Amnesty International maintains that in 2022, in Spain, “the climate of impunity and lack of accountability” regarding the violation of human rights has worsened due to the fact that, among other issues, the authorities have not investigated the Melilla fence massacrewhere between 27 and 37 people lost their lives trying to enter the European country through the border that separates it from Morocco.
This is one of the conclusions of the 2022 report of the international organization, which also emphasizes more situations that it denounces: spying on Catalan politicians and members of civil society, the persistence of violence against women, the criminalization of work sexual violence, the lack of protection of the rights to housing and health or the coercion of the rights of assembly and freedom of expression, among others.
In a positive sense, the institution highlights the new legislation that eliminates barriers to access to abortion, the “historic” law on gender self-determination or the new steps that were taken against impunity for violations committed during the Civil War and the dictatorship. Francoist.
Right to privacy
Amnesty International echoes the use of the Pegasus spy software from the Israeli company NSO Group, used to infect the mobile phones of Catalan politicians, as well as journalists, lawyers and relatives of the pro-independence circle.
It collects that, in May, the director of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) admitted that the agency under her charge was responsible for several of these espionages.
Likewise, the Government of Spain also confirmed that the official telephone numbers of the President, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Defense had been infected with Pegasus. In May, the Superior Court of Justice began an investigation into these events, while the investigations related to espionage in the pro-independence sphere remained stuck in the Catalan courts.
Sexual and gender violence
Regarding violence against women, the non-profit organization reports that during the year 49 women were murdered by their partners or ex-partnersincluding the homicide of two children in the context of attacks on their mothers.
Likewise, the Ministry of Equality is congratulated for beginning to collect data on the violence that is exerted on women by people who are not their partners or ex-partners.
It also considers positively the entry into force of the Law for the Comprehensive Protection of Sexual Freedom, known as the “only yes is yes” law, which modified the Penal Code redefining crimes of sexual violence, focusing on the absence of consent.
In addition, it highlights the reform of the law on sexual and reproductive rights to eliminate the requirement of parental permission for 16 and 17-year-old girls who wish to have an abortion, as well as other barriers, for example, the reflection period or lack of access. to the voluntary termination of pregnancy in public centers.
Right to health
The institution also criticizes that governments, both national and regional, have assigned a poor budget to address the right to health, citing 14% dedicated to primary care, compared to the minimum of 25% recommended by the WHO. At the same time, it denounces that several regions, specifically Aragon and Castilla La Mancha, reduced their health budgets compared to 2021.
As a positive aspect in this section, it is noted that at the end of the year a new mental health strategywith a 5-year scope, which began implementation after a 15-year hiatus.
Lack of research on deaths of the elderly during the pandemic
A specific section deserves the deaths of dependent elderly people that occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. Amnesty strongly criticizes that the authorities “they will not investigate properly” these deaths.
Thus, it points out that around 90% of the investigations initiated by prosecutors were archived, despite the fact that the Attorney General had acknowledged that human rights violations occurred in nursing homes.
The majority of the regional investigative commissions had the same fate, despite the complaints collected by the ombudsman.
Right to housing
The problem of access to housing that the country has suffered for years, with high prices both for rent and for purchase, has also deserved mention from the entity, which echoes the fact that, between January and September of last year, there were 29,285 evictions habitual residence.
Although the Government renewed, from June to December, the suspension of evictions for vulnerable people, the measure was not applied to thousands of people who do not meet the requirements to enter this category.
The energy poverty of families is also pointed out, with 14.3% of the population unable to keep their home at an adequate temperature, 3.4 points above 2020.
Especially relevant in this regard is the situation in the Canada Real neighborhood in Madrid, where around 4,500 people, including approximately 1,800 children, have not had access to electricity since 2020.
Criticism of police work
The report highlights the concern about the training and protocols for the use of weapons by various police forces in the country, after the Ministry of the Interior included the electric shock equipment.
In this sense, the death of a man in Barcelona is named after regional Police officers gave him several electric shocks in November 2021, even when he was already immobilized. No charges have yet been filed against any suspects in this case.
Likewise, the presence of people seriously injured by rubber balls fired by the Police during demonstrations, which run “the risk of being denied justice, since the prosecutors planned to close the criminal investigations due to the lack of cooperation from the Police,” the text states.
The harshest criticisms in this section are for the Public Safety Law, which, in his opinion, limits the freedom of expression of protesters and journalists. Thus, the data collected shows an increase in the number of fines imposed for “vaguely defined” criminal offences, such as disrespect for an agent or disobedience or resistance.
Source: RT
