A SURVIVOR of a lethal 2014 Ceuta seashore tragedy has filed a criticism to the UN Committee Towards Torture in the present day after he misplaced a watch to a rubber bullet.
Brice O is demanding solutions about Spain’s use of anti-riot gear that left him partially blind and contributed to 14 deaths after Guardia Civil officers peppered him whereas he clung on to the within of an inflated tire.
The previous refugee has known as for an investigation into why Spanish authorities by no means correctly examined the usage of riot management measures throughout the deadly border crossing try simply over ten years in the past.
“I discover it extremely harmful that rubber bullets are getting used,” mentioned Brice O, who now lives in Canada, the place he research movie manufacturing.
“I bear witness as somebody disabled in a single eye due to a rubber bullet.”
The incident occurred when round 200 folks tried to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on February 6, 2014.
READ MORE: Migrants make another attempt to storm the fences of Spain’s African enclave of Ceuta
Guardia Civil officers fired 145 rubber bullets and 5 smoke canisters at migrants swimming close to Tarajal seashore.
Whereas Spain’s then inside minister Jorge Fernández Díaz claimed officers fired ‘on the water, not at folks,’ a minimum of 14 folks drowned within the chaos.
NGOs consider the precise demise toll was increased however, as with so many migrant crossings, there are not any registers of individuals to evaluate who’s lacking.
“The final 11 years have been a shame and Spain should absolutely examine this lethal border operation,” mentioned Hanaa Hakiki, director of border justice on the European Middle for Constitutional and Human Rights.
Regardless of a number of authorized makes an attempt, justice has remained elusive.
In 2015, a decide dismissed the case towards 16 Guardia Civil officers, and Spain’s supreme courtroom formally shelved the case three years in the past.
The criticism comes amid ongoing scrutiny of Spain’s border insurance policies, following one other tragic incident in Melilla in 2022 the place 37 folks died throughout a mass border crossing try.
