Spain on the spot for torture (again)

The case of Unai Romano has been dismissed by the Spanish courts (again) despite the obvious evidences:


Unai Romano before and after being arrested by the Guardia Civil, several years ago.


His backhead.

The last denounce has been insultingly dismissed by Spanish justice yesterday. Media are mostly ignoring the issue (again), while some policeman (possibly his torturers) are even wanting to process him for "cooperation with terrorist organization" precisely for denouncing tortures.

Spanish cynicism is incredible.

Sources:

• Stop Tortura (in Basque)
• Gara article (in Spanish)
  

Some Basque parties have strongly protested but (as always) to no avail.

The former UN Relator on Torture, Theo van Boven, denounced that his recommendations to stop torture in Spain were "thrown to the trash bin" in 2003.

He also denounced the hypocrisy of the Spanish state that votes in favor of his recommendation in the UN and then approves totally opposite laws at home, extending incommunication for longer periods.

He also said that the tendency to supress discussion on torture in the Spanish state is "extremely dangerous".

Source: Gara (in Spanish)

Shocking.

Another famous case of  torture in Spain,



on 24 July 2005, Juan Mart�nez Galdeano went to the local headquarters of the Guardia Civil to settle a quarrel with a man after their cars collided in Roquetas de Mar (Almeria). When Juan Mart�nez Galdeano was asked to undergo an alcohol test, he became aggressive. After that, he died as a result of ill-treatment and use of excessive force. Civil guards reported that was �an adverse reaction to the previous consumption of cocaine�.

Source: Amnesty International

 That is terrible especialy in country call for civil liberties,I already remembered the reign of the mad Saddam.

Edited by Ahmed The Fighter

  Ah torture.It happens  in ever  Country  in the  world  (maybe not  in Brunei  or singapor)

  Torture  is not  only hitting somebody. Dont  having  enough safety in prisons  are  also  a  torture.I prefer  to  beaten by the  guardians  not getting raped in the prison.

  Tehere  are enough ways to torture someone..Psichological torture  or  social  torture are  sometimes more  efectiv  then the  phisical torture.Western nations  are  really  improved  the  social  and  psicho torture.

 

 

 

Maju,

Thank you for the heads-up. I can't believe that after all that, there are calls for him to be tried for announcing his torturers' names?!

We should all be thankful we have a just legal system...

Originally posted by Origen Maju, Thank you for the heads-up. I can't believe that after all that, there are calls for him to be tried for announcing his torturers' names?! We should all be thankful we have a just legal system...

What names? Do you think he know their names? Here police has no obligation of idetify themselves individually...

This doesnt surprise me, Spain is new to Democracy, perhaps they havent gotten it down just yet. This is a nation where the miliitary has almost its own authority separate from civilian control.

 

Originally posted by Maju Originally posted by Origen Maju, Thank you for the heads-up. I can't believe that after all that, there are calls for him to be tried for announcing his torturers' names?! We should all be thankful we have a just legal system... What names? Do you think he know their names? Here police has no obligation of idetify themselves individually...

Oops, I mistook "denounce" to read "name", sorry.

There are no petitions that I know of. There's no one to make the petitions to: we are defenseless.

I was listening to an interview with Unai Romano this morning and he said that they had some hopes that the case could go ahead because of the many evidences of torture in this case... but, like all the others, it has not just been dismissed but the accuser has been accused as reprisal.

He said that all the estaments involved in torture from policemen to judges, passing through forsenic physicians, all had shared interests in keeping the issue forcedly silenced.

He also described his tortures as a sum up of the following:

• "The lifter": being obligued to stand up naked and exaust himself flexing his legs up and down
  
• Massive beatings in the head
• "The bag": a plastic bag so you can't breath that is intermitently opened
  
• Electrodes (in the genitals particularly)
• Psychological torture: they told him that they had arrested some relatives, including his mother and they toyed with that... faking that she was being tortured and even that she had been "accidentally killed"

Nothing new... but it's good that everyone knows.