HWR On Spain

Here you have the most recent report by Human Rights Watch on Spain:

Spain

In the aftermath of September 11, Spain applied its existing strict counter-terrorism regime to the investigation, apprehension, and detention of suspected al-Qaeda operatives. The climate created by the international campaign against terrorism provided the Spanish authorities with a further pretext to crackdown on Basque separatists and supporters of the pro-independence movement.

Spanish authorities were also quick to issue public statements equating stricter controls on immigration with the war against terrorism, contributing to a climate of fear and suspicion toward migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.

Spain's anti-terror laws permit the use of incommunicado detention, secret legal proceedings, and pre-trial detention for up to four years. The proceedings governing the detentions of suspected al-Qaeda operatives apprehended in Spain in November 2001, July 2002, and January 2003, among others, have been declared secret (causa secreta). The investigating magistrate of the Audiencia Nacional, a special court that oversees terrorist cases, can request causa secreta for thirty days, consecutively renewable for the duration of the four-year pre-trial detention period. Secret proceedings bar the defense access to the prosecutor's evidence, except for information contained in the initial detention order. Without access to this evidence, detainees are severely hampered in mounting an adequate defense.

In November 2002, the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) expressed serious concern about incommunicado detention under Spain's criminal laws. A suspect can be held incommunicado for up to five days, without access to an attorney, family notification, services such as access to health care, or contact with the outside world. The CAT concluded that incommunicado detention under these circumstances can facilitate acts of torture and ill-treatment. In Spain, most suspected terrorist detainees are held incommunicado for at least the first forty-eight hours in custody.

The global anti-terror climate hardened the Spanish government's resolve in the ongoing conflict with armed Basque separatists, Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) and the non-violent pro-independence movement. ETA uses violent means to seek the creation of an independent Basque state in parts of northern Spain and southern France. The group has been responsible for over 800 deaths since the 1960s. In recent years, it has targeted civilians, including academics and journalists.

Since September 11, over fifty suspected ETA members have been detained and held under Spain's anti-terror laws. Casualties of the government's hard-line approach, however, have included Gestoras pro Amnistía, an organization that provided support to families of ETA detainees, which was banned in December 2001. In August 2002, the Batasuna Party, widely regarded as the political arm of ETA, was banned for three years. In February 2003, Euskaldunon Egunkaria-the sole remaining newspaper written entirely in the Basque language-was closed down, and ten people associated with the paper were arrested and held incommunicado. These actions give rise to serious concerns that Spain's counter-terrorism measures breach the rights to freedom of association and expression. Human rights organizations have also documented instances of alleged torture and ill-treatment of ETA members and pro-independence supporters detained by Spanish authorities.

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