The entity’s report states that the violation of human rights in Melilla has worsened
International Amnesty affirms that in 2022 in Spain “the climate of impunity and lack of accountability” has worsenedsince the authorities have not investigated the violation of rights in cases such as the “massacre” at the border fence in Melilla.
The Amnesty International report on 2022 confirms a worsening of the violation of rights on the border of Melilla, a Spanish city in North Africa on the border with Morocco. Last year at least 27 immigrants diedwhile different organizations raise the number to at least 37, in a massive attempt to jump the fence from Morocco after which international organizations and human rights organizations demanded that the actions of the Moroccan and Spanish security forces be investigated.
Regarding nursing homeswarns that three years after the start of the pandemic, the Spanish authorities have breached their obligation to “exhaustively and adequately” investigate the abandonment suffered by many of them, with numerous complaints from relatives of deaths due to poor care.
It also denounces the “abuses that protects” the so-called gag law, on citizen security and that was approved by the previous conservative government, “which has left citizens unprotected against the excessive use of force by members of the security forces.” this organization, the fact that with the current left-wing government it has not yet been reformed represents a missed opportunity “in terms of freedom of expression, assembly and demonstration, as well as immigration, since the law continues to endorse illegal returns at the border In addition, espionage programs have been used “that have violated the right to privacy of journalists, authorities and civil society”. Regarding the official secrets law, which dates from 1968 and is being reformed, he maintains that an approach more restrictive of what is classifiable as a state secret would be “more in line with international law standards on transparency and human rights.”
The report acknowledges certain “efforts” on the part of the Governmentsuch as social aid against the rise in energy costs or a limit to the rise in housing rent, but at the same time ask for more investment in areas such as healthcare. He also notes improvements in access to abortion, with “broader recognition of the rights to reproduction and freely decided maternity” in a new law.
Praise the law of “only yes is yes”
The director of Amnesty International (AI), Agnès Callamard, praised the so-called law of “only yes is yes” adopted in Spain as a “very positive” legal step due to its focus on consent, although it recalled that many more are needed to protect women around the world.
The regulation on Spanish sexual freedom, which was subject to reforms this month due to an original formulation that had led to certain reductions in sentences by some courts, was one of the positive developments highlighted by AI in its annual report presented in Paris . “We have highlighted that law and the recognition of consent as fundamental to the right of women to the autonomy of their bodies, the right of women to choose, the right of women to their sexual and reproductive rights. We have recognized that consent is essential and that this legal step is very positive,” Callamard told EFE.
But “of course”, according to AI’s general secretary, consent has to be analyzed in a much “broader” context to protect women from the different kinds of violence they suffer. “Legally it is an important step, but there have to be many more to protect women against sexual violence and anti-trafficking and to ensure that those who commit these crimes are held accountable in the harshest terms,” he stressed.
