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Four men deported by the US to Eswatini<\/a> and denied in-person legal counsel for nine months while detained in a maximum security prison have the right to see a local lawyer, Eswatini\u2019s supreme court ruled.<\/p>\n The men, from Cambodia, Cuba, Vietnam and Yemen, were sent to the small southern African country<\/a>, formerly known as Swaziland, in July despite having no connection to the country, as part of Donald Trump\u2019s administration\u2019s efforts to ramp up deportations.<\/p>\n The US government had labelled the men dangerous criminals. Their lawyers said they had already served sentences for crimes committed in the US. Eswatini\u2019s correctional services refused to let a local lawyer see the men, although they allowed them to make calls to their US lawyers, the lawyers said.<\/p>\n The court rejected the government\u2019s argument that \u201cthe inmates persistently showed no interest\u201d in meeting the human rights lawyer Sibusiso Magnificent Nhlabatsi, in a judgment<\/a> handed down on Thursday.<\/p>\n The three judges ruled: \u201cThere can be no real harm in granting the respondent access to the detainees \u2026 it then will be up to the detainees, if they do not wish to see the respondent, to tell this to the respondent to his face.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the first five deportees, one was repatriated to Jamaica in September. Another 10 arrived in Eswatini in October<\/a>, one of whom was repatriated to Cambodia<\/a> on 26 March, and a further four last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alma David, a US lawyer for several of the men, said: \u201cThe fact that it took nearly nine months of litigation and a decision by the highest court of the land to obtain something as innocuous as permission for my clients to meet with a local lawyer speaks volumes about how hard the government of Eswatini is fighting to deny these men the most basic of rights.\u201d<\/p>\n The Eswatini government spokesperson, Thabile Mdluli, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Previously, she has said: \u201cThe government of the Kingdom of Eswatini has made every reasonable effort, in accordance with national laws and international obligations, to ensure that the third-country nationals received from the United States government are accommodated in conditions that respect their fundamental rights and human dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n The US has deported dozens of people to third countries from which they do not originate, including Ghana<\/a>, South Sudan<\/a> and Uganda<\/a>. Human rights lawyers and NGOs have labelled the deportations as a form of human trafficking.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security said: \u201cAllegations that sending criminal illegal aliens to third country\u2019s [sic] is a form of \u2018human trafficking\u2019 is insane. The Trump administration<\/a> is utilizing all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history, just as President Trump promised.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n