Nearly 250 Venezuelans may be subject to forced disappearance in El Salvador, given the «complete uncertainty» surrounding their whereabouts and their situation after being deported from the United States to that country, said the UN this Tuesday:
«To date, neither the US nor the Salvadoran authorities have published official lists of those detained, and their legal status in El Salvador remains unclear,» as told UN spokesperson Liz Throssell to the reporters.
The spokesperson commented that «many of the family members interviewed by the UN Human Rights Office expressed deep anguish at not knowing the whereabouts and circumstances of their loved ones.»
The UN representative indicated that given the unknown fate of these individuals and the human rights violations feared to be taking place at the Salvadoran detention center to which the deportees are sent, concerns that these may be enforced disappearances are warranted, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
According to official US data cited by the spokesperson, from January 20 to April 29, 142,000 people were deported from the United States to various parts of the world, but «the fate and whereabouts of at least 245 Venezuelans and approximately 30 Salvadorans expelled to El Salvador remain unclear.»
Many of them were deported under the Alien Enemies Act as suspected members of criminal groups and are presumed to be detained at the CECOT (Center for the Confinement of Terrorism) maximum-security prison.
In these facilities, detainees receive «particularly harsh treatment, without access to legal representation or their families and without other contact with the outside world,» said Throssell.
«This information indicates that many of the detainees were not informed of the US government’s intention to deport them to a third country, that many did not have access to a lawyer, and that they were unable to challenge the legality of their deportation before being removed,» she explained.
In such a situation, several fundamental rights are at stake, including the rights to due process, protection from arbitrary detention, equality before the law, and protection from torture, according to EFE.
«The manner in which some were detained and deported, including in chains, as well as the degrading rhetoric against migrants, has also been extremely worrying,» stressed the UN body.