Annual Report 2010 by the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture
The facilities for asylum
76. All the facilities in question are located in buildings owned by AENA. The
seekers must be separate
waiting areas for persons undergoing procedures concerned with legislation on
from those for persons
undergoing procedures
concerned with legislation
on foreign nationals
foreign nationals are separate from those for persons applying for international
protection, though their structure is similar. However, at Malaga airport it was
indicated that although two separate facilities existed the better equipped of the
two was generally used in both cases, due to the small number of persons handled,
to make their stay more comfortable. Although this explanation is understandable,
the need to protect the safety and privacy of asylum seekers and of their family
members still living in their country of origin makes it unadvisable for them to
share accommodation with persons in other administrative circumstances, who
may even be of their same nationality.
Access to the facilities is
77. Access to the facilities is usually controlled by security guards rather than by
usually controlled by
CNP officers. There are no custodial officers on duty within the facilities themselves.
security guards
Some facilities have social workers on staff. The inspection visits conducted reveal
that communication between custodial officers and the occupants of the facilities
did not pose a problem.
At the time of the
78. At the time of the inspection visits the general upkeep and conservation of
inspection visits the general
the facilities was satisfactory. The layout of the facilities visited usually comprised
upkeep and conservation
of the facilities was
satisfactory
a living area furnished with tables and chairs and equipped with a TV set and
public telephones. The bedrooms, furnished with several bunk beds, were located
off this area. Bedroom doors were usually kept open, though in some cases (the
facility in Terminal 1 of Madrid-Barajas airport) access to bedrooms was restricted
during the daytime. It was reported that verbal instructions had been given for
this practice to be discontinued, but from what was observed during the visit this
was insufficient, and instructions need to be given in writing. The facilities are
climate controlled, but the air is refreshed mechanically as there are no windows
which can be opened.
Need to arrange ways
79. The artificial lighting at the facilities is sufficient. However, the lack of any
of allowing access to
additional source of natural lighting may result in some occupants losing their
the open air for at least
one hour a day
sense of time as jetlag may be compounded by the absence of light as a reference
for telling the time. The only facility with an open-air enclosure and children’s
play area is that in Terminal 1 of Madrid-Barajas airport. Information received
from AENA and the DGPGC indicates that the general layout of the facilities
prevents any restructuring of the waiting areas. However, it must be stressed that
there is a need to arrange ways of allowing people held at these facilities to spend
at least one hour a day in the open air.
There is a wide variety
80. There is a wide variety of CCTV surveillance arrangements at these
of CCTV surveillance
facilities: in Malaga there is no CCTV surveillance at all inside the facilities; in
arrangements. Recording
60
Madrid there are CCTV cameras in the living area, in the internal corridors, in
THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN
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