Valencia Court Dismisses Case in Moroccan Migrant’s Detention Center Death, Sparking Protests

On July 15, 2019, three police officers from the Zapadores Migrant Detention Center (CIE) in Valencia dragged Marouane Abouobaida, a 23-year-old Moroccan who had been hospitalized for several days, into an isolation cell where he committed suicide an hour and a half later.

Two weeks ago, the Provincial Court of Valencia decided to dismiss the case. A campaign to denounce this decision, called "CIE No de València", has been launched to demand the conviction of the Center for the death of the Moroccan. But for the judge, there will be no criminal sanction for this crime, especially since the commission of faults by the agents has not been clearly established.

The surveillance camera images of the Center show how Marouane was placed in isolation but reveal nothing blameworthy about the agents. For some human rights organizations, these centers are racist prisons where people who have committed no crime other than being undocumented sometimes suffer and die.

On July 14, a day before his death, several detainees attacked Marouane, causing him facial fractures. A few days earlier, he had already been the victim of two other assaults. The hospital had required medical rest and regular monitoring. Despite these anti-suicide protocols, the agents came several times to the door of Marouane’s cell, glanced through the peephole, without taking the trouble to enter to make sure he was doing well. His lifeless body was found 40 minutes after his suicide, and less than an hour and a half after his isolation.

In the order rejecting the case, the Provincial Court indicates that there may have been "incomplete health care" and "reprehensible behavior on the part of a police officer", asking "to evaluate everything that could have been done and was not done" in this situation. For the judge, there is no clear culprit when someone decides to commit suicide, but if Marouane had not been admitted to the CIE or if he had not been isolated after several attacks he had suffered, he might still be alive.

Marouane’s body was transferred to Morocco where he was buried in a cemetery near Casablanca.