Morocco’s National Human Rights Council (CNDH) has asked Spain’s Ombudsman to open an investigation into alleged violations of the rights of Moroccan migrants in Ceuta, the council’s president Amina Bouayach said.
Bouayach told Moroccan broadcaster 2M that she had sent a letter to Spain’s Defensor del Pueblo, the institution responsible for protecting fundamental rights, requesting an investigation into the violations, including those involving minors.
“The rights of these Moroccans were not protected,” Bouayach said. “They were beaten, deprived of water and food and slept on plastic in the middle of the forest.”
She said there had been “numerous cases of irregularities” during Aug. 1 and 2.
According to Bouayach, Spain’s Ombudsman had informed her that numerous minors were in Ceuta whose nationality had not yet been established.
The CNDH and Spain’s Defensor del Pueblo already cooperate on issues relating to the protection of migrants’ rights, Bouayach said.
Several Moroccan human rights advocates also took part in the 2M programme, including lawyer Naoufal Bouamri, president of the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH).
Bouamri denounced “sexual assaults and racist acts by the authorities”. He also alleged that “the mayor of Ceuta went so far as to encourage shop owners to close their food stores so that migrants could not buy water or food”.
2M said one of its reporting teams had been prevented from covering events in Ceuta after Spanish police refused to allow its filming equipment to enter the city.
