Inmates of the Salvadoran mega-prison CECOT sit on the floor while security personnel stand guard over them. Photo: France24.
El Salvador has denied any legal responsibility for the the 252 Venezuelans illegally imprisoned in that country. In a report that Salvadoran authorities delivered to the United Nations Human Rights Office, they deny having control over the 252 Venezuelan migrants and 50 more people of various nationalities, all of them illegally transferred by the United States to the Confinement Center for Terrorism (CECOT).
While the Salvadoran authorities claim that the Trump administration maintains control over the 252 Venezuelan migrants deported from the US to the mega-prison in El Salvador, the Trump administration denies having control over the deported Venezuelans, claiming that the Salvadoran government has absolute control over the detainees.
In the report, Salvadoran authorities claimed that “the jurisdiction and legal responsibility over these persons lies exclusively with the competent foreign authorities,” that is, the United States.
“The actions of the state of El Salvador are limited to the implementation of a bilateral cooperation mechanism with another state, through which it has facilitated the use of the Salvadoran penitentiary infrastructure for the custody of persons detained within the scope of the judicial system and law enforcement of that other state,” the report noted.
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This position comes as the UN investigates the fate of the Venezuelan migrants forcibly disappeared since mid-March despite a US judge having ordered the return of the planes carrying them.
US control
Lee Gelernt, one of the lawyers of the victims, commented, “El Salvador confirmed what we and everyone else understood: it is the US that controls what happens to the Venezuelans in the Confinement Center for Terrorism.” He added that the US government “did not provide this information to us or to the court.” Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward accused the Trump administration of “not being honest with the court or with the American people.”
In March, the Trump administration agreed to pay US $6 million to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in exchange for holding 300 migrants. Alongside the controversial deal, the US invoked the Alien Enemies Act to quickly expel people who the US government accused of being members of the defunct Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua. No evidence was ever presented against the detainees nor were they allowed any due process.
(RedRadioVE) by Milena Bravo
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SL
