Ciudad de la Paz, Equatorial Guinea - Two men deported to a detention camp in Equatorial Guinea were tied up with bags over their heads, brutally beaten, and pushed down a flight of stairs, recent reports allege.
Egyptian national Ahmed Soliman and Eritrea national Samson Birhane, both of whom had been deported by the Trump administration, were assaulted in full view of other deportees, witnesses, and human rights lawyers, the New York Times reports.
According to the deportees, the men had been beaten as a warning to themselves and others against whistle blowing about the shocking conditions within the detention camp, and the escalating violence they'd been subject to.
The migrants, made up of men and women from a collection of different countries, have been held at the run-down Hotel Bamy, within which Human Rights organizations have warned they are living in dangerous conditions.
In a video obtained by the Guardian, a man from Cuba is seen asking for his phone to be returned so he can contact his relatives and lawyer. When the officers notice that Soliman is filming, they rush at him and several others, pointing guns in their faces and forcing them to their knees.
Another video shows deportees being forcibly sent to Ethiopia, where it is likely they will be tortured. Equatorial Guinea have reportedly sent at least 12 people back to their home countries, where they will face persecution.
"This is a human rights catastrophe," said Global Strategic Litigation Council Director Bella Mosselmans, declaring that both the US and Equatorial Guinea "must be held accountable for the atrocities they are committing."
Trump admin ignores all responsibility
In a series of statements from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department, shared by the Guardian, the Trump administration refused to take any responsibility for the treatment of migrants send to third countries.
"When an individual is no longer in ICE custody, ICE is no longer responsible for them," an ICE spokesperson said. "All of these illegal aliens were deported to a safe third country."
Such a statement is discredited by the State Department's own Human Rights Report on Equatorial Guinea, which in 2024 found that credible reports of torture and inhumane treatment, arbitrary arrest, repression, human trafficking, forced labor, and more.