28 March 2012
Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.
Spain: Supreme
Court upholds complaint against immigrant detention centre regulation
On 5 September 2005, the 3rd Chamber of the Supreme Court upheld
an appeal filed by three NGOs (Andalucía Acoge, Asociación
Andaluza por la Solidaridad y la Paz - ASPA, and 'La mitad
del cielo' progressive women's association), in relation
to a ministerial order issued by the last Partido Popular (PP)
government in February 1999 that regulated the internal management
and running of the centros de internamiento para extranjeros
(CIE, foreigner detention centres).
According to the plaintiffs, the ruling highlights that CIEs
were run unlawfully between 1999 and 2003, in a situation in
which the use of force, punishment regimes involving isolation,
and a restriction of the rights to receive visits and to request
protection or file complaints, were suffered by migrants who
were detained, who had committed administrative rather than criminal
offences. The NGOs highlighted that detainees in CIEs (there
are seven of them, in Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga, Algeciras,
Valencia, the Canary Islands and the Basque Country) have less
formal guarantees than prisoners in Spanish jails as a result
of the absence of a law regulating these centres, and called
on the government to work with NGOs and social movements on this
issue and to be "coherent", in reference to an amendment
presented by the Socialist party (PSOE) while it was in opposition
in 2000 calling for a law to regulate the functioning of CIEs.
The judgment annuls a previous ruling that rejected the NGOs'
complaint by the Audiencia Nacional in January 2001, against
which this appeal was filed, and repeals the whole of article
34 (provisions to guarantee the maintenance of order in the centres
if disturbances occur, which include measures such as isolation)
and sections of articles 30 (regulating the regime for visits,
including the behaviour to be followed by detainees, and the
receipt of packages) and 33 (the section stating that any requests
or complaints made by detainees concerning the centre must be
submitted to its director, before s/he must pass it on to the
competent authority) of the order, which it deems unlawful.
Sources
"El Supremo falla en contra del funcionamiento de los centros
de internamiento de extranjeros", 5.9.2005.
Full-text
of the judgment (pdf in Spanish)
The order against which the complaint was filed:
Orden de 22 de febrero de 1999 sobre normas de funcionamiento
y régimen interior de los centros de internamiento de
extranjeros:
http://www.cepolicia.com/legislacion/ordenes/220299_cie.htm
Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.
Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.