US/El Salvador: Torture of Venezuelan Deportees

Read our recent report on how Venezuelan nationals sent to El Salvador by the US government in March and April were tortured and subjected to other abuses inside El Salvador's mega prison.

Human Rights Watch
“You Have Arrived in Hell”

The 81-page report, “‘You Have Arrived in Hell’: Torture and Other Abuses Against Venezuelans in El Salvador’s Mega Prison,” provides a comprehensive account of the treatment of these people in El Salvador. In March and April 2025, the US government sent 252 Venezuelans, including dozens of asylum seekers, to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, CECOT) mega prison in El Salvador, despite credible reports of serious human rights abuses in El Salvador’s prisons. The Venezuelans were subject to refoulement—being sent to where they would face torture or persecution—arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, inhumane detention conditions and, in some cases, sexual violence.

Human Rights Watch
Other countries should #ArrestBukele