Cape Town, South Africa (AP) – Their lawyers said Tuesday that despite completing criminal penalties in the United States, they were detained in the highest security prison in the African country for seven weeks, but three men were detained in the highest security prison in the African country.
The New York-based Legal Aid Association said it represented a man from Jamaican National Orville Etoria, and when his home country was willing to accept him, he sent it to Eswatini “inexplicably”.
Etoria is the first of at least 20 deportations sent to African countries to various African countries in the past two months for public identification. Deportation is part of the Trump administration’s largely secretive third-country program to combat immigration.
The 62-year-old Etoria was found guilty of serious crimes in the United States in 1997 and was released on parole in 2021, the Legal Aid Association said in a statement. The Department of Homeland Security said in an article on X that Etoria was convicted of murder.
The Legal Aid Association said the U.S. government has erroneously claimed that Jamaica refused to accept him. When the Department of Homeland Security announced the deportation of five men to Eswatini in mid-July, it claimed that they were “so unique savages that their home country refused to bring them back.”
The Ministry of Homeland Security said the people were dangerous criminals from Jamaica, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen at the time, but they were not identified by names.
A lawyer representing two other men from Laos and Vietnam said Tuesday that his clients also obeyed criminal penalties in the United States and were “released to the community.”
“They were then arrested arbitrarily with warnings and explanations from the U.S. or Eswatini administration and sent to countries they had never been to,” attorney Thanh Nguyen said in a statement. He said the U.S. government “planned a secret third-country transfer without meaningful legal proceedings, resulting in indefinite detention.”
The Department of Homeland Security said the two were convicted of charges including child rape and second-degree murder.
A third attorney, Alma David, said she represented two men from Yemen and Cuba, who were also detained in Eswatini and denied access to lawyers. She said the head of Esvatini Prison told her that only the U.S. embassy could allow the people to reach.
“From when did the U.S. Embassy have jurisdiction over Esvatini’s national prison?” She said in a statement that the people were not informed of their reasons for being detained and that attorneys were not allowed to visit them. ”
David said all five were held indefinitely in Esvatini’s main highest security prison in the U.S. taxpayer fees.
Since July, the Trump administration has expanded its third-country deportation program and sent immigrants to at least three African countries: South Sudan, Eswatini and Rwanda, and in principle reached an agreement with Uganda, a fourth African country.
Although the deportation to Uganda has not been announced, the United States has expressed its desire to expel Kilma Abreg Garcia there. His case is a flashpoint amid the crackdown on U.S. President Donald Trump.
The deportation agreements encountered by the United States are largely secretive.
Authorities in South Sudan have little information on where the eight men were sent in early July or what their fate might be. U.S. authorities also describe them as dangerous criminals from South Sudan, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Five men in Eswatini were held in Matsapha. Eswatini was ruled by the king as the last absolute monarchy in Africa, and Eswatini imprisoned pro-democracy movements. Authorities say five people will be held in solitary confinement when they arrive in Esvatini.
Rwandan authorities said seven other immigrants were deported by the United States to Rwanda in mid-August. They did not name their identity or provide any information.
The deportation secret that was expelled from Rwanda at the time was not announced until last week.
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