Annual Report 2012: Spain’s National Preventive Mechanism Some returnees were able to communicate with their families to inform them of the transfer A court suspended the expulsion of two citizens. The others, including a minor with his father, boarded the aircraft 162 243. In the different interviews of returnees, the latter reported that both the conditions of transfer to the Central Unit for Deportation and Repatriation fa­ cilities and the stay at the Immigrant Detention Center in Madrid had been correct. In respect to notification of the expulsion, a Colombian citizen stated that she had been informed the previous afternoon. A fellow countryman, on the other hand, stated that he had been informed at 7 a.m. that same day, whilst other inmates in his room were sleeping, and that he had not been allowed to call his wife, who was pregnant, to inform her that he was being repatriated. During the interview he asked the NPM expert to contact her to inform her of the situa­ tion, which was successfully done when the inspection finished. A citizen of Ec­ uador also said that he had not been allowed to communicate with his family, a complaint that was reiterated by another Colombian deportee. The latter had pre­ sented himself voluntarily at the National Police Station in Aranjuez, but had not been able to inform his family of his return to his country. Lastly, the inspection team interviewed the citizen from Ecuador who had not been handcuffed and was accompanied by his six-year old son in a room near the exit to the runway, accompanied by two agents who later travelled on the flight as escorts. The con­ versation focused on very superficial aspects, due to the child’s presence. The in­ terviewee stated that they had travelled in an undercover vehicle from Elda (Ali­ cante) and that they had slept most of the way. Note was made that the child was calm and that actions of the two police agents guarding them were appropriate at all times in view of the child’s presence, with an effort on their part to create a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere for the child. 244. Before the transfer to the aircraft, the last roll call was done (47 Ecuadorian citizens and 61 Colombian citizens). However, ten minutes afar the roll call a fax was received from a court suspending the expulsion of two Columbian citizens, who were separated from the group and led to another room while the others were transferred in buses to board the plane. The first bus was for the Ecuadorian child and his father and the diplomatic representatives of Colombia. According to the information provided, the reason for having the child in the first bus was to avoid “having him see the atmosphere and how the other deportees were boarded”. Once the said vehicle had parked next to the aircraft, the child and his father descended, together with the diplomatic representatives, and boarded the airplane through the front door, since they were going to be seated in the first rows of the passenger cabin. The other deportees boarded through the rear door, after passing through a corridor formed by the police agents. Once onboard, the escorts and the deportees sat together. On the side rows, consisting of two seats, the escorts sat in the aisle seats, and in the center rows, consisting of four seats, the escorts also sat in the aisle seats. THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN