Eight migrants in United States custody have lost a last-ditch attempt to avoid deportation to South Sudan, a country facing ongoing criticism for human rights abuses.
On Friday, Judge Brian Murphy of Boston denied the eleventh-hour appeal, which has been the subject of a flurry of legal activity throughout the day.
The appeal argued that repeated efforts under President Donald Trump to deport the men to South Sudan was “impermissibly punitive”. It pointed out that the US Constitution bars “cruel and unusual punishment”.
In the past, the US Department of State has accused South Sudan of “extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture and cases of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment”. It advises no American citizen to travel there due to an ongoing armed conflict.
But the US Supreme Court has twice ruled that the Trump administration could indeed deport the men to countries outside of their homelands. Its latest decision was issued on Thursday.
The US Department of Justice indicated that the eight men were set to be flown to South Sudan by 7pm US Eastern Time (23:00 GMT) on Friday. They hailed from countries like Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan and Vietnam.
The last-ditch appeal was filed on Thursday night, shortly after the Supreme Court rendered its decision.
Initially, the case was assigned to US District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington, DC, who signalled he was sympathetic to the deportees’ request.
He briefly ordered the deportation to be paused until 4:30pm Eastern Time (20:30 GMT), but ultimately, he decided to transfer the case back to Murphy, the judge whose decisions helped precipitate the Supreme Court’s rulings.
Murphy had previously issued injunctions against the deportations to South Sudan, leading to successful appeals from the Trump administration. The eight men, meanwhile, had been held at a military base in Djibouti while the courts decided their fate.
Before he transferred the case back to Murphy, however, Judge Moss said it was possible the deportees could prove their case that the Trump administration intended to subject them to abuse.
“It seems to me almost self-evident that the United States government cannot take human beings and send them to circumstances in which their physical wellbeing is at risk simply either to punish them or send a signal to others,” Moss said during the hearing.
Lawyers for the Trump administration, meanwhile, argued that the deportation’s continued delay would strain relations with countries willing to accept migrants from other countries.
Murphy, who denied Friday’s request, had previously ruled in favour of the deportees, issuing an injunction against their removal to South Sudan and saying they had a right to contest the deportation based on fears for their safety.
The Supreme Court first lifted the injunction on June 23 and clarified its ruling again on Thursday, giving a subtle rebuke to Judge Murphy.
The Trump administration has been pushing for rapid removals as part of its campaign of mass deportation, one of President Trump’s signature priorities.
Opponents have accused the administration of steamrolling the human rights of undocumented people in order to achieve its aims, including the right to due process under the law.
But the Trump administration has framed undocumented migration as an “invasion” that constitutes a national security crisis, and it argued that its strong-armed efforts are needed to expel criminals.
The eight migrants slated to be sent to South Sudan, it said, were “barbaric, violent criminal illegal aliens”. It added that they had been found guilty of crimes, including first-degree murder, robbery and sexual assault.
“These sickos will be in South Sudan by Independence Day,” Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a news release on Thursday.
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![Russian Memorial human rights NGO labeled ‘extremist’Russia’s Supreme Court announced on Telegram on April 9 that the activities of human rights organization Memorial were now banned throughout the country. This came after a closed-door hearing that was treated as “top secret.” Media representatives and diplomats from Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic and France were only allowed to attend the announcement of the ruling, which sparked strong reactions internationally.
The Nobel Committee, which awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to Memorial, condemned the court’s decision. The European Union delegation to Russia described the ruling as a “politically motivated blow to civil society in Russia.” The diplomats pointed out that the Russian state itself had “not only officially recognized Memorial’s merits but also provided direct support, and members of the organization served on the Human Rights Council for many years.”The Supreme Court hearing took place behind closed doorsImage: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo/picture alliance
Russian Supreme Court keeps wording deliberately vague
Lawyers for Memorial pointed out that the Supreme Court had classified the “International Public Movement Memorial” as “extremist,” but they pointed out that no organization of this name existed and had not been registered either in Russia or elsewhere.
They told DW that the wording had probably been kept deliberately vague to create a legal basis for potential repression against any Memorial structures, as well as their members and supporters. “The Justice Ministry’s action itself remained secret, and the organization’s representatives were barred from attending the hearing,” Sergei Davidis, the head of Memorial’s political prisoners support program, told DW.
He also stressed that in light of growing public dissatisfaction with the Russian government, the state was attempting to eliminate independent and reputable sources of information that could foster solidarity and networking in Russian society.
Memorial documents Soviet repression and the Gulag system
The international society Memorial was founded in 1987 and went on to become the leading independent organization dedicated to documenting Soviet-era repression in Russia. Its archives contain tens of thousands of documents about the victims of Soviet repression, including thousands of memoirs, hundreds of personal collections, as well as a wealth of material from researchers on the history of the gulags, the system of labor camps that was a major instrument of political repression in the Soviet era, and other human rights violations.
According to the independent online media outlet Mediazona, the authorities could now lay claim to the archive as the “property of an extremist organization.” In 2023, the head of the Perm NGO Center of Historical Memory, Aleksandr Chernyshov, was arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle archival documents from Russia to Germany.
The persecution of the Russian branch of Memorial began in 2014 when it was placed on a list of “foreign agents” by the Russian Justice Ministry. This status was later extended to the organization’s international branch, which required all publications and reports to be labeled accordingly. In case of non-compliance, there were fines and restrictions on Memorial’s activities.
In 2021, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Memorial International for “repeated” and “gross” violations of Russia’s foreign agent laws. Memorial was also accused of depicting a false image of the Soviet Union.
Pressure continued to mount in March 2023, when the homes and offices of nine Memorial staff members, including Oleg Orlov and Yan Rachinsky, were subjected to searches as part of a targeted campaign against independent human rights organizations. The same year, Orlov was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for “discrediting” the army. He was released with other political prisoners as part of a prisoner exchange in August 2024 and has since been living in Germany.
Memorial will continue its human rights activities
Since this year’s ruling on April 9, Memorial has announced that it will have to suspend all activities in Russia but will continue its activities abroad. It has blocked the sharing and commenting of posts on social media. All supporters in Russia have been urged to follow the safety guidelines published on Memorial’s website.
Although the court has used the term “international social movement” to describe Memorial and this does not actually exist as such, all people, associations and organizations associated with the NGO could now be at risk. Memorial has called on people in Russia to not make any donations, to remove any logos and links on social media, and to delete any compromising content on all digital devices. It warned that people could draw attention from law enforcement agencies even by subscribing to Memorial channels.
It also said that though the risks outside Russia were not as high, people could still be subject to persecution abroad. Nonetheless, it said it would continue its work to protect human rights and preserve historical memory. Politzek — voices that defy the KremlinTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Nobel Committee: ‘Affront to fundamental values of human dignity’
Earlier this week, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Jorgen Watne Frydnes said that to designate Memorial as “extremist” was “an affront to the fundamental values of human dignity and freedom of expression.”
On his Telegram channel, the Russian political scientist Aleksandr Kynev wrote that the persecution of Memorial marked a new level of repression in Russia. He added that the new status of the organization would allow the authorities to target even ordinary employees.
Davidis pointed out that Memorial did not have a unified, centralized structure, but constituted a broad network of different groups. He said that people continued to be interested in political repression, both in the past and today. He said that the work of human rights activists had to continue despite the more difficult and risky circumstances.
Russian government strategy to suppress memory of Soviet crimes
According to Irina Sherbakova, a co-founding member of Memorial, the latest move against the organization is part of the Russian government’s overall strategy. She explained that it was in keeping with the closure of the Moscow-based Gulag History Museum in 2024, the systematic removal of commemorative plaques installed by the Last Address memorial project, the restrictions on access to official archives and the amendment to the official concept for commemorating victims of political repression, from which the mention of mass repression and later mass rehabilitation has been removed.Irina Sherbakova co-founded Memorial. She now lives in GermanyImage: dts-Agentur/picture alliance
Sherbakova said that these measures were all aimed at controlling the collective memory of Soviet repression and human rights work today: “This is part of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s ideology, which is becoming increasingly ultranationalist.”
Human rights activist Anna Karetnikova agreed, and pointed out that the initiative to persecute Memorial went back to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which succeeded the Soviet secret service, the KGB, itself preceded by the NKVD. She said that the FSB viewed Memorial’s efforts to preserve the memory of Soviet repression and support of political prisoners today as a thorn in its side. She said that Memorial’s new status would lay the path for more criminal proceedings and increase pressure on civil society.
This article was originally published in Russian.
What’s really behind ‘foreign agent’ laws? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
#Russian #Memorial #human #rights #NGO #labeled #extremist](https://i1.wp.com/static.dw.com/image/76090686_6.jpg?ssl=1 "Russian Memorial human rights NGO labeled ‘extremist’Russia’s Supreme Court announced on Telegram on April 9 that the activities of human rights organization Memorial were now banned throughout the country. This came after a closed-door hearing that was treated as “top secret.” Media representatives and diplomats from Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic and France were only allowed to attend the announcement of the ruling, which sparked strong reactions internationally.
The Nobel Committee, which awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to Memorial, condemned the court’s decision. The European Union delegation to Russia described the ruling as a “politically motivated blow to civil society in Russia.” The diplomats pointed out that the Russian state itself had “not only officially recognized Memorial’s merits but also provided direct support, and members of the organization served on the Human Rights Council for many years.”The Supreme Court hearing took place behind closed doorsImage: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo/picture alliance
Russian Supreme Court keeps wording deliberately vague
Lawyers for Memorial pointed out that the Supreme Court had classified the “International Public Movement Memorial” as “extremist,” but they pointed out that no organization of this name existed and had not been registered either in Russia or elsewhere.
They told DW that the wording had probably been kept deliberately vague to create a legal basis for potential repression against any Memorial structures, as well as their members and supporters. “The Justice Ministry’s action itself remained secret, and the organization’s representatives were barred from attending the hearing,” Sergei Davidis, the head of Memorial’s political prisoners support program, told DW.
He also stressed that in light of growing public dissatisfaction with the Russian government, the state was attempting to eliminate independent and reputable sources of information that could foster solidarity and networking in Russian society.
Memorial documents Soviet repression and the Gulag system
The international society Memorial was founded in 1987 and went on to become the leading independent organization dedicated to documenting Soviet-era repression in Russia. Its archives contain tens of thousands of documents about the victims of Soviet repression, including thousands of memoirs, hundreds of personal collections, as well as a wealth of material from researchers on the history of the gulags, the system of labor camps that was a major instrument of political repression in the Soviet era, and other human rights violations.
According to the independent online media outlet Mediazona, the authorities could now lay claim to the archive as the “property of an extremist organization.” In 2023, the head of the Perm NGO Center of Historical Memory, Aleksandr Chernyshov, was arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle archival documents from Russia to Germany.
The persecution of the Russian branch of Memorial began in 2014 when it was placed on a list of “foreign agents” by the Russian Justice Ministry. This status was later extended to the organization’s international branch, which required all publications and reports to be labeled accordingly. In case of non-compliance, there were fines and restrictions on Memorial’s activities.
In 2021, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Memorial International for “repeated” and “gross” violations of Russia’s foreign agent laws. Memorial was also accused of depicting a false image of the Soviet Union.
Pressure continued to mount in March 2023, when the homes and offices of nine Memorial staff members, including Oleg Orlov and Yan Rachinsky, were subjected to searches as part of a targeted campaign against independent human rights organizations. The same year, Orlov was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for “discrediting” the army. He was released with other political prisoners as part of a prisoner exchange in August 2024 and has since been living in Germany.
Memorial will continue its human rights activities
Since this year’s ruling on April 9, Memorial has announced that it will have to suspend all activities in Russia but will continue its activities abroad. It has blocked the sharing and commenting of posts on social media. All supporters in Russia have been urged to follow the safety guidelines published on Memorial’s website.
Although the court has used the term “international social movement” to describe Memorial and this does not actually exist as such, all people, associations and organizations associated with the NGO could now be at risk. Memorial has called on people in Russia to not make any donations, to remove any logos and links on social media, and to delete any compromising content on all digital devices. It warned that people could draw attention from law enforcement agencies even by subscribing to Memorial channels.
It also said that though the risks outside Russia were not as high, people could still be subject to persecution abroad. Nonetheless, it said it would continue its work to protect human rights and preserve historical memory. Politzek — voices that defy the KremlinTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Nobel Committee: ‘Affront to fundamental values of human dignity’
Earlier this week, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Jorgen Watne Frydnes said that to designate Memorial as “extremist” was “an affront to the fundamental values of human dignity and freedom of expression.”
On his Telegram channel, the Russian political scientist Aleksandr Kynev wrote that the persecution of Memorial marked a new level of repression in Russia. He added that the new status of the organization would allow the authorities to target even ordinary employees.
Davidis pointed out that Memorial did not have a unified, centralized structure, but constituted a broad network of different groups. He said that people continued to be interested in political repression, both in the past and today. He said that the work of human rights activists had to continue despite the more difficult and risky circumstances.
Russian government strategy to suppress memory of Soviet crimes
According to Irina Sherbakova, a co-founding member of Memorial, the latest move against the organization is part of the Russian government’s overall strategy. She explained that it was in keeping with the closure of the Moscow-based Gulag History Museum in 2024, the systematic removal of commemorative plaques installed by the Last Address memorial project, the restrictions on access to official archives and the amendment to the official concept for commemorating victims of political repression, from which the mention of mass repression and later mass rehabilitation has been removed.Irina Sherbakova co-founded Memorial. She now lives in GermanyImage: dts-Agentur/picture alliance
Sherbakova said that these measures were all aimed at controlling the collective memory of Soviet repression and human rights work today: “This is part of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s ideology, which is becoming increasingly ultranationalist.”
Human rights activist Anna Karetnikova agreed, and pointed out that the initiative to persecute Memorial went back to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which succeeded the Soviet secret service, the KGB, itself preceded by the NKVD. She said that the FSB viewed Memorial’s efforts to preserve the memory of Soviet repression and support of political prisoners today as a thorn in its side. She said that Memorial’s new status would lay the path for more criminal proceedings and increase pressure on civil society.
This article was originally published in Russian.
What’s really behind ‘foreign agent’ laws? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
#Russian #Memorial #human #rights #NGO #labeled #extremist")
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