Spain
21.08.02
Urgent Interventions

Spain: punishment cell in a child care centre of Melilla

Case ESP 210802.CC
CHILD CONCERN
Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Spain.

Brief description of the facts

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source that the children of the care centre for minors “Fuerte de la Purísima”, in the autonomous town of Melilla, Spain, have been victims of abuses and ill-treatment at the hands of the authorities of the centre. According to the information received, the majority of children are street children or immigrants and they attend schooling in the aforementioned centre, where they also look for attention and help. In particular, there have been allegations about the existence of a «punishment cell», where the children are detained for several hours, without food, drink or the possibility of using sanitary facilities.

According to the reports, guardians and educators of the centre abuse their authority to assault children arbitrarily and without sufficient reasons, sometimes under the effects of strong ethylic intoxication. There have been denunciations according to which children are repeatedly subject to blows and inhuman treatment.

The same source of information reported the existence of various testimonies of children who have witnessed or have been victims of these abuses at the hands of the authorities of the care centre. One of them, Muhaidine Azzazi, states that he has been detained for nearly an entire day in the «punishment cell». The dimensions of the cell are approximately 2 x 1,5 metres. The child, who was detained in the cell on 6 July 2002, declared “to have been beaten against the wall of the cell by Dani (one of the centre’s educator) and one of the security guards. Immediately after, he received a blow (‘cate’) which left him unconscious and with his mouth bleeding”. These declarations have been backed up by an official complaint lodged by the Asociación Pro Derechos de la Infancia (PRODEIN) to the public prosecutor of Melilla. The complaint was accompanied by pictures and tapes where the aforementioned declarations were recorded.

Azzazi declares having been held several times in the «punishment cell» and on one occasion he was violently assaulted by a security guard, whose name is Cortizo, who broke the camera the child was trying to use to take evidence of the ill-treatment. After having been beaten with truncheon and kicked, the child ran away through the main door of the centre. The guards ran after him and after looking seek for him and found him lying unconscious and bleeding at two kilometres from the centre. He brought him back to the care centre and he was afterwards transferred to the hospital.

Like this child, a significant number of children living at the care centre “Fuerte de la Purísima” are allegedly ill-treated and abused by the educators and security guards. The denunciation by PRODEIN also mentions that the following children have been victims of abuses: Mohamed Bounani, Yusef Kandouri, Sufian Bosous y Yaguar, Abdelnaser, Karim, y Amin (the full name of these two last ones are unknown).

After the complaints were lodged by PRODEIN, the detentions in the «punishment cell» allegedly stopped and two of the children were transferred to another care centre. Two security guards were transferred to other institutions, yet they have not received any corresponding sanction.

The authorities in Melilla deny that similar acts have taken place in the care centre “Fuerte de la Purísima”. Following an article on the case published on the newspaper “El Mundo”, the Mayor (alcade-senador) of Melilla, Mr Juan José Imbroda, declared that he was going to take legal actions against PRODEIN, accusing the organisation of smear and defamation. In the same way, the Counsellor for Social Welfare, Isabel Quesada, denied the facts and affirmed that in the centre the educators are afraid of the denunciations and that in this way one cannot educate the children because “one cannot punish them if necessary”.

The International Secretariat of OMCT expresses its grave concern about the facts occurred in Melilla and is surprised by the fact that the Autonomous Town, and in particular the Counsellor for Social Welfare, have not open any parallel investigation into the facts and into the possible errors in the correctional measures for children. Such an investigation is even more necessary, given previous allegations of ill-treatment and discrimination by the authorities of street and migrant children coming from North Africa, ignoring the best interest of the child.

OMCT wishes to recall that Spain is party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which forbids the practice of discrimination and ill-treatment of children. In particular, article 2 on the anti-discrimination; article 19 which states that “States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment (…) while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child”; and article 37(a) on the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Actions requested:

Please write to the Spanish authorities asking them to:

i. guarantee the safety, the physical and psychological integrity of the aforementioned children, as well as of all children having been victims of abuses in the care centre of Melilla;
ii. take all necessary measures to protect, educate, rehabilitate and integrate all the children within the national territory, without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status (article 2 of the CRC);
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events in order to identify those responsible, bring them to a competent and impartial civil tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards and, in particular, the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Addresses

· Presidencia del Gobierno, S.E. D. José María Aznar López, Complejo de la Moncloa - 28071 Madrid.
· Portavoz del Gobierno, Dr. Pio Cabanillas; Fax: (+ 34) 91 321 40 30
· Director del Gabinete de la Presidencia, D. Carlos Aragones Mendiguchia, Complejo de la Moncloa - Madrid Fax : (+ 34).91.390.0356
· Ministro del Interior - Jaime Mayor Oreja, Ministerio del Interior, Paseo de la Castellana, 5 28071 Madrid Fax : (+ 34) 91.522.1538/(+ 34).91.522.5865
· Defensor del Pueblo - Fernando Alvarez de Miranda y Torres Eduardo, Defensoría del Pueblo, 31 - 28071 Madrid, Fax : (+ 34) 91 308 1158
· Consejo General del Poder Judicial - Presidente Francisco Javier Delgado Barrio Marques de la Ensenada, 8 - 28071 Madrid Fax : (+ 34) 91 310 0306
· Fiscal General del Estado, Fiscalia General de Estado - Jesús Cardenal Fortuny, 4 - 28071 Madrid Fax : (+ 34).91.319.3317
· Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores - Juan Abel Matutes, Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Plaza de la Provincia, 1 - 28071 Madrid Fax (+ 34) 91 366 3856
· Ministro de Justicia, Dr. Ángel Acebes Paniagua, Ministerio de Justicia, Madrid
Fax: (+ 34)9 1 390 22 68
· Tribunal Tutelar de Menores de Melilla, Fax: (+ 34) 95 268 05 29

Please also write to the embassies of Spain in your respective country.

Geneva, 21 August 2002

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.