E/CN.4/1995/91/Add.1
page 34
During the children’s stay in the Centre, all their rights were
respected without restriction and they were able to attend the local
State school, take part in activities with other children, and receive
visits from school friends in the Centre expressly established for this
purpose and organize parties and a variety of activities. In our view,
therefore, talk of detention amounts to an outright lie.
As to ill-treatment and neglect by the social workers, the
specialist teachers hired to care for the children all had the necessary
qualifications; some were social workers, others had received other
training and the Centre was managed by a woman educationalist from the
Directorate of Child Welfare with broad experience in the educational
field.
The technical team called upon to advise the judge on the final
solution to be proposed frequently visited the children and examined them
and in no case was there any suggestion of neglect or ill-treatment.
On the contrary, the development of all aspects of the children’s
personalities during the months of their placement in the Centre was
more than satisfactory.
The action taken by the Administration concluded with the return of
the children to their parents’ custody, with retention of guardianship,
the Administration requiring, in accordance with the decision of the
Court and the Public Prosecutor’s Department, that the children should
continue their schooling in official establishments (whether public or
private) and that they should continue to join in activities with other
children of their acquaintance (sports, hobbies, etc.).
The families were advised to live separately in order to strengthen
the children’s feeling of belonging to a family unit. That was merely
advice, but it was followed spontaneously by all members of the group.
Family therapy was also recommended, and a few families of the group
accepted it spontaneously."
13.
On 17 November 1994, the Special Rapporteur received the following
additional information from the Spanish Government:
"In order to supplement the information, I have the honour to
transmit to you the Supreme Court ruling dated 30 October 1994 rejecting
the appeal by the Public Prosecutor’s Department against the decision of
the Provincial Court of Barcelona of 29 June 1993, which you have already
received.
In Spain, the case is thus closed:
1.
The measures for the protection of the minors ordered by
the Generalitat of Catalonia were cancelled by the ruling of the
Provincial Court of Barcelona dated 21 May 1992 and the
Constitutional Court rejected the application for amparo filed
against the ruling (see our communications of 5 November 1993
and 2 November 1994).