 "Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recently deported by the US government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in Tecoluca, El Salvador. These deportations have led to a standoff between a US federal judge and Donald Trump. Reuters")
Migrants who were housed at the El Salvador prison in the US underwent human rights abuses, Venezuela claimed on Tuesday, as the country launched a formal investigation into the reported tortures.
Last week, the US released 250 Venezuelan immigrants from the notorious El Salvador jail in exchange for 10 American prisoners who were held in Venezuela. The migrants were detained in jail since March as part of President Donald Trump’s swift deportation drive.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said that the migrants were subjected to “systemic torture” inside the Salvadorian prison, which included instances of sexual abuse, daily beatings and serving of rotten prison food.
During a press conference, Saab shared testimonies and images that appeared to show detainees with injuries, including bruises and missing teeth. The attorney general said that the country will be probing El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro and Head of Prisons Osiris Luna Meza over the alleged torture of its citizens.
Meanwhile, Venezuela is currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague over allegations similar to those it is making against El Salvador, including the torture of prisoners and the denial of legal representation.
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The United States had sent a group of 252 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March to be locked up in its feared CECOT “anti-terrorism” jail, accused without evidence of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang.
Trump invoked rarely used wartime laws to have the men flown to the Central American nation without any court hearings.
Clamping down on migrants is a flagship pursuit of Trump’s administration, which has ramped up raids and deportations.
It has agreed with President Nicolas Maduro to send undocumented Venezuelans back home, and flights have been arriving near daily also from Mexico, where many got stuck trying to enter the United States.
Official figures show that since February, more than 8,200 people have been repatriated to Venezuela from the United States and Mexico, including some 1,000 children.
With inputs from agencies