Covering events from January - December 2002

PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC
Head of state: Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio
Head of government: José Manuel Durão Barroso (replaced António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres in April)
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
International Criminal Court: ratified

There were reports of police ill-treatment, including beatings, and verbal abuse based on grounds of race and sexual orientation. Police use of firearms resulted in two disputed killings and was controversial on other occasions. The authorities continued to fail to ensure the safety of prisoners, including from inter-prisoner violence and self-harm. Conditions in some prisons failed to comply with international standards, with overcrowding, inadequate access to health care and lack of proper hygienic facilities among the main problems.


Background

In November a parliamentary commission of inquiry was established to investigate allegations of interference in the affairs of the Judiciary Police by members of the government. The allegations stemmed from the resignation of two senior prosecutors of the Judiciary Police in charge of investigations into corruption and financial crimes. The parliamentary inquiry collapsed after a few weeks owing to disagreement among the members of the commission over who should give evidence. A major investigation into allegations of corruption, extortion and abuse of power by officers of the Republican National Guard – as a result of which at least 17 people were remanded in custody – was also ongoing.

The Constitution was amended to allow for the extradition to a European Union member state of people accused of offences punishable under the law of the requesting state with life imprisonment. The amendments also allow for police night searches, authorized by a judge, of the homes of people suspected of particularly violent or highly organized crimes, including "terrorism".

The slow functioning of the justice system at various levels continued to have a negative impact on ensuring the protection of fundamental human rights. Routine use of prolonged pre-trial detention – sometimes without charges – during criminal investigations continued to mean that around a third of the prison population had not been tried.

Police ill-treatment

There were reports of police ill-treatment of people at the time of arrest and in police stations. The alleged victims included children, women and people belonging to ethnic minorities. In some cases attempts by the victims to lodge complaints against the police were reportedly hampered.

  • In August, two women, Mónica Godinho and Cláudia Domingues, alleged that they had been beaten with truncheons, slapped and kicked by several police officers at the Public Security Police (PSP) station of Cascais, near Lisbon, where they had been taken following a car accident. Cláudia Domingues was also reportedly pushed over, causing her head to hit the floor. Both alleged that they were verbally abused because of their sexual orientation. The two women, who were charged with assault, lodged a complaint. A criminal investigation was ongoing at the end of the year.
Police shootings

António Pereira and Nuno Lucas were shot dead by the PSP in two separate incidents in disputed circumstances. According to reports, both men were unarmed and there was no immediate threat to the lives of either the police officers involved or any other people. In December 2001 Ângelo Semedo, a 17-year-old boy of Cape Verdean origin, had also been killed in disputed circumstances. In October AI wrote to the government to seek clarification about the circumstances of these three fatal shootings and was informed in December that criminal investigations into the circumstances of the shootings of António Pereira and Nuno Lucas were ongoing. The General Inspectorate of the Internal Administration (IGAI) had also opened disciplinary proceedings against the police officers involved in both cases, but neither had been suspended or ordered not to carry firearms. The government also informed AI that Ângelo Semedo had been hit in the abdomen by a bullet fired by the police officer who had been pursuing him on foot, in connection with reports that a car had been stolen and the driver threatened with violence. In October, following disciplinary proceedings, the IGAI ruled that the police officer involved should be suspended for 75 days for infringing rules about the use of firearms. However, the disciplinary punishment was suspended. A criminal investigation was ongoing at the end of the year.
  • António Pereira, a construction worker in his mid-twenties who was a member of the African Cultural Centre in Setúbal, south of Lisbon, was shot dead in June in the Bela Vista area of the town. He had reportedly tried to intervene in a quarrel between two men. Police officers arrived at the scene and, in circumstances that remained unclear, fired their guns, killing António Pereira and injuring the other men. The shooting was reportedly witnessed by several people. Following the incident, a crowd gathered around the local police station and began throwing stones at the building. There were reports that police reinforcements, called to disperse the crowd, discharged both rubber bullets and live rounds and that, as a result, some people were injured. As a result of António Pereira's killing, social tension in the area of Bela Vista reportedly heightened, leading to a deepening of the sense of marginalization among the minority community.
Deaths in police custody

At least three people were reported to have committed suicide in police custody. Between December 2001 and January 2002 alone, three people of Ukrainian origin allegedly committed suicide in separate incidents in different police stations. According to reports, two of them were detained in connection with disturbances in public places and had said that they had been threatened by people involved in criminal activities. At least one had asked to be protected by the authorities. AI noted that in the report of its 2001 activities, the IGAI had stated that in several police cells they had visited there were "suspension points" not adequately protected; that some cells had doors with unprotected metallic bars; and that some police cells contained dangerous objects and materials. The location of some detention areas was described as too distant from the police officers on duty for them to respond to requests for help.

Prisons

Following serious episodes of inter-prisoner violence in 2001, which resulted in four prisoners being killed and others being injured in separate incidents, the authorities started to take measures to improve safety in prisons. However, there were continuing concerns about conditions in prisons. There were allegations of ill-treatment by prison officers. Overcrowding continued to be a serious problem, putting prisoners' safety at risk and resulting in inhuman and degrading conditions in some prisons. Access to physical and mental health care continued to be inadequate, and reports of widespread infectious diseases and a high level of drug trafficking and use raised serious concern.

A report by the Director General of the Prison Service submitted in April to the Minister of Justice referred to a combination of factors that left prisoners at risk. These included: inadequate measures and procedures to ensure the protection of prisoners from inter-prisoner violence; difficulties in ensuring the separation of convicted prisoners from detainees in pre-trial custody at all times; and unhygienic conditions in several prisons, including lack of adequate toilet facilities resulting in the practice of "slopping-out", regarded as degrading by international monitoring bodies.

The criminal investigation into the killings at the penitentiary of Vale de Judeus (Alcoentre) in October 2001 was ongoing and no charges had been brought at the end of the year. Some reports had implicated custodial staff in the killings.

Racism

In November the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its second report on Portugal. ECRI acknowledged a number of positive steps taken by the authorities to combat racism. However, it also noted persisting problems, including the few prosecutions brought under the provision of the criminal code which punishes activities carried out with the intent of inciting or encouraging racial or religious discrimination, hatred or violence; the lack of a general rule providing that racist motives constitute an aggravating circumstance for all offences; some aspects of the asylum application procedure and of the economic and social situation of asylum-seekers awaiting decisions on their cases; and the lack of reliable information about the situation of the various minority groups which live in the country.

ECRI noted that there had been "several reports of law enforcement officials using excessive force against detainees or other persons with whom they have come into conflict, a large proportion of them immigrants or Roma/Gypsies" and that "Roma/Gypsies" were reportedly subjected to "frequent spot checks, humiliating treatment and even ill-treatment at the hands of the police". ECRI expressed particular concern about allegations that police officers responsible for such acts had gone unpunished and urged the authorities to combat impunity by ensuring that investigations into acts of ill-treatment committed against immigrants and members of the "Roma/Gypsy" community were duly carried out and that those responsible were identified and punished.

AI country visit
In December AI representatives visited Portugal to conduct research.

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