Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights condemns the actions of the Guardia Civil

It is now important that this investigation into police violence at Europe's external borders actually takes place. The pressure to investigate these events must not let up.

"Yesterday's events in Melilla, where the Guardia Civil used violence against several migrants and returned them to Morocco without assessing their needs or allowing them to seek asylum, is yet another disturbing illustration of flaws in Spain's treatment of migrants in its exclaves. When migrants reach a Council of Europe country, the State authorities have the duty to examine their situations individually and allow them to seek asylum. It is illegal for a state to simply push them back. Spain has failed to uphold its international obligations in this field - sadly, this is not the first time. To amend this situation, it is now necessary that an investigation is opened to establish accountability for police violence. Clear orders must be given to avoid the future re-occurrence of violence and discontinue current push-back practices. Migration flows certainly represent a challenge for European countries, but this does not justify border control operations which are incompatible with human rights standards."

Please demand full clarification from Commissioner Nils Muižnieks via Facebook

or write/mail/phone to:

Council of Europe
Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights
67075 Strasbourg Cedex
FRANCE

+33 (0)3 88 41 34 21
+33 (0)3 90 21 50 53
commissioner [at] coe.int

It is important to keep up the pressure and to show that we do not agree with such inhuman behaviour of the border troops