The Venezuelan government has officially ordered a probe against the US authorities after 252 immigrants complained about gender-specific sexual violence and crimes against humanity, which would be classified as “prison terrorism” in the notorious El Salvador prison.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab presented photos and testimonies at a news conference in Caracas of some of the men, who said they had feared not making it out alive after the photos depicting bruises on their bodies and marks of being shot with rubber bullets. One of the deportees, Andry Hernandez Romero, a 32-year-old beautician, was sent to the notorious CECOT prison at the orders of the US President Donald Trump and said, "We were going through torture, physical aggressions, and psychological aggressions," he said in a video presented by Saab.
He told reporters that he was sexually abused by fellow inmates in the prison compound. The 252 deportees were labelled by the Feds as having illicit ties with the Venezuelan gangs and thus were sent back to their native countries after the document verification. Saab said the Venezuelan government would pursue the case with all its might against Bukele and other Salvadoran officials for alleged crimes against humanity.
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He urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Human Rights Council to act. These men were released last Friday and then deported back to their native country, which the Trump government said was an exchange for 10 Americans or US residents and dozens of "political prisoners" held in Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro, in his televised address on Monday, claimed Bukele had tried "last minute" to prevent the migrants from leaving.
He said, "You could not stop the first plane, but for the second plane, he put some cars on the runway... to provoke either an accident or prevent them from leaving.” Around 2,400 people were arrested, 28 killed, and around 200 more injured in a brutal crackdown on protests that broke out last July after Maduro claimed victory in elections he is widely accused of having stolen.
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