Amnesty International published Tuesday the results of its investigation into the drama of Melilla, six months after the death of 37 candidates for exile and the disappearance of 77 others when hundreds of them had massed at the border post between the Morocco and Spain. The NGO denounces the extreme violence of the authorities and accuses them of not participating in the investigations.
According to the report of the NGOwhich collected numerous testimonies from migrants present on June 24 at the border between Morocco and Melilla and analyzed videos and satellite images, “ the methods employed by the Moroccan and Spanish authorities (…) contributed to the death of at least 37 people “. And 77 others are “ still missing “, adds the report which evokes a” mass killing “.
Amnesty International also denounces the violence shown by the Moroccan and Spanish authorities this June 24 when nearly 2,000 illegal immigrants, mostly from Sudan, attempted to enter the enclave of Melilla, located on the northern coast of Morocco. ” A 28-year-old man from Sudan was rescued. She told us: “Spanish police sprayed our eyes while Moroccan police threw stones at our heads.” And some Moroccan policemen beat them on the head afterwards to check that they were alive “, says Manon Filloneau, Migration Advocacy Officer for Amnesty International France.
► To read also: Melilla drama: how an attempt to enter Europe led to the death of dozens of migrants
“We reach a degree of inhumanity that is truly incredible »
Moreover, the authorities of the two countries would not have provided ” emergency medical adapted “. ” They refused access to the Red Cross and left people, the bodies piled up without assistance for at least 8 hours under 30 degrees in the shade. People could have died at that time. What also happened afterwards was that people were expelled by bus, some more than 1,000 km away. Others say they were imprisoned and tortured in prison on the Moroccan side. We reach a degree of inhumanity that is truly incredible “, adds Ms. Filloneau.
And Amnesty also denounces “ the total non-cooperation of Spain and Morocco on the investigations “. ” We, what we ask them mainly, is truth, justice and reparations for the victims “, adds the advocacy officer. And the same observation was made by the Spanish Defender of Rights. In a letter sent Friday to several NGOs and consulted by AFP, he judged that the explanations of the Ministry of the Interior had ” not been sufficient » so far.
For its part, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior has firmly rejected “, in a press release, the ” accusations (…) without proof of torture, which he described as ” extremely serious false statements “.