United Nations Condemns Spain for Tortures : Urges Spain to “Guarantee Justice” and pay a compensation

The UN Human Rights Committee has found that suspected ETA member Gorka Lupiañez was tortured by Guardia Civil following his arrest in 2007. Now the committee is urging Spain to “guarantee justice” and pay Lupiañez compensation. He is currently on jail having been sentenced to 50 years last April for kidnapping a family and other crimes. It is also calling on Spain to put an end to incommunicado detention, “which creates a context more conducive to torture.”


Lupiañez – who in 2009 was sentenced to 11 years in prison for belonging to an armed gang, illegal possession of weapons and the continued crime of falsifying an official document – denounced the
Spanish State to the United Nations Committee in June 2015. According to his testimony, agents of the Guardia Civil arrested him in Berriz (Basque Country) when they found that he was armed with a
revolver. In his account, the ETA member said that he was subjected to ill-treatment and torture for eight days, both in the barracks in La Salve (Bilbao) and in the General Directorate of the Guardia Civil in Madrid.

In his testimony, Lupiañez said he was beaten, had plastic bags put over his head, was deprived of sleep and subjected to death threats and other abuses. The Guardia Civil denied the allegations. The ETA member initially took his case to the European Court of Human Rights, which decided “not to admit” his claim. The committee said that it expects Spain to inform it within 180 days of the measures it will take in response to its Views, in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil Rights.