Lawyers file a complaint with Africa’s human rights body to challenge U.S. “third-country” deportations to Equatorial Guinea. The complaint is lodged with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and names Equatorial Guinea, seeking to stop both the initial transfer and any onward expulsion of the people to their countries of origin. The legal action is brought on behalf of 14 deportees, some of whom are reported to be held in conditions described as arbitrary and indefinite detention. The lawsuit centers on a practice tied to the Trump administration’s expanded immigration crackdown. When U.S. authorities are legally barred from returning individuals directly to places where they may face persecution, they reportedly send deportees to intermediary countries such as Equatorial Guinea. After arrival, authorities in Equatorial Guinea hold people without charge before deporting them to their home countries. The groups supporting the complaint argue the U.S. treats protections against direct removal as a loophole by using third countries to carry out returns. The filings ask the African Commission to intervene to halt the deportations and subsequent onward transfers.