Three men deported by the US sue Eswatini over their detention

Three men who were deported by the United States to Eswatini – rather than to their own nations – have lodged a complaint against the Eswatini government with the African Union’s human‑rights commission, alleging that their detention breaches their rights.

Two of the complainants, a Cuban national and a Yemeni national, have been held in an Eswatini prison for eight months. The third, Orville Etoria, was sent back to Jamaica in September.

All five men were expelled by the United States in July, with another ten removed in October. Apart from Etoria, the remaining four are still incarcerated in Eswatini, their counsel said. U.S. authorities have described the men as dangerous criminals, but their lawyers argue that any sentences for offenses committed in the United States have already been served.

The grievance was submitted to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the AU body that monitors member states’ adherence to regional human‑rights treaties. The commission can call on governments to respect rights and may refer matters to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, although neither institution possesses direct enforcement authority.

Beatrice Njeri, an attorney with the Global Strategic Litigation Council, one of the groups that filed the case on the deportees’ behalf, said: “The detainees have not committed any offence in Eswatini and continue to suffer a range of human‑rights abuses … They are being held without limit.”

Njeri added that the men have still been denied face‑to‑face meetings with their lawyers. She noted that one prisoner undertook a 30‑day hunger strike late last year, which led to signs of organ failure. “They are completely exasperated,” she said. “All they want is to return – some to their home countries, others to the United States.”

Thabile Mdluli, a spokesperson for the Eswatini government, said she had not seen the legal filing.

The United States has sent dozens of migrants to third‑country destinations as part of a broader deportation effort. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained more than 68,000 individuals within the country.

Other African states that have taken third‑country deportees from the United States include Ghana, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda. Reuters reported that the United States agreed to pay Eswatini $5.1 million to receive up to 160 third‑country nationals.