Spain: Security guard shoots Angolan woman
01 August 2006
On the night of 31 October 2006, a private security guard on the Madrid commuter railway network (
Renfe Cercanías) shot a 40-year-old Angolan woman in both legs. He found her sleeping in a carriage and she resisted as he tried to forcibly remove her when the train arrived in the depot at Mestoles-El Soto station. The officer reportedly had knuckle-dusters and a knife in his bag. He claims that the woman, Ana Lourdes Da Silva, reacted violently when he tried to handcuff and remove her from the train. They were both taken to hospital, and the guard had marks from blows, scratches and a bite. The security firm VINSA, the guard's employer, is conducting an internal investigation, and the security guard was released from custody on 1 November 2006. He is still under investigation for causing the woman's injuries and to ascertain whether he used unwarranted violence by firing his gun. An intervention by members of VINSA resulted in a death in May 2006, when an off-duty security guard died after being restrained and handcuffed.
Madrid metro and railway security guards have been accused of using excessive force and discriminatory treatment in a number of instances. SOS
Racismo has an office that records complaints about discriminatory treatment, and has been made aware of a growing number of cases of abuse, often involving violence or insults, by private security guards. Figures included in SOS
Racismo's 2006 annual report indicate that 54% of incidents reported (71) involved security personnel, in 44% public and in 10% of cases private. A spokesman for the association's Madrid section argued that one of the main problems is the climate of impunity surrounding such cases. Victims are often reluctant to report the incidents and, when they do, offending agents often respond by filing lawsuits against the victims for disobedience, resisting authority or attacking them, so that they appear in court as defendants rather than as plaintiffs. Moreover, fellow private security guards often provide evidence in support of their colleagues and the fast-track judgements which are often held in such cases make it difficult for discrimination victims to prepare their defence properly. Armed security guards are routinely present on commuter railway lines in Madrid.
El País, 2-3.11.06; El Mundo, 2.11.06.