Four men deported by US to Eswatini have right to see lawyer, court rules

Four men deported by the US to Eswatini and denied in-person legal counsel for nine months while detained in a maximum security prison have the right to see a local lawyer, Eswatini’s supreme court ruled. Eswatini’s correctional services refused to let a local lawyer see the men, although they allowed them to make calls to their US lawyers, the lawyers said.

• A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security said: “Allegations that sending criminal illegal aliens to third country’s [sic] is a form of ‘human trafficking’ is insane.
• Another 10 arrived in Eswatini in October, one of whom was repatriated to Cambodia on 26 March, and a further four last month.
• The Eswatini government spokesperson, Thabile Mdluli, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Watch next: The three judges ruled: “There can be no real harm in granting the respondent access to the detainees … it then will be up to the detainees, if they do not wish to see the respondent, to tell this to the respondent to his face.”