(Washington) – Salvadoran authorities have subjected Salvadorans expelled by the United States to arbitrary detention and forced disappearances, Human Rights Watch declared today, one year after some of them were sent back to their country.
The detained individuals are among more than 9,000 Salvadorans expelled by the United States since the beginning of the year 2025. Some of them were expelled on March 15, 2025, in the custody of Venezuelan officials who were transferred to the Terrorism Detention Center (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, CECOT), a supermax prison in El Salvador; detainees there were tortured, and in some cases, subjected to sexual abuse.
“Regardless of the criminal history of these Salvadoran men, they are entitled to a regular procedure, including appearing before a judge, and their relatives have the right to know where they are detained and why,” said Juanita Goebertus, director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch. “Their expulsion by the United States should not result in a forced disappearance.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 20 relatives and lawyers of 11 Salvadorans who were expelled from the United States between mid-March and mid-October 2025, and immediately detained in El Salvador. Like most detainees in El Salvador, these men were not allowed to communicate with their families or lawyers.
None of the relatives or lawyers received any indications from the authorities that these men had appeared before a judge since their arrival. Some were not informed of the location of their detained relatives or the reason for their detention. In five cases, relatives were unable to obtain information on the whereabouts of the expelled individuals following a procedure initiated with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH).
The Trump administration claimed that several expelled Salvadorans are members of the MS-13 gang; among them was César Humberto López Larios (nicknamed “El Greñas” or “The Hairy One”), a prominent MS-13 gang leader. However, neither the American nor Salvadoran authorities provided evidence or information to support the assertion that the other men are also gang members.
Human Rights Watch reviewed data published by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); according to this data, out of the 9,000 Salvadorans (or more) expelled to El Salvador since January 2025, only 10.5% had been convicted in the United States for a violent or potentially violent crime. Relatives of ten detained men in El Salvador stated that they had served sentences in the United States, some for drug possession and two for violent crimes: homicide in one case, and sexual assault in the other.
Some of the interviewees stated that their relatives had fled El Salvador due to domestic or criminal violence, gang extortion, and threats related to forced gang recruitment. Some Salvadorans had apparently been living in the United States for several years before their expulsion.
On March 15, 2025, American authorities expelled 23 Salvadorans to El Salvador; among them was Kilmar Brego García. Later, the Trump administration stated that his expulsion was due to an “administrative error.” On June 6, 2025, Kilmar Br…
