Spain Investigates Alleged Police Brutality Against Moroccan Minors in Canary Islands

After an alert from the educators of the unaccompanied minor reception center in Las Palmas, requesting a police intervention following a scuffle in the courtyard, the police stormed in. But the force of the intervention was disproportionate, as evidenced by the video showing part of the events and having gone viral on social networks. Thus, "the superior headquarters of the police of the Canary Islands received a call from Madrid to announce the immediate opening of an investigation into the actions of the agents," said Ok Diario, stressing that the Spanish Ministry of the Interior has also activated "its disciplinary mechanism against the agents appearing in the video".

The video shocked Moroccans who were able to see the violence with which the policeman unleashed on the minor. The day after the event, a Moroccan association called on the Spanish authorities to conduct an investigation and reminded them of their duties regarding the international protection of minors. The executive office of the Moroccan League for Citizenship and Human Rights (LMCDH) also denounced the past week the assaults and called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to "send a request for explanation to its Spanish counterpart, on these practices to which Moroccan minors are exposed in Spain".

Following the voices of indignation that were rising on both sides, Moroccan diplomacy summoned the Spanish ambassador to Morocco, Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner. UNICEF also called on Madrid to step up prevention and anti-racism and xenophobia actions. However, no one yet knows what has become of the young man seen on the ground in the video, which so strongly recalls the one of the death of Ilias Tahiri, during a police intervention in July 2019.