WASHINGTON — The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) today issued this statement as reports circulate about plans by the Trump administration to fly immigrants to prisons in Libya.

“CVT expresses deep concern about the widely circulated reports that the U.S. has plans to transport immigrants from the U.S. to Libyan prisons via military planes. Human rights groups have registered serious concerns about prisons in Libya. So too has the State Department, last year calling conditions in them ‘life-threatening.’

“No matter what the Trump administration says, torture is illegal. Sending people to places that are known to inflict torture violates the prohibition on non-refoulement, a cornerstone of both U.S. and international law prohibiting people from being sent to a country where they risk being tortured or subjected to other human rights violations.

“While Libya has said it will not accept anyone deported and a federal judge has temporarily blocked this effort until migrants have a chance to challenge their removal, this reported action is part of the administration’s harrowing pattern of its first 100 days. President Trump has been rendering immigrants to notorious detention centers including Guantánamo and CECOT in El Salvador, prisons long reported to use torture in blatant violation of the law.

 “The Trump administration continues to destroy the rule of law, lives and communities with its performative efforts to intimidate immigrants as it actively sends people to torture dungeons.” -Yumna Rizvi, CVT senior policy analyst

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The Center for Victims of Torture is a nonprofit organization with offices in Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Uganda, United States and additional project sites around the world. Visit www.cvt.org