UN Experts: Trump Admin’s Deportations to El Salvador Violate International Law

A group of UN human rights experts has condemned the Trump administration’s disappearance of hundreds of men to El Salvador as a violation of both domestic and international law, urging both countries’ governments to return the men to the U.S.

In a statement, the experts say that the administration has denied due process to the over 250 Venezuelan and Salvadoran men deported to El Salvador, while also running afoul of international principles prohibiting the deportation of people to a place where they may face torture or other inhumane treatment.

Meanwhile, even the domestic law cited by Trump administration officials for the deportations does not allow for the deportations, which the experts say are “unlawful.”

“There has plainly been no ‘invasion’ or ‘predatory incursion’ of the US by any foreign State, as required by the [Alien Enemies] Act. Even if some individuals were gang members, gang activity is a crime, not an act of war,” the experts wrote.

“The deportations were thus apparently illegal under US law and were arbitrary and unlawful expulsions under international law,” they went on.

The group points out that human rights experts have long raised alarm over people being denied due process in or abused in prisons in El Salvador. They urge El Salvador and the U.S. to cooperate to return those deported to the U.S., and demand an end to the deportations.

Further, because the detention of the men in El Salvador is seemingly arbitrary, the detainees could be subject to yet more human rights abuses if they were then transferred to Venezuela, the experts say.

“The lack of a clear legal status in El Salvador could further expose the deportees to indefinite and arbitrary detention in the country, and put some Venezuelan detainees at risk of onward refoulement to Venezuela where they could face serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances,” the experts wrote.

The statement was signed by 20 UN human rights experts, led by Ben Saul, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. Other signatories included the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, as well as the special rapporteurs on torture and cruel treatment and the independence of judges and lawyers.

The group also expressed concern that the administration has additionally taken steps to defy or attack judges in the U.S. who oppose their policies or rule against them.

Human rights groups have long said that the U.S., under both Republican and Democratic presidents, often violates international human rights laws in its treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers. This month, Amnesty International warned that Trump’s disappearance of the Venezuelan and Salvadoran people “sets an alarming precedent of repressive cooperation between governments.”

“We remind the authorities in El Salvador and the United States of America that the rights to freedom, a fair trial, asylum, legal defence and protection against torture and enforced disappearance are not privileges, but rather obligations that their governments must uphold at all times,” said Ana Piquer, Americas director of Amnesty International.