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Decades of Impunity: Serious Allegations of Rape of Kenyan Women by UK Army |
Torture and Ill-treatment: no accountability for Osmo Vallo's death in police custody in Sweden |
Portugal: Allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment The Unwanted: Degrading treatment of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees at Europe's shores |
Portugal: Deaths in prison custody UK: Indefinite detention, without charge or trial |
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WERAN BULLETIN October / November 2005
Photo: Men illegally returned to Tangier by the Spanish authorities show the court ruling by which they should have been transferred to Fuerteventura, October 2005 @AI
26 October 2005
Spain/Morocco: The authorities must be held accountable for the violation of migrants' rights
| "You are nothing but Negroes. You must not ask questions."
C. M. from Mali told Amnesty International
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"It's a prison, not a centre. They don't let us out and it's dirty, they don't clean. There's 17 of us and only one soap. At night we only eat a little bowl of milk with some dates. We normally only eat at 1.00 pm and 18.00. It's because you (Amnesty International) are here that they're feeding us now."
A. L. from Mali in a detention centre in Tangier, Morocco. |
 In the face of the substantial and repeated human rights violations detected by the organization in Melilla and in Ceuta as well as in Morocco, Amnesty International urges both governments to immediately stop all expulsions and refoulement of all migrants and asylum-seekers of sub-Saharan origin. In the past few weeks, as acknowledged by the authorities of both countries, scores of people have been injured and at least 11 killed while trying to cross into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla when they were confronted by the law enforcement officials of both countries. Amnesty International is investigating other disputed cases. Hundreds more, including possible asylum-seekers, have been rounded up by the Moroccan authorities and placed in detention or forcibly removed. "The evidence we saw showed that law enforcement officials used force which is both unlawful and disproportionate, including lethal weapons. They injured and killed people trying to cross the fence. Many of those seriously injured inside Spanish territory were pushed back through fence doors without any legal formality or medical assistance," said Javier Zúñiga, head of Amnesty International's delegation and Senior Advisor to Regional Programmes at the International Secretariat in London. [...] Read the full report, AI Index: EUR 41/016/2005 |
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If you want to participate in WERAN
1.: become an Amnesty member
2.: contact Group 27 and refer to WERAN
to receive thorough information
and instructions to whom and how to write.
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For joining WERAN, please contact Group 27 by mail or email.
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WERAN, GROUP 27
Group 27's WERAN had been co-ordinated by Wendy for over 12 years. Currently WERAN is co-ordinated by a two-person-team, Wendy and Margarete. There are about three additional people who write on a regular basis. Contact is maintained by letter or email and phone.
WERAN demands a thorough study of the case material. Authorities usually read our appeals and frequently respond - not always to our point, however.
It is crucial that members send copies of both the letters they have written and any replies received to the co-ordinator who sends them on to the national co-ordinator. The reason for this is not for us to check the letters you write - but so we can be sure that the authorities have been contacted by Amnesty International about a particular case of concern to us. In most actions, the only communication with a government about a particular case may be through your WERAN group. The head office of Amnesty International needs this information in order to write external papers such as the six monthly AI bulletin, Concerns in Europe. The team also needs to be kept up-to-date in case it has to communicate directly with the government of the country concerned. Without the group's contribution Amnesty International is unable to upheld this level of accuracy.
Cases often develop over many years, for example the case of Patrick Finucane, who was shot dead more than ten years ago. His killing casts a shadow on the Royal Ulster Constabulary and leads to allegations of collusion and cover-up by it and the security forces in Northern Ireland. (See under: Finucane)
WERAN organised public meetings, for example:- Human Rights in Europe
- Protecting Human Rights in a Globalized Economy
Promoting a European Union Code of Conduct as a model or setting rules world-wide. - It's Time to Stop Torture
In connection with the launch of the campaign WERAN presented the cases of Clement Nwankwo and David Adams at a public evening. - Terror?- No Way!:
A public evening with, inter alia, a presentation of human rights abuses ommitted by the ETA.