Witnesses recount beating of two US deportees in Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea received $7.5 million under US deportation agreement

The September 11 beating unfolded in plain view of other US deportees held at Hotel Bamy, according to witnesses and human rights lawyers. Police officers pulled Ahmed Soliman, 31, of Egypt, and Samson Birhane, 47, of Eritrea, aside after accusing them of breaking a mirror, then bound the men, fitted bags over their heads and dragged them down a flight of stairs while striking them, witnesses said. As the officers beat the men, multiple witnesses recounted, the police shouted “Where is the phone? Where is the phone!”

The two men have since been transferred to a prison in Malabo, according to lawyers. Authorities have told the 29 US deportees remaining at Hotel Bamy that they may never see Soliman or Birhane again, according to lawyers. Witnesses said they feared for the lives of the two men, both of whom came to the United States as children.

Detainees at the hotel said they believed the two men were beaten for telling reporters and human rights advocates about conditions inside the facility, and that they are haunted by flashbacks and terrified they will be retaliated against next. The beating came after the release of a video, first reported by Reuters, that showed the conditions and violent behavior of guards. The detainees had been using cellphones to communicate with lawyers and the media about the conditions they were facing.

Soliman, 31, is a gay man from Egypt who had lived in Phoenix for most of his life. He had held a green card but lost status after a drug possession conviction. He served time for his crimes, and in October, a judge had determined he would face persecution and torture if returned to Egypt because of his sexuality.

Birhane, 47, came to the United States as a refugee when he was 13 but lost status after a robbery conviction in 1988 while in high school. A judge had ruled he faced torture in Eritrea, and he was allowed to remain in the United States, regularly checking in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement as required.

Conditions at Hotel Bamy have drawn warnings from human rights advocates and experts for months. The hotel is a run-down establishment that has served as a detention center for US deportees. Detainees held at Hotel Bamy have told the Guardian that armed guards watch them around the clock and that they have not been provided medical care or fresh clothes since arriving there. One detainee with a severe stomach hernia requiring hospital visits to drain fluid has told the Guardian he has been unable to see a doctor since arriving at Hotel Bamy. Other detainees have obtained medication for HIV, diabetes and other conditions via human rights lawyers but remain fearful that access to medications will be arbitrarily cut off.

The video Soliman recorded before his arrest shows authorities pointing guns at deportees. In one clip, a Cuban man asked an officer for the return of his confiscated mobile phone so he could contact relatives and a lawyer, but was ignored. When officers noticed Soliman filming the exchange, multiple officers rushed at him and others nearby, pointed their guns and told Soliman to remain on his knees with his hands up for 10 to 15 minutes.

Soliman was also able to film authorities forcibly sending US deportees to Ethiopia, where they are likely to face torture. When deportees resisted, officials gave them the option to “go back to their home country” or “go to prison.” At least 12 people have been returned by Equatorial Guinea to their home country, where they face persecution, according to the Guardian.

In the week since Soliman and Birhane were beaten, police have searched other detainees’ hotel rooms for cellphones and confiscated them. They have also barred lawyers from seeing the deportees. One detainee who witnessed the beating said authorities treat them as if they are “blanks” who “don’t even exist.” Another detainee said an officer told her: “You will disappear from the earth. I am the law.”

Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, who represents several of the deportees at Hotel Bamy, called the situation “a human rights catastrophe.” The United States and Equatorial Guinea “must be held accountable for the atrocities they are committing,” she added.

Lawyers for the deportees shared copies of multiple emails they had sent to the US embassy in Equatorial Guinea alerting them to threats and violence against those detained at Hotel Bamy. Those messages have gone unanswered, the lawyers said.

The Trump administration has pursued dozens of similar deals with countries to take in immigrants that the US cannot deport directly to their home countries, where judges have deemed they would face torture or persecution. In the past, the US government had allowed those people to live and work in the United States indefinitely. The Trump administration has instead sought to expel them to third countries where they have no ties, do not speak the local language and have no legal status, leaving them trapped in limbo. Equatorial Guinea has received $7.5 million as part of its deal to cooperate with the US deportation program. Its authoritarian government is notorious for human rights abuses, including torture, according to the US State Department.

The US Department of Homeland Security did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment. A spokesperson for the State Department said: “The US government will use all legal means to remove those with no right to remain in our country.” The agency did not respond to questions about whether it was aware of how Equatorial Guinea was treating US deportees, nor would it acknowledge whether any measures have been taken to intervene. “As a general matter, we do not comment on the details of our private diplomatic communications with other governments,” the spokesperson said.

In May, United Nations human rights experts issued a rare public appeal asking Equatorial Guinea to halt plans to return deportees to their home countries and to comply with international human rights standards and avoid refoulement, or the expulsion of people to countries where they face persecution. In July, amid a lawsuit challenging conditions for deportees, the African Commission issued an urgent interim order instructing the government of Equatorial Guinea to refrain from deporting, transferring or relocating deportees against their will.