UN rights chief raises alarm over US deportations to 3rd countries

• Turk says deportations of non-nationals to El Salvador may violate international law
• To date, no official lists of detainees have been published by US or Salvadoran authorities, while their legal status in El Salvador remains unclear, says human rights office

GENEVA

The UN human rights chief on Tuesday voiced "deep concern" over the deportation of large numbers of non-nationals from the US, particularly those sent to countries other than their own, warning the practice may breach international human rights standards.

Between Jan. 20 and April 29, 142,000 individuals were deported from the US, according to official data. Among them, at least 245 Venezuelans and around 30 Salvadorans were removed to El Salvador, where many are believed to be held in the notorious maximum-security prison, CECOT.

"This situation raises serious concerns regarding a wide array of rights that are fundamental to both US and international law - rights to due process, to be protected from arbitrary detention, to equality before the law, to be protected from exposure to torture or other irreparable harm in other States, and to an effective remedy," Volker Turk said in a statement.

These individuals were reportedly deported under the Alien Enemies Act as alleged gang members, and are now being detained without access to legal counsel or contact with their families, according to the statement. However, many of the detainees were not informed of the US government’s intention to deport them to be held in a third country, that "many did not have access to a lawyer and that they were effectively unable to challenge the lawfulness of their removal before being flown out of the US."

"Families we have spoken to have expressed a sense of complete powerlessness in the face of what has happened and their pain at seeing their relatives labeled and handled as violent criminals, even terrorists, without any court judgment," Turk said. "The manner in which some of the individuals were detained and deported - including the use of shackles on them - as well as the demeaning rhetoric used against migrants, has also been profoundly disturbing."

The human rights office has documented more than 100 Venezuelans believed to be held in CECOT.

Turk called on the US to halt removals to countries where individuals risk torture or irreparable harm. He said: "I have called on the US government to take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with due process, to give prompt and full effect to the determinations of its courts, to safeguard the rights of children, and to stop the removal of any individual to any country where there is a real risk of torture or other irreparable harm."

The human rights office noted that to date, no official lists of the detainees have been published by the US or Salvadoran authorities, while their legal status in El Salvador remains unclear.