Summary: Human rights organizations have accused El Salvador of torturing Venezuelan nationals deported from the United States earlier this year. A new report details systematic abuse inside the country’s maximum-security prison, raising questions about U.S. complicity and international accountability.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and regional advocacy group Cristosal released an 81-page report this week alleging that 252 Venezuelan nationals deported by the United States to El Salvador were subjected to torture, arbitrary detention, and sexual violence at the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), a notorious prison in Tecoluca.
The findings, based on interviews with dozens of detainees, describe beatings, incommunicado detention, and solitary confinement as routine practices. One deportee told investigators: “Every time I heard the sound of keys and handcuffs, it meant they were coming to beat us.” Rights groups argue the abuses were systematic rather than isolated incidents, pointing to a coordinated pattern of mistreatment.
The report further alleges that the Trump administration paid El Salvador nearly $5 million to detain the Venezuelans, making the U.S. complicit in the violations. A presidential proclamation issued in March 2025 authorized the deportations, which rights advocates say exposed migrants to enforced disappearance, torture, and degrading treatment.
El Salvador’s government has defended its prison system, claiming deportees were linked to criminal organizations. However, HRW and Cristosal contend that many detainees were ordinary migrants with no criminal records, caught in a policy designed to showcase tough enforcement.
International law experts warn that the allegations could amount to grave breaches of human rights conventions, including the Convention Against Torture. Calls are mounting for both Washington and San Salvador to face scrutiny before international bodies.
The revelations come amid broader criticism of El Salvador’s mass incarceration policies, which have drawn global attention for alleged abuses under President Nayib Bukele’s security crackdown. For Venezuela’s deported nationals, rights groups say the ordeal underscores the dangers of outsourcing detention to countries with poor human rights records.
The report’s findings place renewed pressure on the U.S. and El Salvador to answer for the treatment of Venezuelan deportees, highlighting the intersection of migration policy, prison conditions, and international human rights obligations.
Excerpts from article By Gabrielle Pasternak on jurist.org | U. Pittsburgh School of Law, US
