In Ghana, government sued for denying deportees’ human rights
Lawyers representing 11 West Africans who were deported to Ghana from the United States claimed their clients are being unlawfully detained and deprived of their rights in a lawsuit against the Ghanaian government.
Fourteen migrants were initially taken from their cells in ICE custody in early September, before getting sent to Ghana on a military cargo plane. Three of the migrants were sent back to their home countries, with 11 remaining in Ghana.
Ghanaian lawyer Oliver Barker-Vormawor filed a lawsuit on behalf of the 11 migrants, claiming that they were held without trial and asking a court in Accra to block any further actions that would send them to their home countries. Ghana, along with other African countries, is facing pressure to comply with the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts to avoid risking tariffs or visa sanctions.
“Countries see it as an opportunity to get on the right side of the Trump administration,” Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The New York Times.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana’s minister for foreign affairs, confirmed that deportations to Ghana began around early September and said earlier this week that 40 more more are expected in the coming days.
In Spain, suspects arrested for torture and murder of more than 50 migrants
Spanish authorities arrested 19 people last Wednesday accused of torturing and murdering more than 50 migrants who went missing on a boat traveling from Senegal to the Canary Islands.
The vessel, suspected to hold around 300 migrants, was rescued in the Atlantic Ocean on Aug. 24 with only 248 survivors, according to Spanish National Police. The suspects — who are currently at a pretrial detention for homicide, torture, assault and facilitation of irregular immigration — are believed to be the smugglers leading the voyage, according to The Telegraph, though some survivors identified them as fellow passengers.
BBC reported that some victims were accusingly called “witches” after the travelers were subject to poor weather conditions, engine failure and shortages of food, while others were suspectedly killed for voicing their dissatisfaction with the trip’s conditions. Suspects began “attacking dozens of people, beating and abusing them in various ways” and also refused to rescue victims who accidentally fell off the vessel, according to the police statement.
More than 1,800 migrants have died on voyages from North and West Africa to Spain — a key migration entry point into Europe — since the start of 2025, according to the Morning Star.
In Australia, ‘Night Stalker’ pleads guilty after ’90s cold case reopened
Sydney’s infamous “Night Stalker” pleaded guilty on Tuesday to multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault on eight women in the early ’90s.
61-year-old Glenn Gary Cameron was arrested at Sydney Airport in February 2024 after the cases were reopened. Using modern forensic techniques, detectives identified Cameron’s DNA left on a beer glass and fork linked to four cases.
Dubbed the “Night Stalker” and “Moore Park Rapist,” Cameron was known for luring women and offering them cleaning or modeling jobs, before pulling out a knife and sexually assaulting them. He primarily targeted Asian women aged 17 to 45, according to The Guardian.
At Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Tuesday, Cameron pled guilty to 13 of his 36 charges after initially denying allegations. Nine charges were withdrawn and 14 others will be considered for the length of his sentence, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The case will move to district court, with Cameron’s arraignment set for next month.
Contact Jennifer Jesus at [email protected].
