The US government highlighted the growing number of complaints about police violence in Portugal in its report on human rights, speaking of ill-treatment and abuse.
The US State Department highlights the volume of complaints about the excessive use of force by the police in Portugal in its annual report on human rights, referring to 2022 and which was made public this Monday.
“While the constitution and law prohibit torture and other cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment or punishment, there have been credible reports of excessive use of force by police and ill-treatment and other forms of abuse of prisoners by police. of the prison guards,” he said. read in the document of the government department of the United States of America.
This analysis is based on 2021 data from the General Inspection of Internal Administration (IGAI), which reported the existence of 1,174 complaints of mistreatment and abuse by police officers and prison guardshighlighting that this is “the highest figure since 2012” and that they were mainly directed at the work of the PSP (565) and the GNR (353).
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As a result of these complaints, the report indicates that 41 disciplinary investigations were initiated against elements of the security forces, with sanctions ranging from reprimands, provisional suspensions, forced retirements with cut pensions, dismissals or judicial sanctions.
Regarding prisons and prison conditions, the document also highlighted the existence of reports “that raised human rights concerns”also considering that the excessive duration of preventive detention of the defendants awaiting trial “continued to be a problem”, although without exceeding the established legal limits.
“The detention was generally attributed to lengthy investigations and legal proceedings, judicial inefficiency, or lack of personnel,” the document states.
In criminal terms, the State Department highlighted the echo of suspicions of corruption and illegalities in public contracting with central and local power in the media, even citing a recent case that led to raids at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
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The report also noted that gender-based violence, including domestic violence, “remains a problem,” noting that in the first nine months of the year there had been 20 deaths associated with cases of domestic violenceaccording to data from non-governmental organizations and the media.
The investigation of the phenomenon of sexual abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church did not go through the document either, which highlighted the hundreds of testimonies collected by the Independent Commission and the opening of investigations by the Public Ministry, in addition to the suspicions of cover-up. by members of the Catholic hierarchy.
The State Department report also discussed the protection of refugees and victims of trafficking, noting that there were experts who expressed “concern about the government’s efforts to proactively identify victims of trafficking” in Portugal. “Sub-Saharan trafficking networks have increasingly used the country as a route to the Schengen area to exploit children in sex trafficking and forced labor,” the document read.
Source: Observadora
