16/08/01
Spain:
"Street children" have rights too
In the run-up to
the Third World Conference against Racism, Amnesty
International
called today for the full protection of the rights of
undocumented
foreign children found on Spanish territory in the North
African Spanish
enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
The organization
expressed concern at reports that the authorities in
Ceuta and Melilla
plan to resume their practice of systematically expelling
unaccompanied and
undocumented children -- mostly of Moroccan origin --
living on the
streets or in reception centres for foreign children.
"No such
child should be removed from Spanish territory unless it is in
their best
interest and there are clear guarantees that the removal will
not
lead to human
rights violations," the organization added, noting that past
expulsions led to
allegations that the children were subjected to inhuman
and degrading
treatment and even physical ill-treatment.
In the most recent
episode, a sixteen-year-old who was forcibly returned
to
the Moroccan
frontier by the Melilla police reported being "slapped around
hard" by the
police before being taken to the border. He was part of a
group
of children
expelled from Melilla on 27 July, ostensibly to be reunited
with
their families.
This, however, was not the case and he and three other
children found
their way back to the city on their own.
"This is just
one example of how children are often simply abandoned on
the
frontier or taken
into detention in Morocco before being again released on
the streets,"
Amnesty International said.
Before the latest
expulsions, the organization had written to the Spanish
government
expressing concern about reports that the authorities in Ceuta
and Melilla were
seeking to be exempted from parts of Spanish legislation
regulating the
rights and duties of foreigners, which includes the
obligation to
protect and care for unaccompanied foreign minors, and to
grant residence
permits, within a period of months, to those it has not
been
able to reunite
with their families.
"Such an
exemption could lead to a repetition of past incidents in which
unaccompanied
children have allegedly been subjected to abuses at the
hands
of Spanish
police," Amnesty International said, making reference to
allegations that
children were ill-treated during expulsion procedures.
Such
allegations
included detention, often with adults, for several hours in a
police van,
without seats, windows, ventilation or even water; beatings
with
truncheons and
sexual abuse by at least one officer. There were also
allegations that,
after the children had been handed over to the Moroccan
police, some had
been beaten with rubber tubing, prior to being placed in
a
cell.
In its letter to
the Spanish government, Amnesty International also
expressed concern
about the widely-reported inadequacy of facilities for
the
care of
undocumented children, in Ceuta in particular. The organization
referred both to
the poor health and physical abuse which the children
suffered while
living in the streets, port installations and underground
or
hillside tunnels,
and to the apparently inadequate conditions in Ceuta's
only reception
centre for the children. The centre was recently described
as
"lacking
minimum standards of hygiene".
"The Spanish
authorities -- as well as the governments in Ceuta and
Melilla
-- must abide by
international standards on the care and protection of
children,"
Amnesty International said, reminding them of their legal
obligation to
protect all children within their jurisdiction.
"Ceuta and
Melilla must be given the resources to care for each child, and
to examine each
case thoroughly and on an individual basis -- ensuring
also
that the child's
views are taken into account -- before any decision is
taken to remove
that child from Spain," the organization added.
"But the will
must also be there to abide by Spain's international
obligations, which
means ensuring that unaccompanied children enjoy all
the
rights guaranteed
under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and
that any decision
taken is in the child's best interest."
Background
In 1998 three
Local Police sergeants lodged a judicial complaint with the
prosecutor of
Ceuta, alleging "serious irregularities" in the detention of
Moroccan children
by the police in Ceuta. After the allegations were
publicized, the
expulsions ceased, as did allegations of police
ill-treatment.
However, the three officers were removed from patrol work
and
sent to guard the
local cemetery. They were then suspended without pay.
When
no evidence was
found to justify disciplinary proceedings against them
they
were reinstated
after seven months but have reportedly remained the
victims
of a sustained
campaign of vilification and harassment. They continue to
face charges
brought against them by other police officers and a
government
minister for
making false accusations.
In its letter of
20 July to the Spanish government, Amnesty International
urged the
authorities to ensure that courageous police officers, and
others
in the autonomous
cities who sought to defend human rights, were not
subjected to
harassment and persecution by colleagues or by government
administrations.
\ENDS
public document
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information please call Amnesty International's press office in
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