BackThe MNP visited 60 detention centres and issued 135 resolutions in 2013
In 2013, the MNP visited 60 detention centres in nine Autonomous Communities: Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Community of Valencia, Community of Madrid and Galicia.
Of the 135 resolutions issued (24 recommendations, 105 suggestions and 6 reminders of legal duties), the Administration has accepted 110.
One of the new developments in 2013 was the supervision of an operation for the repatriation of foreign nationals to Ecuador and Colombia. The MNP team, comprised by one technical officer and one forensic physician, travelled in the aircraft together with the persons being repatriated and police personnel up to their final destination.
The MNP inspected 20 police stations of the Cuerpo Nacional de Policía [National Police Force], 9 detention centres of the Guardia Civil [Civil Guard], 8 penitentiaries, 6 centres for juvenile delinquents, 5 immigrant detention centres, 2 extended care centres, 2 prison psychiatric hospitals and 2 holding rooms for persons refused entry and petitioners for asylum at border control points. A military disciplinary establishment, a holding cell in a court building, a prisoner transfer operation, a local police station and a hospital detention unit were also visited.
Injury reports on persons in custody
The Ombudsman has also submitted the study entitled “Injury Reports on Persons in Custody”, which sets out recommendations to the Ministry of Justice and the Autonomous Communities for regulating and unifying the criteria used in preparing reports of injuries sustained by persons in custody.
The Ombudsman raised the question of the need to create a national action protocol on the kind of information to be sent to the judicial authorities through the medical reports on injuries, a very important instrument for the prevention of torture.
Among the conclusions of the study, it was noted that the legal provisions developed on the Autonomous Community level vary considerably: Andalusia alone has a complete set of regulations, the Canary Islands have an instruction, the Community of Madrid has a document with no legal rank and the majority of the Autonomous Communities have no regulation whatsoever.
The study proposes the improvement of the elaboration of medical reports on injuries in order to facilitate the work of judges, and calls for the inclusion of sufficient information in injury reports to enable an evaluation of the seriousness of the facts and a provision whereby such information can be admissible as evidence.
In the opinion of the Ombudsman, the parties must comply with the Istanbul Protocol, the reference framework adopted by the United Nations in 1982, for the proper investigation and documentation of abuse and torture.
Source: Defensoria del Pueblo, Spain
