Spain's Defence Ministry has sent Amnesty International's report to the Fiscalía and the Juzgado de Guardia de Ceuta and ordered an internal review into possible individual responsibility among military personnel deployed in the autonomous city. Amnesty International visited Ceuta from 10 to 15 September, interviewing more than 65 migrants and asylum seekers and identifying 22 direct testimonies of beatings and humiliation, alongside phone confiscation and other alleged abuses.
The delegation met with journalists and non-governmental organisations, then spoke with prosecutors and representatives of the autonomous government. The ministry instructed the Mando de Operaciones to examine possible individual responsibility among military personnel deployed in the city.
Amnesty International says some testimonies describe cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment that could amount to torture. The organisation also criticised reception conditions for people who remained in Ceuta after the mass arrival from Morocco.
That arrival involved more than 80,000 people, information from the report, published two months after the crisis began. Reuters separately reported that more than 72,000 migrants reached Ceuta during the July border crisis, leaving estimates of the emergency's scale at odds.
Among those interviewed were 31 minors and 26 women, including two who were pregnant. The organisation also collected accounts involving unaccompanied children.
The delegation spoke with people who described alleged beatings and humiliation, as well as phone seizures. Spanish media reports also cited claims that personnel used batons and cable ties to restrain people. Other allegations included threats and phones being confiscated or destroyed; some accounts said Muslim people were forced to kiss a cross. Some accounts involved women and children.
Esteban Beltrán, Amnesty International's director in Spain, said the alleged assaults had not stopped. He said the latest reported incident took place a few days before the statement was issued, adding that many journalists had gathered similar testimonies.
Beltrán described thousands of people as living in undignified conditions in Ceuta. He referred to women and girls left without protection in the streets and cited reports of rape and sexual assault.
Amnesty International has written to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Ceuta's president, Juan Jesús Vivas. The letters call for an urgent investigation and an end to the reported actions by military personnel. They also call for dignified conditions for migrants and asylum seekers.
The Defence Ministry says the inquiry will establish whether individual responsibility exists. It also says the process will protect the reputation and proper conduct of the Armed Forces.
The report now has an official route to prosecutors and the duty court in Ceuta, though that does not resolve the allegations. Spanish media reports say the ministry sent the materials to both authorities and opened the internal review through the Mando de Operaciones.
The case concerns alleged treatment of minors, including pregnant women and unaccompanied children, alongside wider failures in reception conditions. Prosecutors and military investigators will need to separate verified facts from testimony. The people who reported abuse still need protection.
Al Jazeera reported that some people it interviewed also described abuse by individuals in military or police uniforms. Spanish authorities denied wrongdoing and said human rights were being respected.
