MADRID, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Spain’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday it had alerted prosecutors to an Amnesty International report alleging the military tortured or mistreated migrants in Ceuta, and ordered an internal probe into whether any personnel were to blame.
The rights group accused members of Spain’s armed forces of torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment of migrants stranded in the North African enclave after over 72,000 crossed the border from Morocco in late July.
Though most of the migrants later went back, at least 10,000 remain in the tiny Spanish enclave in North Africa, straining local resources and fuelling tensions.
Amnesty International Spain Director Esteban Beltran told Reuters the group had documented 22 cases of torture and abuse by military personnel. In what he said appeared to be a pattern, troops had pursued, beaten and humiliated migrants, including women and unaccompanied children, in nighttime operations.
Amnesty said photographs and videos it reviewed were consistent with allegations of excessive force, including images of hooded personnel striking migrants and spraying their faces with irritants before pushing them across the border.
“In view of the report made public by Amnesty International, it has been agreed to send the report to the prosecutor’s office and the duty court in Ceuta, and to instruct the Operations Command to investigate and clarify any possible individual responsibilities,” the Defence Ministry said.
Amnesty’s Beltran welcomed the move but said it should have come sooner, calling for an exhaustive investigation and the suspension of any military personnel implicated.
“These individuals cannot remain in their duties for a single minute longer, at least as a precautionary measure, until responsibilities are determined,” he said.
Amnesty also called for improved humanitarian assistance for migrants still sleeping rough in Ceuta.
“This situation has worried us greatly. They are living in deplorable conditions,” Beltran said.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Emma PinedoEditing by Andrei Khalip and Peter Graff)
