Morocco’s National Human Rights Council (CNDH) has formally asked Spain’s ombudsman to investigate alleged human rights violations against Moroccan migrants in Ceuta following the mass arrivals of late July.
CNDH President Amina Bouayach said she had written to the Defensor del Pueblo, Spain’s independent institution responsible for protecting fundamental rights, requesting an investigation into the treatment of Moroccan migrants in the city.
Speaking on Moroccan broadcaster 2M during a program examining abuses against migrants, including minors, Bouayach said their fundamental rights had not been adequately protected.
“The rights of these Moroccans were not protected,” she said. “They were beaten, deprived of water and food, and slept on plastic in the middle of the forest.”
Bouayach also reported “numerous irregularities on Aug. 1 and 2.”
According to Bouayach, the Defensor del Pueblo has also informed the CNDH that numerous minors currently in Ceuta have yet to have their nationality established.
The CNDH and Spain’s Defensor del Pueblo already cooperate on issues concerning the protection of migrants’ rights.
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During the program, Naoufal Bouamri, a lawyer and president of the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH), said that migrants had been subjected to “sexual assaults and racist acts by the authorities.”
He also accused Ceuta’s mayor of encouraging food-store owners to close their businesses to prevent migrants from obtaining basic necessities.
“The mayor of Ceuta went so far as to encourage shop owners to close their food stores so that migrants could not buy water or food,” Bouamri said.
Meanwhile, 2M said one of its reporting teams had been prevented from covering events in Ceuta after Spanish police refused to allow its filming equipment into the city.
