Treatment of Venezuelan migrants held at Salvadoran prison at U.S. request amounted to "arbitrary detention" and "tortur

Source: CBS News

Updated on: November 12, 2025 / 12:11 PM EST


A report released Wednesday by human rights groups determined that the deportation and treatment of more than 200 Venezuelan migrants imprisoned in El Salvador for months at the request of the U.S. amounted to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance under international law.

The investigation, by the groups Human Rights Watch and Cristosal, found the detainees were victims of "constant beatings" by Salvadoran guards at the notorious CECOT maximum security prison, as well as other forms of mistreatment, including cases of sexual abuse. Investigators argued some of these alleged abuses constitute torture under international law.

"The human rights violations documented in this report violate El Salvador's obligations under international law, including the prohibitions on arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture and other ill-treatment," the report said.

Citing dozens of interviews, including with 40 of the Venezuelan men held at the mega prison, Human Rights Watch and Cristosal said the detainees also faced "inhumane" conditions, incommunicado detention, inadequate access to food, limited medical care and the denial of basic hygiene, inconsistent with United Nations rules governing the treatment of prisoners.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuelan-migrants-el-salvador-cecot/