Basir (in the background) with Arsenio Cores, one of his lawyers, in front of the Spanish Embassy in Rabat (Morocco), on December 13. Lawyers of "Basir" (Lawyers of "Basir"/EFE)
The Sudanese man who went to the Spanish Embassy in Rabat in December to ask for asylum has raised his case to the United Nations in the absence of response from the Spanish authorities. After surviving the tragedy of Melilla on June 24, the young man, 24, was expelled from Spain and, according to his testimony, mistreated, forcibly displaced and persecuted in Morocco. His lawyers hope that one of the six UN bodies to which they have sent information on the case will publicly pronounce "on the serious human rights violations perpetrated by the Spanish State and by the Moroccan State."
Basir – a name changed so as not to jeopardize his safety – is a Christian and fled Sudan after surviving a massacre in his village. According to his testimony, he suffered numerous tortures during his migratory journey through four countries, including Morocco, where he is hiding. Almost six months after the tragedy in Melilla, in which at least 23 people died, Basir decided to go to the Spanish embassy to ask for international protection on December 13 and stop fleeing.
The UN rapporteur on the rights of migrants: "It is regrettable that the tragedy of Melilla has not been clarified five months later"
His case, led by DEMOS, Estudio Legal de Derechos Humanos, was not just an individual initiative, but tested Spanish asylum legislation at a time when the Government of Pedro Sánchez has defended in different forums that this was the desirable formula to enter Spain legally instead of jumping a fence. Although Spanish law does indeed contemplate this route, the Administration manages the possibility of requesting protection in diplomatic delegations abroad in a restrictive and discretionary manner.
After five months of waiting for a resolution, Basir's lawyers have submitted briefs to four United Nations rapporteurs and two working groups that are linked to the rights of migrants and refugees. This is a special procedure within the UN mechanism that appeals to these bodies, made up of independent experts, who have mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country perspective. The initiative may not have any response, but the objective of the lawyers is that one of these organizations, or all of them in a coordinated manner, send a communication to the Spanish State, with the value of recommendation, to urge it to facilitate the transfer of Basir to the Peninsula so that he can request international protection.
Basir's case and his circumstances are not foreign to the UN. Four of these organizations, including the Office of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, have already commented on the events that occurred in Melilla. In a joint communication, they expressed concern about the excessive and lethal use of force by Moroccan and Spanish police authorities. "As far as we know, Basir is the first victim of the massacre of June 24, 2022 who takes his case to the United Nations, from which he awaits the response of protection of his rights that he has not received from the Spanish State," says his lawyer Arsenio G. Cores. "We trust that the different UN rapporteurships and working groups that are now hearing this case can also express themselves on the factual impossibility for black people from different African countries to exercise their human right not to be tortured or to request international protection under the same conditions as, for example, The Ukrainian population has been able to do it," he adds.
Parliamentary initiatives
The case of this Sudanese also moves in the Congress of Deputies. In February, the majority of parliamentary groups, from Vox and PP, through ERC and PNV – with PSOE and Unidas Podemos voting against – not only voted in favor of reproving the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, for the management of the Melilla tragedy, but at a separate point advocated that the young man be transferred to Spain. Despite the political backing, the young man is still waiting for an answer.
The political initiatives, although not binding, put pressure on the Government to take steps to effectively seek asylum abroad and respond more quickly. EH Bildu presented on April 5 a Non-Law Proposition (PNL) for the Government to promote the development of a regulation of article 38 of the asylum law, which includes the possibility of requesting protection in embassies and consulates. The PSOE presented an amendment to the PNL, but both parties agreed on two points: that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs work on a protocol so that applications in embassy and consulates are resolved more quickly and that the asylum system is strengthened. It was approved without votes against.
The PNV, for its part, has presented a motion for the Government to resolve the failures of the asylum system and that the international protection procedure in embassies is real and effective. On a specific point, the PNV also asks that the Administration resolve Basir's request. The initiative, which was negotiated with the PSOE, got on Thursday 286 votes in favor (including those of the Socialists), one against and 52 abstentions.
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