Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Spain.htm
|
|||||||||||
|
CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Spain. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Spain U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/spain/
[accessed 8 August
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT There were multiple
reports of excess use of force by law enforcement during the
government-decreed state of alarm from March 14 through June 20 enacted in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August the nongovernmental organization
(NGO) Defend Those Who Defend reported it registered 70 cases of mistreatment
of individuals by state security forces. The NGO Rights International Spain
reported several cases of excessive use of force documented on video showing
police slapping, shoving, or kicking individuals. A video posted
online in March by Amnesty International showed police officers in Bilbao
shoving a young man of North African descent, hitting him with a baton, and
later hitting and arresting his mother after she told the police he was
suffering from poor mental health. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/spain/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 15 May
2020] F3. IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE
USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? Prison conditions
generally meet international standards, but short-term internment centers for
irregular migrants suffer from overcrowding and other problems. Council of Europe
anti-torture Committee publishes report on Spain Executive Summary, 4
February 2020 [accessed 31 May
2020] Law enforcement agencies
-- The vast majority of persons met by the CPT’s delegation stated that they
had been treated correctly when detained by Mossos d’Esquadra
officers. However, the
delegation once again
received a number of
allegations of ill-treatment, consisting mainly of kicks and punches to the
head and body and blows with
truncheons to the
body, usually at
the moment of
apprehension after the
persons concerned had been
brought under control. The CPT’s delegation also received
a few specific allegations from inmates
interviewed separately that
they had been
beaten with truncheons
while subjected to an unauthorised means of
restraint they referred to as the “bocadillo”
(while restrained by the ankles, sandwiched between two plastic mattresses
bound together by Velcro straps).The CPT recommends that the Catalan regional
authorities deliver a strong message
that the ill-treatment of detained persons is illegal, unprofessional, and
will be the subject of appropriate sanctions. European Court of
Human Rights Condemns Spain for Torturing Two Basques Argia, 16 February 2018 www.argia.eus/albistea/strasbourg-condemns-spain-for-torturing-two-basques [accessed 17
February 2018] 16 hours after
having been arrested, Igor Portu had to be taken to
the Intensive Care Unit at Donostia Hospital. He
had a punctured lung, a broken rib, a haemorrhage
in one eye and bruises all over his body: it was obvious that he had been
tortured. After being kept
incommunicado for five days, Mattin Sarasola reported to a judge from the Spanish National
Court that he, too, had been tortured. Rodriguez has
recalled the decisions which the European Court has taken against Spain in
the past, seven in total, and stated that the Spanish High Court has covered
up cases of torture, systematically turning a blind eye to such cases. A report drawn up by
the University of the Basque Country's Criminology Institute states that
there were 4,113 proven cases of torture between 1960 and 2014. 23rd General Report
of the CPT - European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment - 1 August 2012 - 31 July 2013 Council of Europe,
Strasbourg, 6 November 2013 www.west-info.eu/files/Council-of-Europe-23rd-General-Report-of-the-CPT-20131.pdf [accessed 7 Nov
2013] 62. In the context
of the incommunicado detention regime, 10 of the 11
persons met by the CPT’s delegation made credible and consistent allegations
of ill-treatment by officers of the Guardia Civil following their arrest in
early 2011. The alleged ill-treatment
consisted of kicks and blows with truncheons; in addition, the persons
concerned alleged that a plastic bag had been placed over their heads
inducing the sensation of asphyxiation and that, at the same time, they had been forced to perform prolonged physical
exercises. The aim of the alleged ill-treatment was apparently to oblige them
to sign a confession before the end of the incommunicado
detention. Spain: Civil Guards
convicted of torture Amnesty International
AI, 10 January 2011, Index number: EUR 41/002/2011 Download from www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/28000/eur410022011en.pdf [accessed 14 January
2019] Amnesty International
reiterates its call on Spain to abolish incommunicado detention without delay
and to ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all
allegations of torture or other ill-treatment. On 30 December
2010, the Criminal Court of Guipúzcoa convicted
four members of the Civil Guard of torturing Igor Portu
and Mattin Sarasola,
while they were in police custody under an incommunicado
detention order on the morning of 6 January 2008. The Court sentenced the
four Civil Guards to between
two and four
and a half
years’ imprisonment for
torturing, insulting and threatening
to kill Igor
Portu
and Mattin Sarasola, and
to pay them
a compensation of 24,000 Euros. The 11 other Civil Guards on trial
were acquitted. Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola had alleged ill-treatment
by Civil Guards following their arrest
in Mondragón (Guipúzcoa)
on suspicion of
belonging to the armed
group Euskadi Ta Aaskatasuna
(ETA). Subsequently, Igor Portu had been treated in
San Sebastian hospital with two broken ribs
and a punctured
lung. He claimed that in
the morning of 6 January, Civil Guards had
plunged his head
in a river several times and
made him drink
the water. Mattin Sarasola said they
had pointed a
gun at his
head and beat
him all over
his body. Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola
claimed they were
also ill-treated during
their detention in
the police station of Intxaurrondo later that day and their subsequent transfer
to their homes for a house-search
and then to
San Sebastian Hospital
and Madrid respectively. However, the
Court rejected those allegations for lack of proof. Conclusions and
recommendations of the Committee against Torture U.N. Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment -- Doc. CAT/C/CR/29/3
(2002) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/spain2002.html [accessed 6 March
2013] D. Subjects of
concern 8. The Committee
observes with concern the dichotomy between the assertion of the State party
that, isolated cases apart, torture and ill-treatment do not occur in Spain
(CAT/C/55/Add.5, para. 10) and the information received from non-governmental
sources which reveals continued instances of torture and ill-treatment by the
State security and police forces. 9. Of particular
concern are the complaints concerning the treatment of immigrants, including sexual
abuse and rape, allegedly on racist or xenophobic grounds. The Committee
notes that Spain has become an important gateway to Europe for immigrants,
and that this has meant a significant increase in the country's foreign
population. In this context the omission from the definition of torture in
article 174 of the Penal Code of torture "based on discrimination of any
kind," notwithstanding the fact that, under the Code, racism is deemed
to be an aggravating factor in any offence, takes on particular importance. 10. The Committee
continues to be deeply concerned by the fact that incommunicado detention up
to a maximum of five days has been maintained for specific categories of
particularly serious offences. During this period, the detainee has no access
to a lawyer or to a doctor of his choice nor is he able to notify his family.
Although the State party explains that incommunicado detention does not
involve the complete isolation of the detainee, who has access to an
officially appointed lawyer and a forensic physician, the Committee considers
that the incommunicado regime, regardless of the
legal safeguards for its application, facilitates the commission of acts of
torture and ill-treatment. 11. The Committee
also expresses its concern at the following: (a) The substantial
delays attending legal investigations into complaints of torture, which may
lead to convicted persons being pardoned or not serving their sentences owing
to the length of time since the offence was committed. This further delays
the realization of the rights of victims to moral and material compensation; (b) The failure of
the Administration, in some cases, to initiate disciplinary proceedings when
criminal proceedings are in progress, pending the outcome of the latter.
Delays in judicial proceedings may be such that, once criminal proceedings
have concluded, disciplinary proceedings are time-barred; (c) Cases of
ill-treatment during enforced expulsion from the country, particularly in the
case of unaccompanied minors; (d) The severe conditions
of imprisonment of some of the prisoners whose names appear on the list of
inmates under close observation (FIES). According to information received,
prisoners under level one of the close observation regime have to remain in
their cells for most of the day, and in some cases are allowed only two hours
in the yard, are excluded from group, sports and work activities, and are
subjected to extreme security measures. Generally speaking, it would seem
that the physical conditions of imprisonment of these prisoners are at
variance with prison methods aimed at their rehabilitation and could be
considered prohibited treatment under article 16 of the Convention. AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 TORTURE AND OTHER
ILL-TREATMENT Demonstrations took
place throughout the year in different cities including Madrid, Barcelona and
Valencia. There were frequent allegations of excessive use of force and of ill-treatment
by law enforcement officials while dispersing crowds during the protests. In
general, investigations into complaints were not thorough or effective; some
were made impossible by the lack of identification tags on the uniforms of
police alleged to have been involved. Also in March, a
Madrid court issued a decision not to admit a complaint lodged in 2011 by
Angela Jaramillo, as the policewoman responsible for hitting her could not be
identified. Angela Jaramillo was among several people who, despite their
peaceful conduct during a demonstration in Madrid on 4 August 2011, were
repeatedly hit with batons by police and required medical treatment. Angela
Jaramillo died in June 2012 after suffering a heart attack. On 11 July, a freelance journalist, Paloma
Aznar, was hit by a rubber bullet and injured on the hip while covering
miners’ demonstrations in Madrid. She was wearing her journalist tag with her
camera round her neck. She reported that police were not wearing any visible
identification and were shooting rubber bullets directly at the crowd after
some demonstrators became violent. Video footage showed police using batons
against people lying on the pavement and firing rubber bullets at close
range. On 25 September, during a
demonstration in Madrid, unidentified police beat peaceful demonstrators with
batons, fired rubber bullets at them, and threatened journalists covering the
events – including inside Atocha train station. An
internal investigation was reportedly opened on the police operation. Its
results had not been made public at the end of the year. CRIMES UNDER
INTERNATIONAL LAW On 27 February
2012, the Supreme Court acquitted former judge Baltasar
Garzón of exceeding his authority. Baltasar Garzón was prosecuted,
among other things, for violating the 1977 Amnesty Law by launching an
investigation in 2008 into the enforced disappearances of 114,266 people
between July 1936 and December 1951. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For more
articles:: Search Amnesty
International’s website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=spain+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 14 January 2019] Scroll
Down ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/spain [accessed 12
February 2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] The constitution provides
for an independent judiciary. However, there have been concerns about the
functioning of the judicial system, including the impact of media pressure on
sensitive issues such as immigration and Basque terrorism. There have been
reports of police abuse of prisoners, especially immigrants. Police can also
hold suspects of certain terrorism-related crimes for up to five days with
access only to a public lawyer. Prison conditions generally meet
international standards. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61676.htm [accessed 12
February 2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61676.htm [accessed 7 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The law
prohibits such practices; however, suspects charged with terrorism at times
claimed that they were tortured and abused during detention. The COE/CHR
reported that "the NGOs I spoke to all agreed that torture and
ill-treatment were not systematically practiced in Spain, although they expressed
concern that complaints were not always systematically and effectively
investigated." He further noted that "in spite of the persistent
and violent terrorist attacks Spain has suffered since its transition to
democracy 30 years ago…there has been no corresponding toughening of the
legislation to curtail, restrict, or limit the rights of people detained for
terrorist activities." AI reported that in
June 2004 an officer of the Catalan autonomous police was investigated for
the alleged torture of a minor in a judicial inquiry in Lleida (Catalonia).
Jordi Vilaseca Cantacorps
was arrested in 2003 in connection with alleged acts of street violence and
held incommunicado under antiterrorism legislation. He claimed he was forced
to stand motionless for up to eight hours without food or water and then to
kneel without moving for several hours more. Apparently exhausted and
dehydrated, he collapsed and was taken to the hospital. On November 15, the
newspaper El Pais reported that a judge ordered Vilaseca Cantacorps and two
others to stand trial for using an explosive device to partially destroy the
home of a political candidate in Tora, Spain, and for causing extensive
damage to a television transmission tower in a suburb of Barcelona. There was
no further mention of the outcome of the investigation nor
any action taken against police for the alleged torture. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century-
Spain", http://gvnet.com/torture/Spain.htm, [accessed <date>] |
