Arbitrary Detention
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Translation of Letter from Reza Khandan to Iranian Judiciary
Tags Share On June 17, 2025, Reza Khandan and other inmates in Evin Prison wrote to the Iranian judiciary calling for their release. Khandan, a prominent human rights advocate, and his wife, the renowned human rights lawyer and women’s rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh, have long been targeted by Iranian authorities. Khandan has faced repeated arrests and…
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Human Rights Groups Urge UN to Intervene on Behalf of Migrants Detained in Notorious Salvadoran Prison
Tags Share Washington, D.C., June 18, 2025 – Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Boston University School of Law International Human Rights Clinic, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, and the Global Strategic Litigation Council for Refugee Rights submitted a report to the United Nations highlighting egregious human rights violations for hundreds of…
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Bangladesh: Extend the Mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances to Ensure Truth and Accountability
Tags Share We, the undersigned international human rights organizations, urge the Interim Government of Bangladesh to extend the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances until at least December 31, 2025. While the Commission’s mandate is set to expire on June 30, victims and their families deserve adequate time for the Commission to…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Masked ICE Agents Detain 9-Month-Pregnant U.S Citizen in L.A. Crackdown A U.S. citizen in her ninth month of pregnancy was hospitalized with sharp stomach pains after being arrested — and later released — by ICE agents who accused her of obstructing the arrest of her undocumented husband. ICE has been conducting large-scale raids and arrests…
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US brokers secret torture deal with El Salvador: report to UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
On February 3, 2025, President Nayib Bukele publicly announced that El Salvador had offered to detain “criminals” sent from the US, including both migrant deportees and US citizens, in exchange for a fee.
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Devdiscourse: Coalition Challenges US-El Salvador Detainee Deal in Court
Tags Share A coalition of immigrant rights groups including Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s agreement to house detainees in an El Salvadorian prison. The suit argues that the deal violates the U.S. Constitution by preventing detainees from accessing U.S. courts and due process. Concerns are raised over…
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NBC Boston: Lawmakers denounce deplorable conditions at ICE facility where Milford teen was held
Tags Share In a recent piece by NBC Boston, lawmakers are speaking out against the deplorable conditions at a New Hampshire ICE facility where Milford teenager Marcelo Gomez Da Silva was detained. The report details allegations of inadequate medical care, unsanitary living conditions, and psychological trauma inflicted on detainees, raising serious concerns about human rights…
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Courthouse News Services: State Department faces lawsuit over migrant detention agreement with El Salvador
Tags Share “Ten of our clients were kidnapped from U.S. streets and locked away in one of the world’s most notorious blackhole prisons in a scheme to use U.S. taxpayer dollars for enforced disappearances, incommunicado detention and torture.” Quoted in Courthouse News Service, our vice president of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation Anthony Enriquez describes RFK…
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Bloomberg: Trump Faces New Lawsuit Over Migrants Sent to Salvadoran Prison
Tags Share The Trump administration faces a new legal challenge over its agreement with El Salvador to detain migrants in the notoriously harsh CECOT prison. Filed in federal court, the lawsuit alleges that the arrangement violates U.S. laws by denying due process, using unauthorized federal funds, and subjecting detainees to cruel and unusual punishment. Robert…
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ABC News: Immigration courts dismissing cases of Venezuelan migrants sent to El Salvador: Attorneys
Tags Share Immigration courts are dismissing the cases of Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, sparking alarm among lawyers and human rights advocates who say the move violates due process. Attorneys say these migrants, many with pending asylum claims or legal protections like TPS, were deported without fair hearings, and…
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Pittsburgh Post Gazette: At Pa.’s largest detention center, immigrant safety endangered as cuts cripple DHS oversight arm
Tags Share At Pennsylvania’s largest immigrant detention center, Moshannon Valley, conditions have become increasingly dangerous amid severe cuts to the Department of Homeland Security’s civil rights oversight office. A sweeping investigation into death, abuse, medical neglect, sexual harassment, and excessive solitary confinement has been jeopardized after the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL)…
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