NCJ Number
86312
Date Published
1980
Length
67 pages
Annotation
An international commission composed of two Danish lawyers and an interpreter, a lawyer from the Federal Republic of Germany, and an Amnesty International staff researcher visited Spain in October, 1979 and substantiated allegations of maltreatment and torture of prisoners in Spain recently.
Abstract
The treatment of prisoners has deteriorated since 1978-79. New laws permit police to detain not only people suspected of belonging to armed groups but also those who publicly defend the conduct of such groups or associate with their members. Moreover, a detainee may be held in a police station completely incommunicado for up to 72 hours and thereafter for 10 days without being brought before a judge. This constitutes a contravention of the right to legal counsel guaranteed in Spain's 1978 constitution. Combined with almost complete lack of judicial control or monitoring during the detention period, these procedural changes coincide with increased allegations of detainee maltreatment and torture. Amnesty's medical team interviewed local detainees and doctors and found clear evidence of mistreatment. Fourteen individual case histories are reviewed in documentation of the allegations. Despite numerous formal complaints by detainees, the mission found that judges have failed to take investigative action or prosecute police accused of maltreatment. Amnesty's recommendations call for abolishment of the police's present detention powers, reinstitution of the right to be brought before a judge within 24 hours of arrest, enactment of a habeas corpus procedure, guarantee of the right to legal counsel, and implementation of the penal code with respect to prosecution for maltreatment. A glossary of medical terms is included.