Ahmed Soliman, a 31-year-old Egyptian, and Samson Birhane, a 47-year-old Eritrean, were arrested on September 11 and transferred to a prison in Malabo, according to lawyers and witnesses cited by the Associated Press and The Guardian. The allegations have placed renewed scrutiny on a controversial agreement under which the United States paid Equatorial Guinea $7.5 million to receive migrants deported under President Donald Trump’s third-country programme. Neither the alleged assault nor the deportees’ treatment has been independently verified by Business Insider Africa. Men allegedly beaten over mobile phones Witnesses said police accused the two men of damaging property at Hotel Bamy, a hotel outside Malabo that has been used to hold people deported from the United States. The men were allegedly blindfolded or fitted with bags over their heads, beaten and pushed down a staircase before being removed from the hotel. Witnesses said officers repeatedly demanded the detainees' phone while assaulting the men. Soliman had previously recorded police pointing guns at deportees during a dispute over confiscated mobile phones. The phones allowed the detainees to contact lawyers, relatives and journalists. Police later searched other rooms and confiscated additional devices, lawyers said. “This is a human rights catastrophe,” said Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, which represents several of the deportees. Equatorial Guinea’s government had not publicly responded to the specific allegations at the time of the reports. Washington paid $7.5 million The United States transferred $7.5 million to Equatorial Guinea as part of its deportation cooperation agreement. The money reportedly came from funds appropriated for migration and refugee assistance, although the people being sent to Equatorial Guinea were deportees rather than refugees receiving humanitarian support. US Senator Jeanne Shaheen raised concerns about the payment in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. She said the transfer “raises serious concerns over the responsible, transparent use of American taxpayer dollars.” The payment was particularly striking because it exceeded the total amount of US assistance reportedly provided to Equatorial Guinea during the previous eight years. Washington has not disclosed complete public terms for the agreement, including how the money is being spent or what legal protections Equatorial Guinea promised to provide. At least 66 people from several countries, including African nations, Cuba and Brazil, have been sent to Equatorial Guinea since November 2025, according to Third Country Deportation Watch. About 30 people remained at Hotel Bamy following the arrest of Soliman and Birhane. Deportees left in legal limbo Many of the deportees cannot safely return to their countries of origin because US immigration judges previously found that they could face persecution or torture there. Birhane arrived in the United States as a refugee at the age of 13. A judge later found that he faced a risk of torture in Eritrea. Both men lost their US immigration status following criminal convictions, but had already served their sentences. Lawyers say the deportees have been left in Equatorial Guinea without a clear immigration status, freedom of movement or a reliable process for securing legal protection elsewhere. Some detainees have also reported limited access to medical treatment and clean clothing. In May, United Nations human rights experts asked Equatorial Guinea not to return deportees to countries where they could be persecuted. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights subsequently issued an interim order asking the government not to deport, transfer or relocate the individuals against their will. US distances itself from conditions US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has argued that its responsibility ends once deportees leave American custody. “When an individual is no longer in ICE custody, ICE is no longer responsible for them,” an agency spokesperson told The Guardian. ICE maintained that all the deportees had been sent to what it considered a safe third country. The US State Department it will continue using lawful measures to remove people who had no right to remain in the United States. However, neither agency directly addressed questions about the alleged violence or whether Washington had intervened with Equatorial Guinea’s government. The case presents a serious test for Trump’s third-country deportation strategy: Washington paid millions of dollars to secure a destination, but the deportees’ treatment after arrival has become a source of legal and human-rights scrutiny.