Arbitrary Detention
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share ‘It is Hell’: Migrants Returning to Venezuela Describe Life in El Salvador Prison Where U.S. Sent Them Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and other officials have said many of the immigrants were physically and psychologically tortured during their detention in El Salvador, airing on state television videos of some of the men describing the…
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Venezuela: la represión no se detiene y pone en riesgo a quienes defienden derechos humanos
Tags Share Las Américas, 25 de julio de 2025 — Organizaciones internacionales, en representación de un grupo de organizaciones nacionales venezolanas, nos presentamos a una audiencia pública ante la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) para exponer la agudización de la política de represión y persecución sistemática y sostenida contra personas defensoras de derechos humanos…
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Statement on the One-Year Anniversary of the Unlawful Arrest and “Pre-Trial Detention” of Egyptian Cartoonist Ashraf Omar
Tags Share On July 22nd, 2024, a Cairo activist, cartoonist, and translator named Ashraf Omar was taken from his home by plainclothes officers. Forty-eight hours elapsed before there was any official acknowledgment of his arrest or confirmation of his wellbeing or location. Mr. Omar was subjected to physical violence and verbal abuse, as well as a six-hour…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share “Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up for the first time about her shocking arrest and 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility. She recalls the generous and compassionate women who helped her through this harrowing ordeal.…
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Louisiana Illuminator: LSU students detained by ICE released after judge’s order
Tags Share Two Iranian-born LSU Ph.D. students were released from ICE detention after a federal judge intervened, following weeks of being held under questionable and deceptive circumstances. Despite having valid legal status to study in the U.S., they were arrested shortly after U.S. military action in Iran, raising serious concerns about politically motivated targeting. Robert…
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WBRZ: Attorneys, advocates for released LSU Iranian students concerned with timing of clients’ arrest
Tags Share Two Iranian LSU students were arrested by ICE under false pretenses just one day after U.S. bombings in Iran. They were then held for weeks without any clear explanation of the charges against them. Represented in federal court by the ACLU of Louisiana and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the students were eventually…
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Slate: A Former ICE Official Is Worried the Agency Is About to Go on a Spree of Hiring Proud Boys
Tags Share ICE just received a staggering $29.9 billion from President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”, tripling its budget while dismantling the very oversight designed to prevent abuse. As part of its mass deportation agenda, the Trump administration eliminated key DHS oversight offices until a lawsuit filed by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights forced them…
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Newsweek: More ICE Deaths ‘Inevitable’ as Detention Numbers Soar
Tags Share Deaths in U.S. immigration detention have already matched last year’s total, with months still left in the fiscal year, and advocates warn the toll will rise. Amid record-high detention levels under the Trump administration, RFK Human Rights and the ACLU are sounding the alarm on dangerous, preventable conditions inside ICE facilities. Speaking with…
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CNN: Cuts to DHS watchdogs spark more questions as deportation efforts increase
Tags Share As deaths in immigration detention rise and new facilities rapidly expand, the Trump administration has slashed oversight mechanisms within the Department of Homeland Security. Advocates, including RFK Human Rights, warn that the gutting of key accountability offices mandated by Congress puts lives at risk due to the “inhumane conditions, medical neglect, and abuse…
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El Salvador: Alto a la Criminalización de Personas Defensoras de Derechos Humanos y al Desmantelamiento del Estado de Derecho
Tags Share Las organizaciones firmantes expresamos nuestra profunda preocupación ante el creciente uso del derecho penal sin las garantías del debido proceso, el acoso, estigmatización y la persecución que ejercen las autoridades salvadoreñas contra personas defensoras de derechos humanos, líderes comunitarios, activistas ambientales, profesores universitarios abogados, periodistas y otras voces críticas hacia el poder. Destacados…
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El Salvador: Stop the Criminalization of Human Rights Defenders and the Dismantling of the Rule of Law
Tags Share We, the undersigned organizations, express our deep concern over the increasing use of criminal law without due process guarantees, the harassment, the stigmatization, and the persecution by Salvadoran authorities against human rights defenders, community leaders, environmental activists, university professors, lawyers, journalists, and other voices critical of the government. Prominent journalists, activists, and lawyers,…
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