23 sexual assaults against migrants in Ceuta since mass crossing, eight under investigation
The Public Prosecutor's Office has recorded 23 sexual assaults against migrants in Ceuta since 30 July, five of them rapes. Eight men are being investigated.
Public Prosecutor raises to 23 cases of sexual assault against migrants in Ceuta
The Public Prosecutor's Office has recorded 23 sexual assaults committed against migrants in Ceuta since 30 July, the date when between 70,000 and 80,000 people illegally crossed the border with Morocco. This is reported by El País, which has had access to data from the public ministry. Eight men—four Moroccan, three Spanish and one Belgian—are being investigated; the remaining perpetrators have not been identified.
Five of the assaults have been classified as rapes. Nine of the victims are girls and adolescents aged between 14 and 17 years. The Public Prosecutor's Office has also recorded one assault against a man from the LGBTI community. The figure has been updated throughout the day: in mid-afternoon the public ministry had reported 21 cases, before raising it to 23.
Minister appears before Congress
The Minister for Equality, Ana Redondo, addressed the Public Prosecutor's data during her intervention at the Equality Commission of Congress, which she attended at her own request to report on her department's actions in response to the migration crisis. Redondo confirmed that the nine minors have been assisted at the 24-hour crisis centre and called for victims to be allowed to remain at said centre beyond the current 72-hour limit, "until they have a reliable and safe alternative".
The minister also asked for that centre—where psychological, health and legal care is provided—to remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In response to the assaults, Redondo was emphatic: "In the face of sexual violence, there is no room for political calculation". She also warned that around the Ceuta crisis "racist discourse and behaviour are spreading" and called for people not to be criminalised on the basis of their origin or skin colour. "The responsibility for an assault always lies with the person who commits it," she concluded.
Prosecutor General visited Ceuta last week
The Prosecutor General of the State, Teresa Peramato, travelled to the autonomous city last Thursday with the Superior Public Prosecutor of Andalusia, Ana Tárrago, and the Coordinating Section Prosecutor for Minors, Teresa Gisbert. At a press conference, Peramato noted that the Chief Public Prosecutor of Ceuta had informed her of an "increase in certain criminal categories", with particular emphasis on sexual assaults.
On 27 August, the Public Prosecutor's Office counted 16 cases with 17 victims. This Monday, the public ministry added seven new cases and confirmed that eight men are already being investigated. Peramato stressed the "special vulnerability" of migrant minors in the context of the crisis. The team of nine prosecutors assigned to the autonomous city will be reinforced with three new staff.
Two detained in prison and one expelled since August
The High Court of Justice (TSJ) of Andalusia has also been following the cases. On 12 August it announced that two Moroccan men had been remanded in prison and a third had been expelled from the country as alleged perpetrators of two sexual assaults in Ceuta. In all three cases, judges took "pre-recorded statements" from the victims and witnesses: their testimonies were recorded with all legal guarantees so that they have full validity in a potential trial, avoiding the need for those affected to recount the facts again before the court.
Source: El País