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Date Published: 30/11/2022

ARCHIVED - Investigation suggests at least one Melilla massacre victim died on Spanish soil

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Spain’s Interior Minister flatly denies any wrongdoing by the Guardia Civil

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Investigation suggests at least one Melilla massacre victim died on Spanish soil

A damning international investigation carried out by non-profit Lighthouse Reports has this week laid a substantial amount of blame at the feet of the Spanish authorities, claiming that it has proof that at least one immigrant was killed on Spanish soil during what has become known worldwide as the Melilla Massacre.

At a press conference in the European Parliament, the NGO’s managing director, Daniel Howden, explained that the four-month investigation closely examined images and footage of the border storming as well as eye-witness testimonies from the survivors.

At least 23 sub-Saharan Africans lost their lives when hundreds of migrants tried to scale the border fence separating Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla on June 24. Spain has been accused of standing back while the Moroccan officers used excessive force to quell the riot, and a BBC documentary recently raised the possibility that several victims died once they managed to traverse the border into Spain.

Some of the most illuminating evidence comes from a Spanish Guardia Civil officer who was on duty on that fateful day and who admitted for the first time that deaths could have occurred in Spain.

"We see that the Moroccan forces continued to beat people who were suffering seriously," Howden said of the footage, and that "hundreds of people who had entered (Spain) were pushed to the Moroccan side of the border."

"We do not have (results of) autopsies to say what was the cause of death of the 23 people who died, but there is no evidence that medical attention was offered," despite the presence of several ambulances at the scene.

Spain’s Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, made more headlines earlier this month when he refused to attend an interview on the massacre at the European Parliament. Nevertheless, the ministry has criticised the NGO for making allegations "of something so serious without compelling evidence" and continues to insist that the Spanish police acted according to protocol.

"The action of the Guardia Civil was absolutely proportional, professional and in accordance with the law, the work of the Guardia Civil had no impact on the deaths, and no deaths took place on national territory."

Several political parties have demanded the resignation of Grande-Marlaska since this new evidence came to light.

Detrás de las cifras, las mentiras políticas y las informaciones.

Están las personas

Estaría bien tener la vergüenza de mirarles a los ojos y seguir hablando de derechos humanos.

Melilla 24J 2022 #FronteraSur #Melilla

📷 @JaviBernardoP pic.twitter.com/S4baHCuky9
— javier bernardo (@JaviBernardoP) November 8, 2022

Image: @JaviBernandoP / Twitter

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