Stop Rubber Bullets. The use of kinetic energy projectiles and torture in the Spanish State

Autores/as

  • Anaïs Franquesa Griso Criminal lawyer and director of Irídia - Human Rights Defense Center, a non-profit organisation created in 2015, specialised in strategic litigation in cases of institutional violence
  • Carles Guillot Campillo Founder of Stop Balas de Goma. He suffered an eye mutilation by rubber bullet, in 2011 in Barcelona, during the attempted eviction of the occupied social centre Kasa de la Muntanya
  • Ester Quintana Porras Member of Stop Balas de Goma and the Plataforma Ojo con tu Ojo. She suffered an eye mutilation in Barcelona during a general strike on 14 November 2012
  • Pau Pérez Sales Clinical Director. SiRa Center.
  • Irene Urango Montilla Historian and journalist. She is a member of the advocacy team of Irídia - Human Rights Defense Center and is a reference point for the organisation's line of work on the control of the security forces.
  • Serlinda Vigara Mas Specialist in the right to protest at Novact, she is part of the unit's technical team in the area of strengthening human rights defenders.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/torture.v34i1.145054

Palabras clave:

Torture, Spian, Less-Lethal weapons, Rubber Bullets

Resumen

Rubber bullets are projectiles whose use is potentially lethal. Between 1976 and 2017, they have caused at least 23 deaths and dozens of injuries in Spain, many of them serious, with loss of sight being the main cause. In the period 2000 - 2020 alone, more than 40 people have been affected. However, the data available do not reflect, in quantitative terms, the reality of the problem which, far from the figures for other contexts, shows qualitative impacts, both individual and collective. This article reviews the trajectory of the last twenty years, emphasising those key aspects that have made a difference in the process towards the prohibition of this weapon in different territories of the state, as well as evaluating the psychosocial impacts that its use has caused.

Citas

Amnesty International (2022). "They hit him on the head to find out if he was dead". Evidence of crimes under international law committed by Spain and Morocco at the Melilla border. United Kingdom.

https://www.amnesty.org/es/documents/mde29/6249/2022/es/

BBC. (2017, October 2). Catalonia referendum: Violence as police block voting. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-41463955

Caballero, Á. [Álvaro] (2021, November 27). Why are police and civil guards demonstrating against the reform of the 'gag law'? RTVE.

https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20211127/claves-manifestacion-policias-reforma-ley-mordaza/2234453.shtml

Colomer, Í. [Íngrid] (2020, October 15). La BRIMO incorporarà un nou número d'agent per tal de millorar-ne la identificació. Betevé. https://beteve.cat/societat/mossos-esquadra-brimo-numero-identificacio-uniforme/

Europa Press Catalonia (2021, July 21). The Parliament approves the creation of a study commission on the police and public order model.

https://www.europapress.es/catalunya/noticia-parlament-aprueba-crear-comision-estudio-modelo-policial-orden-publico-20210721185115.html

Europa Press Catalonia (2022, December 2). The Parliament approves the revision of the foam but rejects an external control of the Mossos.

https://www.europapress.es/catalunya/noticia-parlament-aprueba-revisar-foam-rechaza-control-externo-mossos-20221202141812.html

Europa Press National (2023, September 18). The Barcelona High Court confirms the trial of 5 police officers for the loss of an eye of Roger Español on 1-O. Europa Press National. https://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-audiencia-barcelona-confirma-juicio-policias-perdida-ojo-roger-espanol-20230918145445.html

Generalitat de Catalunya (2008, March 11). Interior regulates for the first time in a global way the use of weapons and police tools by the Mossos d'Esquadra. Govern.cat. https://govern.cat/salapremsa/notes-premsa/92850/interior-regula-cop-forma-global-us-armes-estris-policials-part-dels-mossos-esquadra

Gómez, I. [Iker] (2022, April 9). Ten years after the death of Iñigo Cabacas, his parents say they are still "bleeding to death". EITB.eus. https://www.eitb.eus/es/noticias/sociedad/videos/detalle/8777798/video-diez-anos-despues-de-muerte-de-inigo-cabacas-sus-padres-dicen-seguir-desangrados/b/

Irídia and Novact (2021). Stop Rubber Bullets. Barcelona. Available at: https://iridia.cat/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Informe-Balas-de-Goma_V2.pdf

Irídia, Novact and Rights International Spain (2022). Transparencia y rendición de cuentas de los cuerpos policiales en el Estado español. Barcelona. Available at: https://iridia.cat/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Transparencia-y-mecanismos-de-control-de-los-cuerpos-policiales-en-el-Estado-espanol-INFORME.pdf

Martín, J. V. (2022, September 28). La campaña contra las balas de goma llega al Congreso con 200 colectivos reclamando su prohibición. Público. https://www.publico.es/sociedad/campana-balas-goma-llega-congreso-200-colectivos-reclamando-prohibicion.html

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (2020). United Nations Human Rights Guidance on the Use of Less Lethal Weapons in Policing.

Open Society Justice Initiative (2018). Strategic Litigation Impacts, Insights from global experience. New York: GHP Media, Inc.

Solé Altimira, O. [Oriol] (2017, November 14). El herido en el ojo por bala de goma el 1-O pide al juez que identificique al agente de la Policía que le disparó. elDiario.es. https://www.eldiario.es/catalunya/politica/herido-identificar-escopetero-policia-disparo_1_3081274.html

Solé Altimira, O. [Oriol] (2020, February 4). The Mossos identify a national police officer for wounding a young man in the eye with a rubber bullet on 1-O. elDiario.es. https://www.eldiario.es/catalunya/sociedad/mossos-identifican-policia-nacional-disparo_1_1148502.html

Solé Altimira, O. [Oriol] and Puente, A. [Arturo] (2021, May 12). El protocolo íntegro sobre las balas de "foam" que los Mossos ocultan al Parlament. elDiario.es. https://www.eldiario.es/catalunya/protocolo-integro-balas-foam-mossos-ocultan-parlament_1_7927138.html

Solé Altimira, O. [Oriol] (2022, November 11). Two experts rule that the "foam" bullets used by the Mossos violate UN regulations. elDiario.es. https://www.eldiario.es/catalunya/expertos-dictaminan-balas-foam-mossos-vulneran-normativa-naciones-unidas_1_9700485.html

Stop Rubber Bullets (2013). The use of rubber bullets by the Mobile Brigade of the Mossos d'Esquadra (BRIMO). Barcelona. Available at: https://issuu.com/stopbalesdegoma/docs/informe-sbg2013_es/17

Stop Rubber Bullets (2021). Stop Rubber Bullets. https://stopbalasdegoma.wordpress.com/

Sust, T. [Toni] (2012, December 21). 2,500 eyes for Ester Quintana. El Periódico. https://www.elperiodico.com/es/sociedad/20121221/2500-ojos-ester-quintana-2278796

Vargas Martín, J. [Jairo] (2022, September 28). La campaña contra las balas de goma llega al Congreso con 200 colectivos reclamando su prohibición. Público. Available at: https://www.publico.es/sociedad/campana-balas-goma-llega-congreso-200-colectivos-reclamando-prohibicion.html

Descargas

Publicado

2024-05-28 — Actualizado el 2024-05-28

Cómo citar

Franquesa Griso, A., Guillot Campillo, C., Quintana Porras, E., Pérez Sales, P., Urango Montilla, I., & Vigara Mas, S. (2024). Stop Rubber Bullets. The use of kinetic energy projectiles and torture in the Spanish State. Torture Journal, 34(1), 89–99. https://doi.org/10.7146/torture.v34i1.145054