EU human rights agency: rise in anti-migrant attacks across Europe

A European Union human rights agency on Friday said that racist attacks and legal obstacles are an increasing problem for the international community's ever-growing migrant population.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) report came as EU leaders gathered in Bratislava to discuss possible reforms for the bloc.

Martina Huber, a co-author of the report told EFE that they had documented a clear increase in the number of hate crimes being committed against migrant communities.

The report detailed Nazi graffiti in Austria, an increase of online racist comments on social networks in Bulgaria as well as the Hungarian government's desire to classify immigration as a threat to society.

In Germany, attacks against refugees occur daily, while incidents at asylum centers are recorded every three days, said the anti-racist Amadeu Antonio Foundation.

"Many cases go unreported," explained the FRA, "especially because the victims are afraid of the police."

It added that many refugees do not want to report the crime in fear that it may affect their asylum status, which can take a long-time to process.

Germany registered 31 injuries in 25 attacks against refugees or asylum centers in Aug alone.

Huber said that the increase in migrant numbers bears no relation to the rise in attacks, but rather that they were a result of a polarized society propagated by the messages of certain political parties.

Although migrant numbers in 2016 have yet to reach those registered during the waves of people entering the EU in autumn and winter last year, Europe remains the target destination for many refugees.

Entries into Bulgaria, for example, doubled in Aug compared to the figures registered in July.

In the same month, 17,400 people arrived on the coast of Italy, while 11,300 have set up camp on the islands of Greece, the report said.

Most of the refugees entering the east of Europe are fleeing war torn countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, whereas many of those crossing the Mediterranean Sea are fleeing persecution in Nigeria, Sudan and Eritrea.

Source: EFE

Mexican cops executed 22 civilians, rights committee says

Officers of Mexico's Federal Police executed 22 civilians during a May 2015 operation on a ranch in the western state of Michoacan, the independent National Human Rights Commission said Thursday.

Police committed grave violations of human rights at Rancho del Sol, commission chairman Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez told a press conference.

A total of 43 people, including a police officer, died at the ranch and 22 of those deaths were the result of "arbitrary execution," the chairman said as he presented the conclusions of the commission's investigation.

"Excessive use of force" was the cause of four other civilian fatalities and a fifth person appeared to have been run over by a vehicle, according to the report.

Authorities have maintained that the deaths at Rancho del Sol took place in the course of a gunfight between police and suspects.

The commission, however, determined that police tampered with the scene by placing guns next to 16 bodies and that the officers involved submitted false accounts of the events.

The human rights commission also found fault with the actions of investigators from the Michoacan Attorney General's Office, who deviated from protocol and mishandled ballistics evidence.

Medical examiners likewise came under criticism for irregularities in the autopsies and delays in the return of bodies to their families.

Responding to the rights commission document, the chairman of Mexico's National Security Committee rejected the characterization of arbitrary executions and defended the actions of police.

"The use of arms was necessary and the police acted, in our judgment, in legitimate defense," Renato Sales said.

Source: EFE