OddsFrontUS deportee detained after speaking about alleged police abuse in Equatorial Guinea
Ahmed Soliman’s reported incommunicado detention intensifies scrutiny of Washington’s third-country deportation arrangement with one of Africa’s most restrictive governments.
A deportee disappears into police custody
An Egyptian man deported by the United States to Equatorial Guinea was taken from the Malabo hotel where deportees were being confined and placed in police custody on September 11, according to his US-based lawyer. The lawyer said Ahmed Soliman was being held incommunicado and that his whereabouts had not been confirmed. Equatorial Guinea’s government and its embassy in Washington did not answer Reuters’ requests for information about his location or safety.
Soliman’s detention followed his decision to speak about the treatment of migrants transferred to the Central African country under Washington’s third-country deportation policy. Reuters reported that police pointed firearms at Soliman and other deportees during an earlier confrontation at Hotel Bamy. Security personnel subsequently returned to the hotel and confiscated the group’s telephones, according to communications provided by his lawyer. The reported sequence raises concern that contact with journalists may have triggered retaliation.
An opaque deportation route
The case sits within a broader US effort to send people to countries other than their own when direct repatriation is legally or practically blocked. Some transferred migrants had previously secured protection from US immigration judges because returning them to their home countries could expose them to persecution, torture or other grave harm. Washington maintains that third-country removals are lawful and carried out under US immigration law, but the agreements and safeguards applied after arrival remain largely undisclosed.
Independent reporting before Soliman’s detention documented deportees confined at Hotel Bamy under armed guard, with limited freedom of movement and disputed access to food, hygiene supplies and medical care. The Guardian reported that six people were taken to Equatorial Guinea after refusing to disembark from a US deportation flight in Liberia. Lawyers said they had not agreed to either destination and lacked a clear legal status in Equatorial Guinea.
Existing warnings about irreparable harm
United Nations human rights mandate holders had already raised the underlying risks with Equatorial Guinea. An April 23 communication recorded concerns about nine people detained in Malabo after removal from the United States under a bilateral transfer arrangement. The experts warned that onward removal could expose them to irreparable harm and serious violations of their rights to life, liberty, security and protection from persecution. A follow-up communication in June said deportees remained exposed to those risks.
The immediate question is whether Equatorial Guinea will disclose Soliman’s location, legal basis for detention and access to counsel. Beyond his individual safety, the case tests whether third-country deportation deals contain enforceable protections once US custody ends. Further evidence of retaliation, indefinite confinement or onward removal despite protection orders would intensify legal challenges to both governments and increase pressure for independent monitoring of the Malabo facility.