Officers of the Spanish border police are still not prosecuted for their fatal operation in Ceuta. On the 10th anniversary of the incident, the UN Anti-Torture Committee must now look into the matter.
At least 15 dead, many injured and 23 pushbacks: that was the outcome of an operation by the Spanish Guardia Civil on 6 February 2014 at the border between Morocco and the Spanish exclave of Ceuta. Around 400 refugees had tried to swim around the metre-high border fence at El Tarajal beach. The gendarmerie pushed the people in the water back with batons, tear gas and rubber bullets.
Ten years later, Ludovic N., one of the survivors, has now lodged a complaint against Spain with the United Nations Committee against Torture. The Berlin-based European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) is supporting him. The complaint criticises the inadequate prosecution of the operation by the judiciary.
N., who was 15 years old at the time, had tried to hold himself up at a border pier when the gendarmerie attacked him. An officer tried to prevent this by hitting him on the arm. Nevertheless, N. reached the Spanish side. He was arrested there and immediately sent back to Morocco – a “hot deportation”, as Spain would actually have to check whether the person who had arrived should be granted protection.
The subsequent criminal investigation against 16 Guardia Civil officers involved was finally closed in June 2022 – without, however, recognising all the evidence and questioning witnesses. In his complaint to the UN Committee against Torture, N. points out these omissions. Some bodies were also not identified, survivors – including N. – were not heard and families of the victims were prevented from participating in the court proceedings. “The violence at the border that day continued in court. Here, too, we were not treated like human beings,” says N., who now lives in Germany.
“With the complaint, we want to ensure that Spain reopens the investigation into the events in Tarajal and puts an end to the impunity of the violence at the border,” Carsten Gericke, the complainant’s legal representative and partner lawyer at ECCHR, commented to “nd”.
There are repeated deaths and injuries at the Moroccan-Spanish border fences, and more and more pushbacks since 2005. “Ceuta and Melilla serve as Europe’s test laboratory for lawlessness at the EU’s external borders,” explains lawyer Hanaa Hakiki from ECCHR. The deadly events in Playa del Tarajal symbolise the complete disregard for human lives, “especially those of black people”. Further massacres, such as on 24 June 2022 in Melilla with presumably 40 dead, were the result.
This is not the first time that ECCHR has pursued the 2014 incidents. However, a complaint filed on behalf of two survivors from Mali and Côte d’Ivoire was rejected by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in February 2020. “A serious setback for the rights of refugees and migrants,” commented ECCHR at the time.
As every year, survivors, affected families and supporters are calling for justice and an end to impunity on 6 February. To mark the 10th anniversary of the deadly event, various no-border groups and networks are calling for a decentralised commemoration.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: CommemorAction in Bilbao on the evening of the 8th anniversary of the Tarajal massacre (Alarm Phone).
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