A refugee who was almost blinded in one eye during a police operation that ended with the deaths of at least 14 people off the coast of Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta 11 years ago has filed a complaint to the UN Committee Against Torture.
Amnesty International said the “widespread use of unlawful force” by Moroccan and Spanish authorities contributed to the fatalities, while a UN working group of experts described the deaths as evidence of the “racialised exclusion and deadly violence deployed to keep out people of African and Middle Eastern descent”.
Officers from Spain’s Guardia Civil police force used anti-riot equipment including 145 rubber bullets and five smoke canisters to repel the migrants and refugees, creating panic among those in the water off Tarajal beach.
A separate appeal brought on behalf of other victims and their relatives by a group of Spanish NGOs – including the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR), the Human Rights Association of Spain (APDHE) and the Coordinadora de Barrios – is pending at Spain’s constitutional court.
Refugee shot in eye during deadly 2014 crossing into Spain files complaint to UN Survivor of Ceuta incident that ended with 14 deaths asks why use of anti-riot equipment was never investigated.
