Report Details Alleged Abuse of Venezuelans at El Salvador’s CECOT

Gonzalo told the researchers that guards made detainees kneel to have their heads shaved, then struck him with batons. “They beat us almost every day,” he said. The report draws on interviews with 40 former detainees and 150 others with credible knowledge of prison conditions, along with forensic expertise and documents from the United States and El Salvador.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Cristosal said many of the Venezuelans had not been convicted of crimes in the United States, Venezuela or other Latin American countries where they had lived, despite claims by the US and Salvadoran governments that most were members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The 81-page report says detainees faced prolonged isolation from outside contact, inadequate food, poor hygiene and sanitation, limited healthcare and no recreational or educational activities. It says beatings were frequent and some detainees experienced sexual violence, conduct the groups said may constitute torture under international law.

One detainee, identified as Daniel B., said guards beat him at a place prisoners called “the Island” after he spoke with International Committee of the Red Cross staff during a May visit. He described being struck in the stomach and choking on blood. Three people told the organizations they had suffered sexual violence; one said four guards abused him and forced him to perform oral sex. The report said stigma may deter other victims from speaking out.

The Venezuelans were transferred back to Venezuela in a prisoner exchange on July 18. The report says many continue to face physical injuries and psychological trauma, and warns of risks in Venezuela, including alleged human rights abuses by Nicolás Maduro’s administration. It argues that the returns violated the principle of nonrefoulement and says Venezuelan intelligence agents in some cases visited former detainees’ homes and made them record videos about their treatment in the United States.

HRW and Cristosal called for the United States to stop transferring third-country nationals to El Salvador and urged international bodies, including the UN Human Rights Council, to scrutinize the Trump and Bukele governments. HRW Americas director Juanita Goebertus said the Trump administration paid El Salvador millions of dollars to detain Venezuelans who were then abused by Salvadoran security forces. Cristosal executive director Noah Bullock compared the allegations to abuses associated with Abu Ghraib and secret prisons during the War on Terror.