US deportees to Equatorial Guinea were arrested and beaten by police, lawyers say

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Two men deported by the United States to Equatorial Guinea were arbitrarily arrested after police covered their heads with a bag, beat them and held them at gunpoint in a hotel-turned-detention center, their lawyers and rights groups said on Friday.

Ahmed Soliman, an Egyptian national, and Samson Birhane from Eritrea are among over 40 people who have been deported by the United States to Equatorial Guinea, a small oil-rich state in central Africa. Lawyers said they believed their arbitrary arrests were retaliation for the men raising alarm about the conditions of their detention and the police violence they had endured.

The two men are being held in a hotel on the outskirts of Malabo that the country’s longtime President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has turned into a prison for asylum seekers sent from the U.S. under an opaque $7.5 million deal with the Trump administration. Earlier this year, The Associated Press obtained exclusive access to the hotel.

The Trump administration has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries other than their own under a series of obscure agreements. Advocates say the transfers are part of a broader U.S. crackdown to deter immigration.

U.S. judges had protected most of those deported to Equatorial Guinea from being returned to their countries of origin. Nevertheless, 12 people have been sent back to their countries of origin, according to their lawyers, including four Ethiopians earlier this month.

Those who remain in detention at the Bamy Hotel have faced violence from authorities, who tried to confiscate everyone’s phones, their lawyers said.

“Over the past months, we have observed escalating cases of police violence,” said Isabella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, an organization which is part of a coalition representing the individuals detained in Malabo. “On July 31, masked Equatorial Guinean police officers broke into a number of the hotel rooms of five people (...) and grabbed them by the neck and tackled them to the ground and handcuffed them and threatened them at gunpoint.”

The authorities tried to pressure Soliman and Birhane to agree to be returned to their countries, their lawyers said, and tried to take away their phones. Videos of Soliman protesting against the treatment by the authorities and being held at gunpoint by a police officer in the hotel have been published in international media.

Police arrested Soliman and Birhane on Sept. 11, accusing them of breaking a mirror. Officers later brought the men back to the hotel with bags over their heads and beat them in front of other detainees, according to the lawyers.

The lawyers for Soliman and Birhane said they have not been able to reach the two men since the authorities took them to La Luna police station. Both the men had lived in the United States for decades before being deported.

“Amnesty International believes that the police officers targeted them in reprisal for reporting the authorities' violent threats to coerce them to agree to return to their countries of origin,” the rights group said in a statement on Friday. “Since then, the two men have been held in an overcrowded police cell, in inhumane conditions, unable to speak to their lawyer.”

Immigration lawyers say the Trump administration uses deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum seekers back to their countries of origin. Equatorial Guinea is one of at least eight African nations to have entered into such an agreement with the United States.

Equatorial Guinea is one of Africa's richest countries because of its oil resources, but U.S. officials say it is also plagued by corruption and human rights abuses.

Critical voices are almost nonexistent in the country, where rights groups and the U.S. State Department have accused the government of detaining, torturing and even killing people who speak out.

U.S. companies are among the country's largest foreign investors, and the military receives U.S. funding for training.

This version has been edited to correct the name of the Global Strategic Litigation Council.

FILE - The Bamy Hotel, where migrants are held, is seen on April 22, 2026, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. (AP Photo/Monika Pronczuk, File)

VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) — Ryan Gerard finished eagle-birdie to shoot a 7-under 65 on Friday and take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the BMW PGA Championship, which will not feature Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood or Jon Rahm over the weekend.

The No. 21-ranked Gerard moved to 12-under for the week at the flagship event on the European tour, showing the kind of form that would serve the U.S. team well at the upcoming Presidents Cup.

The issue for the Americans is that Gerard, who was third at the Tour Championship last month, wasn't picked by captain Brandt Snedeker for the 12-man roster.

Gerard was bogey-free Friday — he has dropped just one shot all week — and produced a big finish on the back-to-back closing par 5s at Wentworth after making birdies at Nos. 12 and 13. He rolled in a 20-foot putt for eagle at No. 17 and then reached the green in two at No. 18 before two-putting for birdie.

Adam Scott (67) and Filippo Cello (66) were among the morning starters and set the clubhouse target that only Gerard surpassed. U.S. PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai (69) and Manuel Elvira (66) were tied for fourth place a further shot back.

At the other end of the scoring — in last place of the 138 players to complete 36 holes — was Rahm, whose 78-77 left him on 11 over, 23 shots behind Gerard in what might rank as the worst of the Spaniard's 228 tournaments as a professional.

Rahm’s 6-over 78 in the first round on Thursday was his highest score in a non-major since a 78 in the opening round of the Andalucia Masters in 2021. A day later, he hit his first shot — a drive at No. 9 — into a bunker and went on to make five bogeys and a double on the way to his 77.

The two-time major champion, who finished tied for 23rd at the Irish Open on Sunday, is one of the biggest stars in LIV Golf, the breakaway circuit that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week with debts of more than $500 million. Rahm was among the leading four creditors listed in the filing.

No. 8-ranked Fleetwood missed the cut, too after shooting 74 following an opening 73.

Reed, the leader of the Race to Dubai ranking ahead of Rory McIlroy, won't be around at the weekend for another reason.

The American was forced to retire with an apparent hand injury midway through the second round. He was 9-over for his round — and 5 over for the tournament — when he chose to stop playing and was seen being driven away from the 10th tee after hitting his drive.

Reed appeared to be flexing his left hand.

He had two sevens on his card in his second round — a triple on the par-4 first hole and a double on the par-5 fourth — as well as another double on No. 8.

McIlroy shot 67 and was in a five-way share of sixth place on 8 under. Also in that group was British Open champion Ryan Fox (68) and former U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun (66).

See AP’s full golf coverage here

Ryan Gerard, of United States, watches his shot during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament in Virginia Water, England, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Australia's Adam Scott plays from the 7th fairway on day two of the PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club, in Virginia Water, England, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Jon Rahm of Spain drops his club on the 13th hole during the first round of the BMW Championship golf tournament in Virginia Water, England, Thursday Sept. 17, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)