E/CN.4/2003/24 page 28 police began to take action in accordance with established procedure. The police were continually attacked and pelted with stones by members of the crowd. Thirty-one people were detained; some of them were injured, mainly as a result of running and falling owing to the dim light and the rugged terrain. In all, 3 police officers and 13 foreigners were wounded, 6 of whom were treated on the spot. The rest were transferred to a treatment centre, where they were treated for light contusions and migraines; one foreigner who had an anxiety attack remained under observation until 11.59 p.m. The police action was carried out in accordance with the law, and care was taken to respect the rights of the persons in question. 31. With regard to the situation of unaccompanied minors, in Spain both the constitutional principles concerning children and the family, and the provisions of the Legal Protection of Minors Act are based on the relevant international conventions, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by Spain on 30 November 1990. On the other hand, the Organic Law on the Rights and Freedoms of Foreign Nationals Living in Spain and Their Social Integration, which is currently in force, as well as its regulations, provide clear guidelines for government action with respect to unaccompanied foreign minors. If State security forces or agencies locate an undocumented foreign national whose status as a minor cannot be determined with certainty, the public prosecutor attempts to determine the person’s age with the assistance of health-care institutions. If the person is found to be a minor, and during the period when efforts are being made to determine that person’s age, the public prosecutor places the person in the care of the competent services for the protection of minors; the autonomous communities and cities have competence in this area. The General State Administration decides either to return the minor to his or her country of origin or to the country where the minor’s family resides, or to allow the minor to remain in Spain, after having heard him or her and after having received a report prepared by the services for the protection of minors. When the minor has been in the care of the services for the protection of minors for a period of nine months, and if it has not been possible to return the minor to his country of origin, the minor is issued documents with a view to ensuring his integration. 32. With regard to the alleged ill-treatment of minors in the San Antonio Centre, now called the “La Esperanza” Centre, which is operated by the Ceuta social protection services, the following points should be made. 33. The centre, a former military residence, was opened in 1999. It held some 70 unaccompanied minors, who were given food, clothing, accommodation and training. In the beginning, housing conditions were not ideal. In March 2001, work was begun to expand the centre in order to accommodate some 110 minors. It is not true that girls were held at the centre or that minors lacked a recreation area. The centre is for male minors and has sufficient green areas. The minors held at the centre have complete freedom to come and go as they please within the established times. It is not true that minors have been locked in a “small, dark and dirty room”. The treatment of minors is professional and in no way reflects any authoritarian approach to social care. All minors are provided with schooling, although some who are over the age of 17 do not attend classes, since they have the freedom to come and go as they please. The Assistant Ombudsman, a high commissioner for the Spanish Parliament [and who is responsible for] the supervision of the administration, visited the centre on 10 May 2001. He ruled out the existence of ill-treatment and stated that there were no current investigations into that practice.