The Human Rights Actions Network http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/actions/ Case ESP 250996 The International Secretariat of the OMCT/SOS-Torture requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Spain. Brief description of the situation: The Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), a member of our network, has expressed its concern at the situation of Basque political detainees in Spain. According to APT reports, on September 9th 1996, twenty Basque political detainees began a hunger strike of indefinite duration in protest against the discriminatory practices and violations of human rights from which they claim to suffer. It is reported that other detainees intend to join in the strike. Thus, as a gesture of solidarity, a group of family members of the detainees in question have begun a rotational strike, starting in Spain from the beginning of the year and in various other European cities from September 16th. In actual fact the detainees' hunger strike is part of a broader movement of protest expressed in different actions such as hunger strikes and "txapeos", or the refusal to leave the cells. The practices which have led to the detainees' protests and which affect only persons detained under the anti-terrorist legislation are the following: i. dispersion of detainees: one out of every ten Basque detainees remains in the Basque country while some are located in the Canaries or in Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa. This practice is contrary to the objectives of rehabilitation and reinsertion of detainees as provided by the Constitution and the General Organic Penitentiary Law of Spain as well as the European and universal laws on the subject. Links with the family, friends and the detainees' lawyers as well as contact with their cultural environment were thereby severed making it extremely difficult to achieve such objectives; ii. discrimination against political detainees in connection with the possibility of release for humanitarian reasons granted to terminally ill detainees, or those suffering from an incurable disease; iii. ill-treatment of the detainees and their families, including: a) unsatisfactory visiting conditions: bars, dirty or obscured glass partitions and inaudible intercommunication; b) the near-impossibility of enjoying so-called "face-to-face" visits, i.e. visits when members of the family (spouses, children) may remain alone with the detainee for 1 to 3 hours; c) body searches, including stripping, of members of the family in case of face-to-face visits; d) restriction of mail which a detainee is entitled to receive; e) arbitrary withholding, confiscation and censorship of legally authorised books, newspapers and periodicals; f) aggressions during transfer from one prison to another; g) keeping detainees handcuffed during medical examinations outside the prison and even during surgical operations; such examinations and operations, moreover, being carried out in the presence of police agents. The APT considers that such practices are contrary to the respect of the detainees' human rights, regardless of their political affiliation or sympathies, the charge against them and the sentence pronounced. The APT also deplores the fact that no means of dialogue has managed to contribute to a solution of these problems making it necessary to resort to extreme measures of protest. The International Secretariat has received a list of the detainees on hunger strike which is available to interested organisations upon request. Action requested : Please contact to the Spanish authorities urging them to: i. adopt appropriate measures to put an end to discriminatory practices and violations of international standards and Spanish legislation; ii. ensure the holding of a dialogue with the detainees on hunger strike in order to avoid a fatal issue and seek a solution corresponding to the legitimate objectives of security and the respect of the rights of the detainees. Addresses: Ministerio de Justicia, Srta. Margarita Mariscal De Gaute, c/ San Bernardo 45, E - 28071 Madrid, Espaņa. Fax: (+ 34 1) 390 22 68 Ministerio del Interior, Sr. Jaime Mayor Oreja, , c/ Castellana 5, E - 28071 Madrid, Espaņa. Fax : (+ 34 1) 537 10 03 The Spanish Embassy in your respective countries. Geneva, 25 September 1996 Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quot ing the code number of this appeal in your reply. Ben Schonveld Projects Manager OMCT - SOS Torture Tel: +41-22-733 31 40 Case Postale 119 Fax: +41 22-733 10 51 CH 1211 Geneva 20 Conf: omctsostorture@conf.igc.apc.org Switzerland OMCT@iprolink.ch OMCT is the l'Organisation Mondiale contre la Torture The World Organisation Against Torture