Amnesty Accuses Equatorial Guinea of Abusing U.S. Deportees

Amnesty International and lawyers say Equatorial Guinea authorities violently arrested Ahmed Soliman of Egypt and Samson Birhane of Eritrea, two men deported there by the United States under a third-country immigration arrangement. The men were allegedly beaten, held at gunpoint, covered with bags over their heads and transferred from a hotel detention center to an overcrowded police cell, where they have reportedly been denied access to lawyers. Rights groups believe the arrests and alleged property-damage charges were retaliation for Soliman’s public criticism of abusive conditions faced by U.S. deportees, including threats, poor sanitation, inadequate food and limited medical care. More than 40 people have reportedly been sent to Equatorial Guinea, where dozens remain detained despite court protections against returning many of them to their countries of origin. Amnesty and other advocates are demanding the men’s immediate release and an end to deportations to a country they say has an appalling human rights record.