to it. According to the information received, they were unable to deport from the United States to El Salvador so far from challenging their detention there.

Volker Turk said: “The families we talked to a feeling of complete impotence expressed what happened and their pain to see their relatives described and treated as violent criminals, and even terrorists, without any judicial ruling on the validity of what was claimed against them. The way in which some individuals – including the use of restrictions were taken – in addition to the humiliating speech used against immigrants, were very disturbing.”

Turk welcomed the primary role played by the judiciary, legal society and civil society in the United States to ensure the protection of human rights in this context.

He explained that he called on the United States government to take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with the due legal measures, immediate and complete implementation of its court decisions, protecting the rights of children, and stopping the deportation of any individual to any country with a real threat to torture or other irreparable damages.