Amnesty Reveals Abuses Against Migrants in Ceuta

Amnesty International has published a report detailing 50 cases of alleged abuse, torture, and degrading treatment of migrants by Spanish military personnel in Ceuta. The report, released on November 5, also documented 28 additional cases of beatings, humiliation, and ill-treatment involving migrants who remained in Ceuta following a mass arrival in late July. Some of the reported abuses were serious enough to potentially constitute torture, according to the organization.

One of the most disturbing cases involved a 20-year-old Moroccan man who worked as a street mime in the Spanish-occupied city. According to Amnesty International, soldiers transported the young man in a military vehicle to an isolated location, where between 16 and 17 personnel surrounded him, mocked him, and forced him to remove all his clothes. One of the soldiers filmed him on a mobile phone and ordered him to dance. When the young man failed to comply, the soldiers beat him.

The report said one soldier then took out his weapon, loaded it, and pointed it at the Moroccan man, threatening: “If you don’t dance, I’ll bury you right here.” The alleged abuses included punches, kicks, baton beatings, and the use of electric shock devices, including Tasers. Amnesty International recorded injuries ranging from fractures to bruising, head wounds, and injuries around the eye sockets. The organization said photographs, testimonies, and medical reports supported its findings.

In one incident, a migrant was reportedly subjected to electric shocks to his chest while sleeping on October 24 along Sidi Mubarak road. The attack caused dizziness, vomiting, and loss of consciousness. Another case involved a 40-year-old Tunisian migrant who was sleeping at Benítez Beach alongside three Moroccan youths when four soldiers allegedly attacked him with punches. The assault left him with a facial injury that prevented him from seeing through one eye for two weeks.

Minors were also among the alleged victims, with a 17-year-old boy reportedly suffering a baton strike to the head that required 10 stitches at a hospital. In another incident, a 15-year-old migrant said soldiers repeatedly struck his leg in the opposite direction of the joint in an apparent attempt to break it. The teenager also faced threats after protesting the destruction of his mobile phone, which was his only means of communicating with his mother.

Amnesty International criticized what it described as the lack of meaningful action to address complaints of torture and ill-treatment involving migrants. The organization stressed that 18 of the newly documented incidents occurred after Spain’s Ministry of Defense announced an internal investigation. However, it said it had received no information about the investigation’s findings.

Amnesty International called for a prompt, impartial, and comprehensive investigation, urging Spanish authorities to temporarily remove the implicated personnel from their duties, establish criminal and disciplinary responsibility, and protect victims and witnesses against potential retaliation. The organization also requested that authorities introduce measures to protect victims and witnesses, and provide updates on any investigations or suspensions of military personnel involved.

Key points

• Amnesty International documents 50 cases of alleged abuse, torture, and degrading treatment of migrants by Spanish military personnel in Ceuta.
• The alleged abuses included beatings, humiliation, and ill-treatment, with some cases potentially constituting torture.
• Amnesty International called for a prompt, impartial, and comprehensive investigation into the alleged abuses.