Amnesty International reports alleged torture of migrants by Spanish troops in Ceuta
The NGO’s report, based on interviews with more than 65 migrants and asylum seekers, describes physical assaults with batons, forced kneeling, gagging and other degrading actions by soldiers. It cites injuries on bodies that match baton blows and video evidence of masked troops operating at night. The Spanish Ministry of Defence has forwarded the allegations to the public prosecutor and the Ceuta court and asked the Military Operations Command to investigate.
Amnesty International released a document accusing members of the Spanish armed forces deployed in Ceuta of torturing migrants and asylum seekers. The report draws on testimonies from over 65 individuals, many of whom recount beatings, forced kneeling, gagging and other humiliating treatment, including injuries consistent with baton strikes. Video material shows soldiers acting under cover of darkness while wearing hoods to avoid identification, issuing threats and insults to force departures.
Following the NGO’s findings, the Ministry of Defence has sent the complaints to the public prosecutor and the Ceuta court and requested an inquiry by the Military Operations Command, which has overseen operations since the influx began in July. Amnesty also sent a letter to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the Ceuta president demanding urgent humanitarian aid and an impartial investigation, as well as the removal of implicated soldiers from duty.
How this story developed
- Aug 21 Spanish police detain five suspected migrant smugglers operating from Ceuta
- Sep 12 A police‑commissioned report described Moroccan border police as unusually sparse and granting migrants “total permission.”
- Sep 13 Minister Sira Rego urged autonomous communities to assume responsibility for Ceuta’s unaccompanied minors.
- Sep 13 The foreign minister announced an urgent trip to Brussels for talks with EU officials.
- Sep 16 The Guardia Civil raided a cramped apartment on Real street in central Ceuta, finding 25 migrants - six of them minors - living in squalid conditions.
- Sep 18 The Audiencia Nacional's Contentious‑Administrative Chamber approved the use of Ceuta port for a temporary migrant shelter.
- Sep 18 about 850 migrants were settled in 50 tents at the port while others returned to beach camps
- Sep 19 The port camp filled within hours, leaving many migrants still without shelter on the streets and beaches.
- Sep 24 Sánchez formally requested explanations and corrective measures from Morocco.
- Sep 26 Morocco’s foreign minister announced the country's readiness to receive Ceuta migrants at the UN General Assembly.
- Sep 26 Thousands gathered in Madrid for a second “March for Dignity”, calling for snap elections and the expulsion of migrants who arrived in Ceuta.
- Sep 26 A second “March for Dignity” was held in Madrid, drawing tens of thousands of participants.
- Sep 27 Ceuta residents marched demanding stronger border controls and an end to sexual assaults.
- Sep 28 Frontex added that the western Mediterranean corridor recorded a 34% rise.
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