Rights International Spain has just published its Annual Report on Human Rights, which includes all the accounts and rulings European and international bodies have issued regarding the situation of civil rights and liberties in Spain.
This year, RIS confirms that Spanish authorities have lost an opportunity to comply with the state's pending debts to ensure civil rights and liberties. On 2017, the Spanish state received five sentences from the European Court of Human Rights on issues such as the right to private and family life, the right to a fair trial, or the prohibition of summary returns. Furthermore, the European Court of Human Rights has questioned Spanish legislation that establishes the automatic expulsion of every long-term resident with a criminal conviction.
Minority rights & police violence
The UN Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture has on its behalf joined the long list of international bodies who have condemned the summary returns from Ceuta and Melilla, and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders criticised the pressure received by those who fight for migrant rights in Spain. Likewise, the UN has once again recriminated Spain for its lack of response for the victims of enforced disappearances during the Civil War and Franco’s dictatorship.
The Committee for the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe has insisted in abolishing incommunicado detention from the legislation, as well as putting an end to both the use of excessive force with detainees and to mechanical restraints in prisons and juvenile detention centres. In addition to this, several international and European human rights protection bodies have expressed their concerns regarding the police response in Catalonia on October 1. Finally, the challenges judicial independence faces in Spain have been yet again revealed by the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary.
