Calls to probe deaths of African migrants crossing into Spain

There are increasing calls for an independent probe into the recent deaths of African migrants trying to cross the border from Morocco to Spain.
Authorities in Morocco said
at least 23 migrants died last Friday in a “stampede” after about 2,000 people
tried to climb the iron fence that separates Morocco and Melilla with many of
them falling in the attempt. Melilla is one of two Spanish enclaves in North
Africa.
Human Rights Watch on Wednesday
called for an independent, impartial investigation capable of determining what
occurred and who bears responsibility for such loss of life.
“Video and photographs show
bodies strewn on the ground in pools of blood, Moroccan security forces kicking
and beating people, and Spanish Guardia Civil launching teargas at men clinging
to fences,” said Judith Sunderland, acting deputy Europe and Central Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. “Officials in Spain, Morocco, and the European
Union should condemn this violence and ensure effective, impartial
investigations to bring justice for those who lost their lives.”
Human Rights Watch echoes
the calls by Moroccan and Spanish organizations, UN Human Rights Commissioner
Michelle Bachelet, and the African Union for an inquiry. The African Union
Commission chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, called for “an immediate
investigation” and recalled obligations under international law “to treat all
migrants with dignity and to prioritize their safety and human rights, while
refraining from the use of excessive force.”
Reports that the authorities
in Morocco may be organizing hasty mass burials are deeply concerning, Human
Rights Watch said. On June 26, the Association Marocaine des Droits Humains
(Moroccan Human Rights Association or AMDH) posted two photographs on Twitter
of what it estimated were between 16 and 21 graves being dug in the Sidi Salem
Cemetery, on the outskirts of Nador, the Moroccan town across the border from
Melilla.
In Tuesday’s statement, the
UN committee on Migrant Workers pointed out that “the Moroccan government is
required to preserve the bodies of the deceased, fully identify them and inform
their families, and provide the necessary support for the transfer of the
bodies.”
Algeria condemned what it
described as a massacre by Morocco of migrants from sub-Saharan countries who
tried to cross the fence into Spain.
“Extreme brutality” and
“disproportionate use of force” were the terms used to describe the event by
the special envoy of the Algerian Government for Western Sahara and the Maghreb
countries, Amar Belani, who called for an in-depth investigation by the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees.
According to the diplomat,
the methods used by the Rabat Police “are similar to summary executions.”
He also accused the Moroccan
government of systematically violating human rights despite its role as
“alleged champion of migration within the African Union and headquarters of the
African Migration Observatory.”
According to the Spanish refugee agency CEAR, many of the migrants were from Chad and Sudan, meaning they had high chances of obtaining international protection if they had reached Spain.