People deported by Trump experienced “constant beatings” in El Salvadorian prison

Human Rights Watch has found insurmountable evidence that more than 250 Venezuelan men deported by Donald Trump have been extensively tortured in an El Salvadorian prison.

In early 2025, Donald Trump flew 252 ‘criminals' to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) in El Salvador. Interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch and the Central American rights group Cristosal found that prisoners endured regular physical, sexual, and verbal abuse from guards and employees at the prison.

So-called criminals

“At President (Donald) Trump's direction, DHS deported nearly 300 Tren de Aragua and MS-13 terrorists to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) Prison in El Salvador, where they no longer pose a threat to the American people,”

That was the statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ‘Tren de Aragua and MS-13 terrorists.' That's what 252 men were labelled as before being ripped away from their families in America.

The reality?

Human Rights Watch and Cristosal claimed in their report that at most half of the Venezuelans sent to Cecot had no criminal records, and only 3% had been convicted in the United States for a violent or potentially violent crime. Three percent of 252 is 1. Only one of the men sent to CECOT had committed a violent crime in the United States. For comparison, since 2021, six U.S. House representatives have been convicted of a crime.

The men were mostly targeted using their tattoos, with the government claiming them to be terrorist symbols. One of the most extreme examples is that of Neri Alvarado. His most prominent tattoo is an autism ribbon bearing his brother's name. The U.S. government deemed it a symbol of terrorism.

The report

The report cited “inhumane prison conditions, including prolonged incommunicado detention, inadequate food,” among other reasons that CECOT is breaching the UN's standard minimal rules for the treatment of prisoners.

The report found a systematic pattern of torture and human rights abuses took place daily at CECOT, and America's involvement in the system has been likened to the horrors that took place at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib facility during the war on terror.

Director Human Rights Watch's U.S. Juanita Goebertus stated:

“We reached the conclusion that the Trump administration is complicit in systematic torture and enforced disappearances of the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador,”

Here is a list of excerpts from the 81-page document:

“Detainees were subjected to constant beatings and other forms of ill-treatment, including some cases of sexual violence,”

“Many of these abuses constitute torture under international human rights law.”

“People held in Cecot said they were beaten from the moment they arrived in El Salvador and throughout their time in detention.”

“These beatings and other abuses appear to be part of a practice designed to subjugate, humiliate, and discipline detainees through the imposition of grave physical and psychological suffering. Officers also appear to have acted on the belief that their superiors either supported or tolerated their abusive acts.”

The report interviewed more than 200 people, including 40 victims of CECOT and is filled with dozens of harrowing stories outlining abuse caused by Donald Trump's government.

The prisoners were freed in June 2026 in a prisoner swap that saw the 250 men returned to Venezuela. In return, Venezuela freed 10 American citizens it had in prison.