Congress has given the green light to the processing of the reform of the citizen security law which, among other things, proposes the elimination of rubber balls from riot control equipment and the disappearance of hot returns at the border. The majority of the plenary session has rejected the amendments to the entire PP and Vox and that implies that the reform will now continue its processing in the lower house.
The PP amendment has been rejected with 169 votes in favor and 176 against. That of Vox, with 33 votes from its party in favor, 176 against and 137 abstentions, has not gone ahead either. The rule still has to be processed through a presentation, in the Interior commission and again in the plenary session before heading to the Senate.
The reform has been promoted by PSOE, Sumar, EH-Bildu, ERC and PNV and aims to modify more than two dozen articles of the 2015 Citizen Security law. One of its main modifications is at the end of the norm, which with a The new additional provision on anti-riot material forces the use of rubber bullets to be “progressively” replaced “by other less harmful ones.”
Another of the new additional provisions affects the so-called “hot returns” at the border, an immigration measure endorsed by the Constitutional Court but which has received constant rejection from associations and NGOs since its entry into force. If this reform ends up coming into force as a law, a period of half a year will run to modify the Immigration Law so that, before a possible expulsion, a migrant is evaluated as a possible asylum seeker in a place “enabled for this purpose in the border crossings.” The ‘hot’ return will therefore disappear at the same time of entry.
Photos of police and demonstrations
Another of the measures has to do with one of the most controversial points of the law approved in 2015 by the absolute majority of Mariano Rajoy’s PP and which was also questioned by the Constitutional Court: the prohibition of photographing police officers in the act of duty. The use of images or personal data of an agent will be punishable when it generates “a certain danger” to the police officer, something that is much more specified: “It must be verifiable and reflected with reasons in the minutes or in the complaint.” But it will not be an infraction, he explains, to take or disseminate photos of police officers in public places or demonstrations if they do not generate that danger.
Many of the modifications contained in this reform also affect the right to demonstrate or identification in the street. It is added that a person’s obligation is based on “reasonable suspicion” after analyzing “the individual behavior” of the person as well as “objective information or circumstances.” If someone refuses to identify themselves or cannot be identified, the police may take them to the police station but for a maximum of two hours, extendable to the current limit of six hours in the most exceptional cases.
In a demonstration, police intervention will be directed by “respect for the free exercise of the right of assembly”, with a “human rights approach” and with the obligation to warn “in a clearly audible verbal manner”, indicating deadlines, before charging or dissolve a concentration.
The sanctioning system around demonstrations also changes. Those responsible or convening a rally will be exonerated if, even if disturbances or destruction have occurred, they had previously implemented security measures and complied with the requirements of the government authority, generally the Delegation of the Government of the territory. Disturbances of citizen security due to demonstrations in front of Congress, the Senate or regional parliaments are removed from the list of infractions if they do not commit a crime.
If the police carry video surveillance cameras during a performance, their use must be assessed, recorded in the police report and their recordings “guarded” in case a court needs them. The value of a police officer’s statement is also qualified: the word of an agent will continue to be “sufficient basis” to impose a sanction, but nuances are added: “As long as the presentation of the facts is coherent, logical and reasonable.”
“What you want is for there to be a death”
This Thursday, the plenary session rejected the two amendments to the entirety presented to the lower house by PP and Vox. The amendment to the entire rejected party of Santiago Abascal has been defended by Javier Ortega-Smith: “The objective is control of the streets, to stay in power when they see it threatened, to control the destabilization of the streets and the chaos,” has explained. Regarding the elimination of rubber balls in riot police equipment, he asked: “How do they expect them to be able to confront violent demonstrations by the extreme left, the separatists in Catalonia or kale borroka in the Basque Country? Throwing flowers, candy, with good words?”
The spokesperson for the extreme right in this parliamentary procedure has also referred to the future disappearance of hot returns. “Open the doors of our borders even more and for Ceuta and Melilla to become an open bar for entry,” he criticized. His proposal was to “reinforce”, precisely, these hot returns.
On behalf of the PP, it was Ana Vázquez who appeared to baptize this new norm as “the law of kale borroka, of zero responsibility, of ruined security, of criminal impunity, of tied hands, the Otegi law” which, as she says, “he will pass the shackles into the hands of the police.” Regarding the rubber balls, the PP deputy has stated that their elimination “will force the agents to confront each other hand-to-hand.” “What you want is for there to be a death,” he snapped at the EH Bildu parliamentarian, Jon Iñarritu.
The EH Bildu parliamentarian has responded in his turn to establish a position. “EH Bildu seeks to ensure that what happened with Iñigo Cabacas is not repeated, what we are seeking is that something like this is not repeated, because rubber balls are anti-riot material typical of the 20th century, we must look for less harmful materials and proportional,” he said, alluding to the case of the young man killed by rubber bullets from the Ertzaintza in 2012.
From the Podemos bench, former minister Ione Belarra has listed various judicial and police cases to cite those who she considers really “unprotected, and not the Police”: “The Swiss Six, the Altsasu case, Tsunami Democràtic, the Jordis, operation Piñata and Pandora, Futuro Vegetal, Surround Congress, the patriotic police illegally investigating Podemos,” he denounced. “As long as all this continues to happen in Spain, our democracy will never be full,” he said before citing various judges: Manuel García Castellón, Concepción Espejel, Carmen Lamela and the “sacrosanct” Manuel Marchena.
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