Rapport de Fernando Piernavieja Niembro, observateur du CCBE au procès de 5 policiers espagnols accusés de violences sexuelles à l'égard de femmes détenues dans des centres de rétentions d'immigrés illégaux

1. Report on the hearing at the Audiencia Provincial de Málaga, Seccion 3ª,
Rollo 1002/09, Sumario 2/09 Juzgado de Instrucción 9 de Málaga
With the authorization of CCBE and his Chairman of the Human Rights committee, I
assisted as observer the past thirty of October, to the second hearing of the referred
procedure against five policemen in charge of the vigilance at the Centro de
Internamiento de Extranjeros, CIE, de Málaga for having had sex, prevailed of their
position and authority, with the women waiting to be surrender to their home countries.
Besides the Prosecutor, there were exercising the so call “Acción Popular” a
representative of Andalucía Acoge, nongovernmental organization taken care of
defending non legal immigrants and two other lawyers as private prosecutors, one as
legal aid counselor for four of the victims and the other one, appointed by tree of the
victims. The five defendants were represented by lawyers of their own election.
As public officers, the Government should be subsidiary responsible of the
compensations claimed by the victims in case the defendants do not have enough
economical meanings to pay it. It was represented, only in that economical aspect, by
the “Abogado del Estado”.
Once I introduce myself to the President of the Tribunal, Prosecutor and lawyers as
observer in representation of CCBE, due to the interest of the case, after the Report on
Spain of the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, pointing the
difficulties for pursuing policemen at Court and how are ignored the denounces against
those in most of the cases and with the added situation of being the victims immigrants,
the hearing began.
As second hearing of the trial, the President solved the previous procedural questions
presented by the parts in the first hearing. Complex questions related with procedure
and especially with witnesses presence, depending of being in Schengen territory
through Sirene or outside of it, via Interpol, nullity of the instruction and investigation,
suspension of the trial, or continuation of the sessions.
Once the previous questions were finished, started with the examination and
interrogation of the first two defendants, who answered only the questions asked by the
prosecutor and the defenses but used the right to keep silence to the questions of action
popular and private prosecutors. The hearing was close after three hours from the
beginning and will be continued in several sessions, the next fourth of November.
As observer, knowing the procedure, the parts and the Tribunal; I must say that it has
been conducted not only in a fair way, even, I would say; with outstanding procedural
safeguards for the parts, defense and accusation.

2. Once the hearing was over I thanked the president his kindness for letting me be at the
court bench, with the toga, and expressed my satisfaction for the way it was conducted
the hearing in a case particularly difficult for the circumstances, the victims and the
defendants.
I have to point out that probably this case may not be representative of the some others
in which, immigrants and policemen are under trial, as several other cases in Spain
show us, and may be due to the Tribunal judging this file.
This is all that this observer has to report pursuant to the mission assigned from Málaga
at the fourth day of the month of November of the year 2013-
Fernando Piernavieja Niembro
Member of CCBE Human Rights Committee