AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

Saioa Sánchez for an act of terrorism in
December 2015.
The High Court had convicted Saioa
Sánchez and two others of terrorism-related
offences. Her appeal to the Supreme Court
claimed that the High Court refused to
investigate whether the statement of one of
the defendants, Iñigo Zapirain, implicating
her in the offence, had been made under
duress. The Supreme Court ordered a new
hearing, asking that the Manual on the
Effective Investigation and Documentation of
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(Istanbul Protocol) be followed to assess the
veracity of the statement of Iñigo Zapirain.
The ruling took account of the concerns
expressed by international human rights
bodies about impunity and lack of thorough
and effective investigations, as well as about
shortcomings in the quality and accuracy of
forensic investigations.
REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS
The number of irregular arrivals of refugees
and migrants, crossing from Morocco into the
Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla
through the fence separating the two
countries, decreased on the previous year.
However, the overall number of arrivals
including those passing through regular
border crossings increased. There continued
to be collective expulsions by Spanish law
enforcement officers in Ceuta and Melilla
towards Morocco. The Spanish reception
system for asylum-seekers remained
inadequate, with too few places in official
reception centres and too little assistance for
those housed outside them. Spain failed to
implement European Directives on stateless
persons, asylum procedures and reception
conditions. There continued to be no
implementation of the Asylum Act, six years
after its entry into force. As a result, asylumseekers
across the country experienced
uneven access to the assistance they are
entitled to. Between January and October,
12,525 asylum applications were submitted
in Spain, according to Eurostat data,
compared with 4,513 in 2013. By August,
the growing backlog of unprocessed asylum
applications had reached 29,845 cases.
On 9 September, at least 60 people from
sub-Saharan Africa who had gained access
to Spanish territory by climbing the fences
separating Ceuta from Morocco were
collectively expelled. Before being expelled
some of them were beaten by Moroccan
officers who entered the area between the
fences, which is Spanish territory. Some of
those returned to Morocco were injured while
scaling the fences and as a result of the
beatings.
Although Spain agreed to receive 1,449
people from the Middle East and North Africa
under resettlement schemes, only 289
people, all Syrian nationals, had reached
Spanish territory by December. Likewise, in
contrast to the commitment made to receive
15,888 people in need of international
protection from Italy and Greece under the
EU internal relocation programme, only 363
were relocated to Spain by December.
IMPUNITY
Spanish authorities continued to refuse to cooperate
with the Argentine judiciary to
investigate crimes under international law
committed during the Civil War and by the
Franco regime. Spanish authorities
obstructed Argentine prosecuting authorities
in the class action known as “Querella
Argentina” from taking statements from some
of the victims and the 19 defendants. By
means of a circular dated 30 September, the
Spanish Prosecutor’s Office instructed
territorial prosecutor offices to refuse to
conduct any of the judicial inquiries
requested by the Argentine prosecuting
authorities, arguing that it would not be
possible to investigate the crimes reported,
such as enforced disappearances and
torture, under the Amnesty Act (among other
acts) and because of the statute of
limitations.
DISCRIMINATION – MIGRANTS’ HEALTH
Austerity measures continued to have a
detrimental effect on human rights, especially
with regard to access to health and social
338 Amnesty International Report 2016/17