Spain Orders Probe After Rights Group Alleges Troops Abused Migrants in Ceuta

Spain’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday it had alerted prosecutors to an Amnesty International report alleging the military tortured or mistreated migrants ​in Ceuta, and ordered an internal probe into whether any personnel ‌were to blame.

The rights group accused members of Spain’s armed forces of torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment of migrants stranded in the North African enclave ​after over 72,000 crossed the border from Morocco in late July.

Though most ​of the migrants later went back, at least 10,000 remain ⁠in the tiny Spanish enclave in North Africa, straining local resources and ​fuelling tensions.

Amnesty International Spain Director Esteban Beltran told Reuters the group had documented ​22 cases of torture and abuse by military personnel. In what he said appeared to be a pattern, troops had pursued, beaten and humiliated migrants, including women and unaccompanied ​children, in nighttime operations.

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