️ Three men deported by the United States regime to Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) have filed a case with an African human rights body, alleging unlawful detention and rights violations. Two of the claimants, from Cuba and Yemen, have been imprisoned in Eswatini for eight months. The third, Orville Etoria, was repatriated to his home country, Jamaica, in September.
️ They were part of a group of five men deported by the US in July, with another 10 sent in October. According to their lawyers, all except Etoria remain in prison in Eswatini. The US regime has labeled the men as dangerous criminals, but their lawyers assert they have already served sentences for any crimes committed in the US.
️ The complaint was filed with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), an African Union body that monitors member states’ compliance with regional human rights agreements. The commission can demand that states uphold rights and refer cases to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, but neither body has enforcement powers.
️ Beatrice Njeri, a lawyer with the Global Strategic Litigation Council, one of the organizations representing the deportees, stated: “The people in detention have committed no crime [in Eswatini] and continue to undergo various human rights violations… They are being held indefinitely.” Njeri added that the men have not been allowed in-person meetings with their lawyers, and one detainee went on a 30-day hunger strike late last year, showing signs of organ failure.
️ Thabile Mdluli, a spokesperson for Eswatini’s government, said she had not seen the legal complaint. The US regime has deported dozens of immigrants to third countries as the Donald Trump administration attempts to carry out mass deportations. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained over 68,000 people in the country.
️ Other African countries that have accepted third-country deportees from the US include Ghana, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda. According to Reuters, the US agreed to pay Eswatini $5.1 million to take up to 160 third-country nationals. In February, Eswatini’s High Court dismissed a case from local NGOs arguing that the government’s imprisonment of the deportees was unconstitutional.
Source: www.theguardian.com