Families are still searching for ‘missing’ loved ones as they enter the Spanish enclave
People demonstrate in Plaza del Callao, Madrid, on July 1, 2022, to protest against the violence that occurred on June 24, 2022, on the border between the Spanish enclave of Melilla and Morocco. © 2022 AP Photo/Manu Fernandez
(Brussels) – There has still been no credible investigation or justice for the victims of the horrific violence and for the asylum seekers and migrants killed on the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla there one year old, Human Rights Watch said today.
“Spain, as well as Morocco, have exonerated their security forces following deficient or insufficient investigations into the violence committed on the border of the enclave of Melilla,” said Alice Autin, a researcher with the Europe and Central Asia to Human Rights Watch. “And it’s still unclear what happened to dozens of people who tried to cross the border that day.”
The borders around Ceuta and Melilla, the two Spanish enclaves, are heavily fortified. Over the years, African migrants and asylum seekers have sometimes attempted to scale the fences surrounding the enclaves en masse, due to the lack of safe and legal pathways for migration and obstacles to reaching official border crossings.
The Moroccan government says 23 people died on June 24, 2022, when 1,300 to 2,000 men, mostly from Sudan, South Sudan, and Chad, tried to scale the chain-link fences from 6 to 10 meters high around Melilla, one of the two Spanish enclaves in North Africa. UN experts estimate that at least 37 people are dead, and the non-governmental Moroccan Association for Human Rights of Nador (AMDH Nador) says 77 people are still missing.
Media and non-governmental organizations have documented the use of excessive force by Spanish and Moroccan police and border guards, including throwing tear gas, firing rubber bullets, and throwing stones. Hundreds of injured were left for hours without medical assistance on both sides of the fence.
Those tracing relatives told Human Rights Watch of a lack of access to official information and support, which was devastating for the families. The brother of a 24-year-old man from Khartoum who has been missing since that day said he was looking for him without success. “I saw the videos on social media, but for me, I couldn’t tell if it was where my brother was or if it was when he was there,” the brother said. who, like other people, is not referred to by name for his safety. “It’s not clear enough to know anything. Everyone is very sad.”
A man from Sudan said he also had no news of his 23-year-old brother Ahmed, who told him he was going to cross that day. The man wondered if he could be in a prison in Morocco. “What I live with Ahmed is the same for everyone who lost track of people that day,” said his brother.
Although Moroccan authorities carried out autopsies and DNA tests on 23 bodies that were taken to the Nador morgue on June 24, AMDH Nador said only one person was identified and buried. People looking for missing relatives who can travel to Morocco have not been allowed to enter the morgue to view the bodies, including in the three months since June 24, which is contrary to practice normal, and they are shown photographs instead.
In March 2023, Moroccan authorities asked Sudanese families to share DNA samples to compare with the remains. Ahmed’s brother said the armed conflict in Sudan has made it difficult for his family, who live far from the capital, Khartoum, to travel and take the test.
The Moroccan government has not facilitated access to the country for some people looking for their relatives. Three men living in Sudan and Europe said they faced lengthy and complicated administrative procedures to apply for visas, and in two cases the Moroccan embassy in Sudan simply refused to take their applications.
Both Spain and Morocco deny any responsibility for the deaths and disappearances. Spain’s Public Prosecutor’s Office closed its investigation after six months in December 2022, exonerating Spain’s security forces and calling only for disciplinary action against Spanish law enforcement agents, the Guardia Civil, who threw stones.
Only a few days after the events and even before any autopsy was carried out, the public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal of Nador declared to the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) of Morocco, a body appointed by the government, that the Moroccan security forces had not used excessive force or firearms, and that people had died of asphyxiation in the stampede. The CNDH published preliminary findings in July 2022 largely echoing the authorities’ version of events.
Human Rights Watch wrote to the Moroccan government on June 15 to inquire about efforts to ensure an independent and effective investigation into the events, accountability for violations, and to better understand the type of support it had provided to families looking for relatives. The Moroccan government did not respond.
UN experts have concluded that the ‘lack of meaningful accountability’ reveals ‘racial exclusion and lethal violence deployed to push back people of African and Middle Eastern descent and other non-white populations’ at the borders of the EU. Non-governmental organizations have reported a recent crackdown on migrants in Morocco, following years of abuses against sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco and at the EU’s external borders.
According to AMDH Nador, Moroccan courts have sentenced at least 87 people, on charges including, among others, ” illegal entry into Moroccan territory”, “armed crowd” and “violence against public officials”.
In this context of violence and death, the Spanish Guardia Civil summarily and illegally returned 470 people to Morocco, according to the Spanish Ombudsman and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).
A 23-year-old Sudanese man, who also lost his uncle that day, said he was beaten on both sides of the border and returned to Morocco without being given the opportunity to ask for protection: “We were lying face down. the ground, if you tried to raise your head, they [the Guardia Civil] would hit you. (…) they dragged me on the ground across the [border ] road.”
Such summary returns without any procedural safeguards violate both European and international law, Human Rights Watch said.
Despite the carnage of June 2022 and a history of deaths and violent deterrence, Spain and Morocco announced in February 2023 ” intensified ” cooperation, especially in ” the fight against irregular migration, border control “. Since 2015, the European Union has allocated €234 million to cooperation on migration with Morocco, of which 77% is devoted to border management; An additional €150 million has been allocated for 2022-2026.
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights recently stressed that Spain “should not directly or indirectly contribute to human rights violations through its cooperation on migration.”
Spain and Morocco should agree to an independent, impartial and full investigation into the events of June 2022 at the Melilla border, in order to bring to justice those responsible for serious human rights violations and to ensure that these violations not reoccur, Human Rights Watch said. Violations include the use of excessive force, collective expulsions and refoulements. Authorities on both sides of the border should cooperate to help families locate missing relatives and provide them with information about the investigation in a timely manner.
Moroccan authorities, with the support of Spain and Sudan, should work diligently to collect and analyze DNA samples from relatives, identify the dead, inform the families and organize the transfer of the deceased to their families for burials in accordance with their wishes.
The Moroccan authorities, if they have not already done so, should share all the information they have with the families looking for their loved ones, involve them in the identification of anyone still in their custody and guarantee them access to prisons, hospitals or morgues. Any person detained for their participation in the events of June 24 must be able to communicate their place of detention to the members of their family.
This anniversary comes at a crucial time as Spain assumes the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU and will play a leading role in leading negotiations with the European Parliament for a broad EU reform of its system of migration and asylum.
“Spain, Morocco and the EU can no longer ignore the suffering caused by harmful migration policies,” concluded Alice Autin. Spain should lead by example in advocating for a rights-respecting approach that includes safe and legal routes, accountability for border violations and strong human rights conditionality for cooperation with other countries.
