Spain: International Prisons report
01 March 1996
The OIP, a body with consultative status at the United Nations, has after visiting four Spanish prisons reaffirmed the criticisms made in its 1993 report. The Madrid government, denying the original report's claims of a regime of beatings, harassment, humiliation, isolation and frequent transfers, had asked the OIP to reinspect the prisons. The invitation was accepted, but was then withdrawn and subsequently reinstated but with access denied in respect of several prisons. The OIP's report detailed cases of beatings and degrading treatment by prison officers, the torturing of Basque political prisoners, and unjustifiable refusals of release on licence, sometimes as a form of blackmail. The report set out concerns about the work of the specialist judges overseeing the penal system, questioning the impartiality of some judges. It called for the application of Article 60 giving discretionary release to incurably ill prisoners, and for the prison medical service to be taken under the control of the Health Ministry to ensure its impartiality. The report was especially critical of the so-called Register of Special Treatment Prisoners; those on the Register are held in solitary confinement for long periods, which in the view of the OIP could infringe the European Convention against Torture.
Report of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture
The Committee for the Prevention of Torture, an agency of the Council of Europe, concluded in its confidential reports on Spain in 1991 and 1994 that, despite recent improvements, there were still cases of torture and the ill-treatment of prisoners. The new Spanish government, installed after the elections of 3 March, authorised the publication of the reports, Spain having hitherto been the only Council of Europe country, apart from Turkey, to refuse publication. The main recommendations were to reduce to 48 hours the maximum period of detention incommunicado on executive order, and the on-site supervision by judges and public prosecutors of places of detention.
The report of Nigel Rodley, special rapporteur of the UN on matters related to torture and inhuman, cruel or degrading treatment, deals with sixteen cases of torture in the Spanish State. The United Nations Human Rights Committee report, presented to the UN Human Rights Commission in its sessions in late March, was particularly critical of incommunicado detention, special legislation, and the non-prosecution of torturers.
Kontrola Kontrolpean, Euskadi (Spain)