20/11/2024
FSG Igualdad y Lucha contra la discriminación
The High Court of Justice of Madrid has ruled, in a judgment that has not been appealed, that the applicant's fundamental right to personal privacy and the inviolability of the home were violated.
The case concerns one of the four dwellings, all of them belonging to Roma families, which were demolished on 16 November 2022 by officials of the Rivas-Vaciamadrid City Council, following instructions from the Commissioner of the Community of Madrid and taking advantage of the fact that those who lived there were temporarily out of their homes.
The ruling follows strategic litigation undertaken with the support of Fundación Secretariado Gitano, as it is a ‘clear example of structural discrimination against Roma’.
The High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) ruled on 30 September that the fundamental right to personal privacy and the inviolability of the home were violated in the actions carried out by the Rivas-Vaciamadrid City Council in November 2023. The ruling has not been appealed by any of the administrations, the deadline for lodging an appeal having expired last Monday.
These actions, consisting of the demolition of a house in which a Roma person lived, were carried out without ‘an administrative procedure to support the actions in question’. In other words, in compliance with an arbitrary decision of the Commissioner for the Cañada Real of the Community of Madrid and without giving this person any opportunity to exercise his rights. On the same day, a total of four houses were demolished, in which different Roma families lived, taking advantage of their absence for a few days.
This ruling is the result of a special procedure for the protection of fundamental rights brought with the support of Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG). In addition, the victim was compensated 15 000 euros in compensation for destroying what had been his home for more than a decade.
There was already a precedent, as in 2019, the Second Chamber of the TSJM recognised, in another strategic litigation undertaken with FSG‘s support, the violation of the fundamental right of article 18 of the Spanish Constitution in a very similar case of demolition of a home located in the Cañada Real, in which a Roma family with three children aged 6, 4 and 1 year at the time of the facts also resided.
FSG welcomes this new ruling, which has been forceful in stating that the demolitions carried out by municipal staff were not carried out in compliance with their legal powers, as they cannot be exercised contrary to the provisions of the Spanish Constitution and the law. They are practices that are absolutely contrary to the law and fundamental rights and take place in a context of structural discrimination against Roma people, i.e. practices that do not take place against those who belong to the majority population.
Strategic litigation to contribute to the defence of fundamental rights
Sara Giménez, Director General of the FSG, said, ‘I am hopeful that these serious human rights violations, which we have already brought to court twice, will not be repeated. We insist that homes cannot be demolished without complying with the legally established procedure and without ensuring a housing alternative, which also results in the loss of their right to rehousing. We recall that there is a Regional Pact for the Cañada Real Galiana and re-housing agreements for the families living there, guaranteeing the right to decent housing and the rest of human rights’. Indeed, as Sara Giménez stresses, ‘we have quantified it and eradicating settlements in Spain is not expensive, and the competent authorities have various political and financial instruments at their disposal; therefore, the eradication of settlements in the short term is not only necessary, but possible’.
This case is the result of the line of strategic litigation work carried out by Fundación Secretariado Gitano, with which it seeks to establish jurisprudence and promote the application of the law in emblematic cases of discrimination and antigypsyism to generate positive changes in the enjoyment of rights by Roma people. In this case, Gentium, an organisation made up of lawyers specialising in the defence of the fundamental rights of the most unprotected and underrepresented groups, has collaborated with the project.
