[statewatch.org] On 14 August 2008, it surfaced that the local police in Sada
(A Corunha) has been holding an illegal archive that includes
personal data and photographs of people identified during night-time
patrols, taken with a Polaroid and with a white wall in the background,
as well as the personal details of some minors. There are hand-written
notes in the files and what appear to be sub-classifications
in the lists, which have been deduced by the fact that the identification
cards are marked in three different colours, two of them in different
tones of green and the third in orange, raising suspicion that
this division may relate to political affiliation (the police
have photographs of assemblies and demonstrations), or to whether
the identified people have precedents, in terms of incidents
involving the police or charges brought against them. Sada local
council has opened disciplinary proceedings against the local
police chief inspector Xosé Pedreira Iglesias and the
head of the Unidade de Seguridade Cidadán (USC), Xoán
Carlos Arias Rodríguez, whose department was responsible
for night-time patrols and held the illegal files, after the
two officers accused the council of fabricating evidence against
them.
The scandal emerged on 14 August,
when a councillor, a local police officer and a sergeant of the
Guardia Civil entered the office of the USC, discovering the
archive containing the photographs and personal details of people
identified during night patrols. The office where the files were
held was locked, and even the council officials responsible for
the local police had no access to it, as the officers who had
the keys were off-duty. The Guardia Civil sergeant recognised
the situation as "irregular", and the mayor announced
an investigation into the matter, entrusting custody of the files
to the local police, while the prosecutor’s office decided whether
to intervene and if the archives would be confiscated, or whether
enquiries would be of a purely administrative nature.
Mayor Abel López Soto offered
the council’s co-operation with the prosecutor’s office, and
issued a statement that notes that: "The heads of the local
police never informed this mayor’s office… of the existence
of files or databases [containing] personal data in municipal
offices", in spite of the mayor’s office being in charge
of municipal staff including the local police; and that Sada
council did not know about these databases, resulting in them
not having been subject "to prior registration required
by Organic Law 15/1999… for the protection of personal data".
The mayor also stresses that the irregularities conducted may
result in the council incurring a fine of between €60,000
and €300,000, as it is considered a "serious offence"
by Organic Law 15/999, resulting in an administrative-informative
case being opened to ascertain responsibilities. He demanded
that Pedreira Iglesias and Arias Rodríguez submit an urgent
report to explain if they knew about these files and archives,
and whether they had informed the municipal council of their
existence, attaching a copy of the notification if this was the
case. The mayor also claimed that he "will not tolerate
strange behaviour outside of the law in any municipal department
and by any person". In the background of the dispute there
is a dispute over pay between the local council and local police
officers, with 14 of the 21 available officers reportedly on
sick leave, resulting in the Guardia Civil helping the local
council to cover for them.
Relations between the socialist
– nationalist coalition (between the PSdeG, Galician branch of
the PSOE, and the Bloque Nacionalista Galego, BNG) that came
into power in Sada in June 2007 and the chief inspector and night
patrol officers have been frayed, as a result of long-term lack
of trust resulting from the latter’s strong links to the previous
mayor, Ramón Rodríguez Ares, who had been in power
in Sada since the first elections in 1979 (with an eight-month
interlude in 2003). The then opposition accused him of creating
a sort of personal guard within the local police, and of making
the town a sort of "police paradise", with 21 officers
for 13,600 inhabitants (one for every 600 people). There was
talk of the officers acting beyond their functions and of "expedited"
methods used by some officers, although there were no formal
complaints filed. Arias Rodríguez also reportedly went
on sick leave during Abel López’s brief stint as mayor
in 2003.
On 18 August, the prosecutor’s office
continued to treat the matter as purely administrative, although
a criminal investigation may follow if Sada council finds evidence
of criminal offences. A statement by the Movemento polos direitos
civís (MPDC, Movement for civil rights) complained about
the prosecutor’s office not opening a criminal investigation
ex officio in such an important case, stating that if no measures
are taken over the next few days, it may file a formal lawsuit
in order to push for the opening of a judicial investigation.
The MPDC also argued that this incident shows the prosecutor’s
office dependence on "security bodies and forces" (expression
used in Spain to refer to the different police and security forces),
as the latter provide prosecutors with the material they use
in trials, and demonstrates the need for an "independent
body to investigate police conduct", after earlier incidents
involving possible police misconduct in which prosecution services
failed to bring charges.
La Voz de Galicia, 16.8.2008;
Vieiros, 16.8, 18-19.8.2008, Movemento polos direitos civís,
"O MPDC valora presentarse como acusacion particular contra
os policias de Sada", http://mpdc.blogspot.com/2008/08/o-mpdc-valora-presentarse-como-acusacin.html , Esculca, http://www.esculca.net
Source: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2008/sep/01spain-illegal-database.htm
