The Maryland father wrongly deported to a brutal Salvadoran prison due to a "clerical error" has filed an amended complaint detailing the "torture" he endured in the prison.
Lawfare's Anna Bower posted screen captures of the filing Kilmar Ábrego García's lawyers submitted on Wednesday, where he alleged "torture and mistreatment" at CECOT prison.
The filing begins with broad descriptions of "severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition, and psychological torture."
“In Cell 15, Plaintiff Ábrego García and 20 other Salvadorans were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion," the filing says. "During this time, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was denied bathroom access and soiled himself…"
Among the allegations of psychological torture was "prison officials repeatedly [telling] Plaintiff Ábrego García that they would transfer him to the cells containing gang members who, they assured him, would 'tear' him apart.”
It goes on to say that García would overhear "prisoners in nearby cells who he understood to be gang members violently harm each other with no intervention…"
This happened numerous times, he said.
"Screams from nearby cells would similarly ring out throughout the night without any response from prison guards," the filing continues.
A Justice Department prosecutor confessed to a Maryland court judge that García was not supposed to be sent to CECOT. It prompted questions from a judge as to why he couldn't simply be returned to the United States. The prosecutor said that he's never been able to get a straight answer to that question. He was fired shortly after.
The case ultimately went to the U.S. District Court, which agreed that the government must "facilitate and effectuate the return of [Ábrego García] to the United States by no later than 11:59 PM on Monday, April 7."
The administration appealed the decision, but the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling.
