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Discrimination and the Roma Community 2014
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9.
Pontevedra.
Citizen security.
Direct discrimination.
In the province of Pontevedra a young Roma man
crashed his car into a wall to keep from hitting another car. A Guardia Civil unit accused the man of driving
over the speed limit. The young claimed that he had not and that he had simply been distracted. He was
given breathalyser test which was negative. The officer then began to pressure the young man into admit-
ting an offence and threatened to detain him for having several minors in his vehicle (all family members and
over the age of 14).
Because of the threats made by the police officers, he ended by admitting the traffic violation and signed a
confession for fear of reprisals.
10.
Madrid.
Citizen security.
Direct discrimination.
A Roma woman from Alcobendas informed us that she was
with her niece shopping at her local supermarket when she realised that a security guard was watching her every
move. As the guard was following her, the woman decided to ask him if there was any problem but he offered
no answer. Instead, he pulled out his phone and called the police.
Soon thereafter, 3 police cars and 8 police officers pulled up in front of the supermarket (local and national po-
lice) and cornered the woman and her niece to keep them from leaving the premises. They asked to see their
documentation without explaining why.
The woman was then escorted by 6 officers to a room in the supermarket to be searched to check if she had
stolen anything. The niece was then subjected to the same treatment.
Given that they found no stolen merchandise, the woman asked the officers to apologise for the mistreatment
and public humiliation they had suffered in front of all the other shoppers. The officers laughed at this sugges-
tion and refused to apologize.
The security guard also accused the woman of belonging to a gang of Romanian Roma who shoplift in
supermarkets. The security guard insisted on this despite the fact that the accused woman had shown her
Spanish ID card, had explained that she was born in Alcobendas and had never been charged with stealing
anything.
The victim decided to report the incident to the police. In order to complete her complaint, she asked the store
manager for the security guard’s details but he refused to provide them. The woman lodged her complaint aga-
inst the supermarket and, to her surprise, the security guard decided to put his version of the events in writing
on the same complaint sheet without the permission of the victim.
As a result of this incident, the woman has suffered several anxiety attacks and for weeks has experienced an
intense feeling of anxiety, shame and anguish.
11.
Madrid.
Citizen security.
Direct discrimination.
A young Romanian Roma man came to FSG headquarters in
Madrid to report the following incident. He had bought a car engine at a junkyard that same morning (he showed
us the receipt). In the afternoon two national police vans showed up in his neighbourhood. They saw the engine
that the young man had bought sitting on a pallet and accused him of stealing it. He insisted that he had not
stolen it and when he went to get the receipt the police grabbed him ordered him to lie on the ground. He re-
sisted because he had recently had a leg operation and told the officer that he couldn’t bend the leg. The police
officer then began to physically abuse him in front of his young children, his wife and neighbours and relatives
who live there. The witnesses asked the police to stop but they kept beating him and at one point banged him
against the wall.
The victim said he was going file charges against the police for assault and they immediately took him into
custody and drove him to the police station where he was seen by a physician. The physician issued a report
stating that the man had self-inflicted wounds. They then took the man to Infanta Leonor hospital, where he
received treatment for the wounds. He was not given any medical report. After treatment he was taken back