On Saturday, a group of well-known lawyers filed a lawsuit against Panama over the detention of immigrants who have been deported from the US, threatening to disrupt President Trump's new policy of exporting immigrants from around the world to Central American countries.
A lawsuit filed against the Panama government before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights detained as plaintiffs the 10 Iranian Christian converts and 102 migrants detained in a camp near the Panama jungle, according to a copy seen by the New York Times.
The lawsuit alleges that the United States violates the Iranian group's right to asylum due to religious persecution, and that Panama violates domestic and international laws, such as the American Human Rights Treaty, in detention of immigrants.
The lawsuit was filed only against Panama, but one of the attorneys involved said they plan to file another complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security next week.
A spokesman for Astrid Salazar, a spokesman for Panama's President Raul Murino, responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit, saying the migrants were “not detained” by the Panama government. “They are not our orders, but rather IOM and UNHCR.”
The migrants are detained in fenced camps protected by armed Panama police officers, and Panama's Ministry of Security controls all access to the facility. The International Migration Agency and the United Nations Refugee Agency, although they do not regularly exist in the camps and do not handle immigration, they say they provide humanitarian assistance, including providing food funding.
The lawsuit was filed Saturday, and the committee requested an emergency order to issue none of the jungle camp detained migrants should be deported to their country of origin.
“The government of Panama has no national or international authority to detain people under these circumstances,” said Ian Cachell, an associate professor of law at Cornell Law School and a lead lawyer for the plaintiffs.
In mid-February, the Trump administration opened a new front in an effort to send recently arrived immigrants from around the world to Central America, deporting millions of people. Approximately 300 people were taken to Panama and detained in a hotel in Panama City.
More than 100 people who refused to agree to return to their country of origin were later transferred to detention camps near the Darien Jungle, where they remained.
Since then, the Trump administration has thanked Panama for its support in tackling the migration challenges. However, the departure and his arrival of detention caused problems for Murino's government. Murino agreed to bring in immigrants but was criticised by the United Nations, human rights activists and lawyers without criminal charges.
The Human Rights Commission is a seven-person committee whose decisions apply to members of American national organizations, including Panama. It is intended for individuals to be used when individuals feel that their domestic legal options have been exhausted or irreparable harm is imminent, and the plaintiffs say prompt legal protection is needed.
The committee cannot impose sanctions, but ignoring that decision can be politically risky.
Jose Miguel Vivanco, a Latin American human rights expert and a fellow member of the Council of Foreign Relations, said that if the committee ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, Panama thought he would comply.
Commissions that support the plaintiffs and halt deportation could make it even more difficult for Trump to persuade leaders in Panama and elsewhere to take on immigration.
After sending immigrants to Panama, the Trump administration sent 200 immigrants from Central Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe to Costa Rica, including dozens of children. Like Panama, immigrants are detained in remote facilities, just a few hours drive from the capital.
Kaysel said similar legal action is expected against other Latin American countries, including Costa Rica, which have partnered with Trump and accepted Decortee.
In both cases, the Central American government said it plans to expel people quickly into their country. The lawsuit states that Iranian law stipulates that conversion from Islam is a crime punishable by death, so lawyers argue that deporting Iranian Christians would result in “unrefutable harm.”
“I am afraid of what will happen at the hands of the Panama government,” one Iranian, Artemis Gashemzadeh, said in a declaration of oath filed in the lawsuit. “I still want to seek asylum in the United States and pursue a free Christian life there.”
Gasemzadeh, 27, fled Iran in December and went her way from Mexico across the US southern border, has made her tests public in a media interview. She first attracted global attention. A video has been widely spread online, in which she said she was tied up and deported to Panama.
The committee will usually issue decisions within days in such cases, Vivanko said.
He said the bar for the committee to issue protections to plaintiffs is very expensive. However, given Iran's policy towards converted Christians, he thought there was a chance in the incident. “I think this will attract the attention of everyone involved,” he said.
Kaysel said the lawsuit would stop other countries from participating in Trump's deportation scheme.
“Panama and other countries in the region face legal liability if they receive, detain, or deported asylum seekers from the United States,” said Cashel.
The case is the result of cooperation between lawyers and legal organizations from multiple countries.
Ali Heliski, one of the lawyers, represents the Iranian Bible, said he plans to file another lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security this week. The lawsuit will be on behalf of Gashemzadeh and nine Iranian Christian converts, three of them children, and three Iranians who have been deported to Panama and Costa Rica.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security previously said no migrants “have insisted on fear of returning to their home country at any point during their disposal or custody.”
Gassemzadeh repeatedly asked her to fill out the paperwork for asylum, but immigration officers at the California camp have allegedly told her this wasn't the time.
Helici said the allegations challenge the legality of deportation and demand that the group be allowed to apply for asylum in the United States as a remedy.
