Amnesty International Urges Spain to Probe Deadly Melilla Border Incident

Amnesty International calls on the Spanish authorities to investigate the Melilla assault of June 24. "This date has gone down in history as the greatest humanitarian tragedy at the southern border. The government and Congress must take measures to prevent such events from happening again," the association said in a statement, inviting them to take advantage of the last year of their term to strengthen human rights in Spain.

The organization claims to have found at least eight pieces of evidence of human rights violations perpetrated by the Spanish and Moroccan security forces, including "summary and collective expulsions at the border, known as forced returns, and contrary to international law". To correct the situation, Amnesty International calls for the establishment of "legal and safe routes" to guarantee the respect of the rights of people forced to move, "regardless of their origin".

The association also draws attention to the importance of the negotiation process for the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum "in which Spain has a fundamental role to play, especially since it will hold the EU presidency next year". It also insists on the need to "review cooperation with Morocco to ensure that its migration policy takes into account respect for the rights of migrants".