Amnesty International’s annual report on the state of human rights throughout the world has delivered something of a bitter pill for Portugal.
We are a country that continues to show discrimination across the board – from judges to elements of the police force – and which has failed (quite dismally) in the way in which refugees have been ‘welcomed’.
Explain media stories, less than half the number of refugees agreed to be taken in have actually arrived, and of those, “many have already left” due, in a large part, to institutional failings.
But the worst of the criticism centres on Portugal’s clear discrimination of minorities – from Africans to gypsies – as well as cases of police violence.
The scandal surrounding “Alfragide police” – only now being tackled by the courts – has taken years to reach this point (click here), while the controversial judgement in a case where a woman was beaten by her former husband and a previously-secret partner with a nail-spiked club was also highlighted.
AI’s criticism was perhaps only to be expected. Exactly a year ago, UN rapporteur Leilani Fahra focused on the chasms in this country separating the haves from the have nots (click here), highlighting the plight of gypsies and Africans living in sub-standard housing.
This state-of-affairs struck a major chord with AI which is reported as “exhorting authorities, among other recommendations, to approach the issue of suitable housing as a priority, and to guarantee that evictions and demolitions do not lead to homelessness”.
RTP reports that in March 2017, the Commissioner for the European Council for Human Rights was equally concerned when he visited areas of Lisbon and Torres Vedras – particularly when it came to the housing conditions of gypsies which did not comply with “minimum international conditions” nor promote any kind of inclusion.
In all, Portugal was upbraided on a number of levels, but did receive praise for the fact that the government has passed a law to protect gay, transgender and bisexual people from discrimination.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
