PM said he felt PSP police “acted well” in Martim Moniz
Following on from the demonstrations of fury and outrage, and endless highly critical column inches, the Ombudsman’s Office has studied the police operation that raised so many hackles in Martim Moniz last year, and found it wanting.
According to reports today, the office identified ‘serious flaws in the planning’ of the operation that became infamous for the lines of immigrants lined up against a wall being ‘frisked’ – saying it could find “no justification” for it.
According to a letter sent by the deputy ombudsman to the national director of the PSP, the ombudsman’s office has recommended that, in future actions, the force should justify – in the planning and/ or during actions – the need to resort to personal searches.
This is an analysis prompted by an ‘official complaint’ made to the Ombudsman’s Office. At the time of this incident, a number of complaints were made.
The office admits that it “recognises that the police operation complied with the requirements of the Arms Act, insofar as respective communication was made to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, a geographical area and a time window were delimited.
However, “no provision was specifically made by this security force for personal searches” which constitutes a “critical flaw, because it devalues the adequate guarantees against arbitrariness and abuse of power”.
Searches should, the office points out, be carried out in suitable and protected locations, whenever possible, as it is “the duty of the police officers carrying out the searches to guarantee the modesty and personal dignity of those being searched”.
In Rua do Benformoso, “not only were the searches carried out in the street, with people standing against the wall with their arms raised, for a period that could not be determined […] but the PSP also called the media,” the office recalls.
In addition to a lack of justification, the office also points out that it has not been possible to ascertain whether those targeted were informed by the PSP officers of the reason why they were being identified and searched. “There is no element of this in the documentation that was sent to us,” reads the letter.
For these reasons, the Ombudsman’s Office concluded that the PSP operation had not carried out “any prior consideration as to legal compliance” for the searches – and that, since it does not know what the reasons were for carrying out them, it is unable to verify that they were justified.
For future operations, the office suggests that the PSP carry out a prior impact assessment, “with a special focus on human rights”, emphasising that rules on this type of action prohibit “search procedures based on discriminatory criteria”.
The Martim Moniz ‘swoop’ took place on December 19 last year. A total of 66 people – nationals and foreigners – were searched by the PSP in Rua do Benformoso – an area that has been transformed by immigration in recent years.
At the time, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro considered that it was “very important” to create “visibility and proximity” in policing and to increase the feeling of tranquillity among Portuguese citizens. He admitted to feeling uncomfortable seeing people lined up against a wall with their hands in the air, but that overall, he felt that police had “acted well”.
For now, the PSP has not made any statements on receipt of the Ombudsman’s missive.
Source material: LUSA
