| Invasion force treated like invaders is a Dog Bites Man story... or should be. |
...not to be confused with
individual rights,mind you...
organization accused Madrid and Rabat of "excessive use of force" and an "abject failure" to provide the truth about what occurred.
Nearly 20,000
The corpse count -- at least 23 according to Morocco, at least 37 according to Amnesty and independent experts -- was the worst in years of attempted migrant crossings into Melilla and Ceuta.
The frontier between Morocco and the two Spanish enclaves are the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...'s only land borders on the African continent.
"The methods used by Moroccan and Spanish authorities at the border crossing known as 'Barrio Chino' contributed to the deaths of at least 37 people and to injuries to dozens more," Amnesty said in a report.
Amnesty analysed videos and satellite images, and spoke to numerous
"Some of the actions by Spanish and Moroccan officials ... may amount to breaches of the right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment," Amnesty said.
These included "beating people who were already restrained or unresponsive due to injury, denying emergency medical assistance to those injured, repeated use of tear gas against people who have no way of escape and are in a confined space".
"At this dismal six-month anniversary, the Spanish and Moroccan authorities continue to deny any responsibility for the carnage at Melilla," said
"There is a growing mountain of evidence of serious and multiple human rights violations... This smacks of a cover-up and racism."
Independent experts appointed by the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
Human Rights Council said in October at least 37 people had died, and decried an "alarming" lack of accountability, from both Morocco and Spain.
Investigations published in November by the BBC and European media consortium Lighthouse Reports denounced brutality by Moroccan forces and questioned the Spanish forces' actions.
The probes concluded that at least one migrant died on Spanish territory, which Spain's interior minister has repeatedly denied.
The Spanish ombudsman and the country's public prosecutor have also been investigating the tragedy.
In a letter sent on Friday to several NGOs and seen by AFP, the ombudsman said that explanations given by the interior ministry had "not been sufficient".