THE Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have called on the government of El Salvador to protect three Salvadoran men deported by the United States.

In a decision published on Tuesday, the commission said the three men had been held without the ability to communicate with their lawyers or relatives since arriving.

The Salvadoran government said in the case that William Alexander Martinez Ruano and Jose Osmin Santos Robles were being held in a prison in Santa Ana and the third, Brandon Bladimir Sigaran Cruz, who the government said was an active member of the MS-13 gang, had been held in the country’s new gang prison since March.

Nearly 90,000 people have been arrested under emergency powers granted to President Nayib Bukele in March 2022 to fight the country’s powerful street gangs.

Relatives and a lawyer filed habeas corpus petitions in El Salvador on behalf of the men, and the nongovernmental Coalition for Human Rights and Democracy requested the protective measures from the human rights commission.

The commission, which is an arm of the regional Organisation of American States, said it decided to grant the request because of a “serious risk to their rights to life and personal well-being.”

El Salvador responded to the commission about the status of the men, but the commission said the government did not deny the men were being held incommunicado despite a specific request that it provide information about the possibility of visits with their relatives and lawyers.

The country is supposed to follow the commission’s instructions and report back, but El Salvador gave no indication of being willing to bend to the demands.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration sent more than 250 Venezuelan men it accused of belonging to the Train of Aragua gang to be imprisoned in El Salvador.

In July, they were released to Venezuela in exchange for the release of 10 Americans held by Venezuela.