Rights Lawyers Challenge US-Linked Deportations from Equatorial Guinea Before African Human Rights Body

Human Rights Research Center
19 minutes ago
4 min read

June 12, 2026

HRRC condemns third-country deportation arrangements that expose migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers to persecution, torture, arbitrary detention, or onward removal without access to lawyers or meaningful review. States must not evade non-refoulement obligations by transferring people through intermediary countries.

The Port of Malabo in Equatorial Guinea. Rights lawyers have challenged Equatorial Guinea’s role in US-linked third-country deportations before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. [Image credit: Wikimedia Commons] — The Port of Malabo in Equatorial Guinea. Rights lawyers have challenged Equatorial Guinea’s role in US-linked third-country deportations before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. [Image credit: *Wikimedia Commons*]

Human rights groups filed a complaint on June 5, 2026, before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights against Equatorial Guinea, alleging that the country violated international human rights law by accepting deportees from the United States and then sending some onward to countries where they face serious harm.

That risk is prohibited under non-refoulement in international human rights law, such that migrants cannot be directly or indirectly sent to countries where they face a real risk of persecution, torture, or other serious harm.

The complaint was filed on behalf of 14 African migrants deported from the US to Equatorial Guinea between November 2025 and April 2026. The filing parties were Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Global Strategic Litigation Council and EG Justice, together with the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa and the Pan African Lawyers Union.

All 14 migrants had previously obtained legal protection in the US against being returned to their countries of origin. Lawyers argue that these protections are being undermined through “third-country” deportations, where the US sends people to countries that are not their own.

Advocates say six deportees were forcibly repatriated from Equatorial Guinea within the last week. Three were reportedly returned to Equatorial Guinea after their home countries refused to admit them, while lawyers lost contact with three others. Eight deportees reportedly remain detained in Equatorial Guinea.

The filing asks the African Commission to intervene urgently by stopping further deportations or transfers, improving detention conditions, ensuring access to legal counsel, and providing compensation for people already returned. The complaint also highlights the risk of “chain refoulement,” where a person is not directly sent by the US to danger, but is instead routed through another country that later sends them there.

The Associated Press reported that Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, said some deportees had been “effectively rendered stateless” after their home countries refused to admit them, describing the process as “a cycle of hell.”

The case comes amid broader litigation and scrutiny over US third-country deportations. In D.V.D. v Department of Homeland Security, a federal district court previously required notice and an opportunity to raise fear of torture before removal to a third country. The US Supreme Court later stayed that injunction, and, although the district court again ruled against the policy in February 2026, the First Circuit stayed that ruling in March 2026 while the appeal continues.

The complaint also follows warnings from UN human rights experts, who urged Equatorial Guinea to halt deportations of people at risk of persecution, torture, or other serious harm.

A US Senate Foreign Relations Committee minority report has also said the Trump administration provided millions of dollars to countries involved in third-country removal arrangements, including Equatorial Guinea.

Although the African Commission cannot enforce orders in the same way as a domestic court, its intervention could increase regional pressure on Equatorial Guinea and clarify the obligations of African states accepting deportees under unclear bilateral arrangements.

Glossary

African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights — The regional human rights treaty that establishes rights and duties for African states and provides the legal framework for the African Commission.
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights — The African Union body responsible for promoting and protecting human and peoples’ rights under the African Charter.
Arbitrary Detention — Detention that is not just unlawful, but also unjust, unreasonable, disproportionate, discriminatory, or imposed without proper legal basis or due process.
Bilateral — In international law, a bilateral agreement is an agreement between two countries.
Chain refoulement — Indirect return to danger, where a person is sent to one country and then removed onward to another country where they face persecution, torture, or serious harm.
Convention Against Torture protection — A form of protection from removal for people who fear torture if returned to a particular country.
Injunction — A court order requiring someone to do something or stop doing something. It is an equitable remedy, often used where money damages would not be enough.
Litigation — The process of resolving a legal dispute through the court system, usually by filing then defending a lawsuit.
Non-refoulement — The legal principle that states must not return people to places where they face persecution, torture, or other serious harm.
Stateless — A person is not legally recognised as a national or citizen by any country.
Third-country deportation — Removal to a country that is not the person’s country of nationality or usual residence, but that has agreed to receive the person.
Withholding of removal — A US immigration protection that prevents removal to a country where a person’s life or freedom would likely be threatened on protected grounds.

References

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Rights Lawyers Challenge US-Linked Deportations from Equatorial Guinea Before African Human Rights Body

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