Moroccan report: Stampede at fault for migrant border deaths

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco’s state-affiliated human rights council released a report Wednesday depicting last month’s attempt by hundreds of migrants to storm the border between the North African kingdom and the Spanish enclave of Melilla as “unprecedented in nature, tactics used and scope.”

At least 23 people, mostly from Sudan and Chad, died in the attempt. The National Council on Human Rights, or CNDH, concluded that most died of asphyxiation in what authorities called a stampede, although autopsies have not yet been carried out. In addition to the deaths, 200 Moroccan and Spanish law enforcement officers and more than 70 civilians were injured in the melee.

The CNDH released a 30-page preliminary report Wednesday on the events of June 24, following a fact-finding mission to the shared border between Morocco and Spain and surrounding areas.

A leading non-governmental human rights watchdog, AMDH, said the report is incomplete, and reiterated its calls for an impartial investigation into what happened. Several rights organizations have called for an independent probe and condemned authorities on both sides of the border for excessive use of force. Spanish prosecutors also launched an investigation.

The report said 2,000 migrants attempted a massive crossing to Melilla, mainly via the BarrioChino crossing area. It described the attempt as abrupt, well-organized and unusually massive, and took place in broad daylight in a concentrated area at the crossing station instead of all along the fence as in the past.

When they reached the crossing station, the migrants jostled in a very narrow and tightly secured space. The turnstile gates remained firmly closed, “probably contributing to the high death toll and number of injuries,” the report said.

It said the mission...