This Monday, February 23, the Inspector General of Internal Administration considered the cases of ill-treatment, abuse of power and racism involving police officers to be “extremely serious”, lamenting “the worrying situations” of “improper conduct in the security forces” known in recent times.
“Unfortunately, this year and last year, there have been [conhecidas] very serious situations of inappropriate conduct in the security forces”, Pedro Figueiredo told the Lusa agency, noting that these are “exceptional situations” in a universe of more than 44 thousand police officers and with countless daily interactions.
The judge was speaking to Lusa on the sidelines of the conference that marks 30 years of the General Inspectorate of Internal Administration (IGAI), supervised by the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI), often called “the police’s police” and which functions as a superior body for control and supervision of the security forces to ensure that they respect the law and the rights of citizens.
“After 30 years, IGAI’s mission, to contribute to the excellence of police training, has had clear and good results. I believe that there is greater attention to fundamental rights on the part of police elements and I believe that citizens themselves have greater respect for police elements”, highlighted.
Even so, he acknowledged that the country is going through “very worrying times, because the situations that occurred very recently are extremely serious”.
The inspector general was referring to alleged cases of torture at the PSP police station in Rato, in Lisbon, of PSP and GNR police officers involved in the exploitation of immigrants in Alentejo and of PSP agents detained for involvement in groups with neo-Nazi ideology such as 1143 and the Movimento Armilar Lusitano.
Pedro Figueiredo said that IGAI “is naturally investigating” these cases which, despite being exceptional, constitute “a warning” that action needs to be taken.
“We have to do something more, both the IGAI and the security forces and the Ministry of Internal Administration. We have to rethink admissions and training in the Security forces, rethink the inspection model itself and rethink all models”, he considered, highlighting that the General Inspectorate of Internal Administration “has its strengths to participate in this practical discussion”.
He defended the creation of a working group to “improve and improve admission rules”, namely “greater psychological control” and “other types of validations when admitting candidates” to the PSP and GNR.
According to the official, this working group could be created at the MAI level and have representatives from the IGAI and the security forces.
Former Minister of Internal Administration Margarida Blasco even announced the creation of a working group to review “the entire pedagogical strategy” of PSP and GNR educational establishments, particularly in the area of human rights.
Asked about this working group, Pedro Figueiredo replied: “The working groups have already been created, yes. But now, considering everything that has happened, I believe it would be a good initiative.”
Today, IGAI organizes the conference “IGAI – 30 years of safeguarding human rights” to mark the anniversary in an initiative that included members of the PSP and GNR and the previous inspectors general Margarida Blasco and Anabela Cabral Ferreira, as well as the Deputy Secretary of State and Internal Administration, Paulo Simões Ribeiro.
At the conference, the inspector general spoke of the independence of IGAI in relation to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, despite being supervised by this ministry, and warned of the lack of inspectors who “are absolutely indispensable” for this body to carry out its functions, with there being 10 inspectors at the end of last year when foreseen in table 14.
Pedro Figueiredo lamented the “systematic refusals” of the Superior Judicial Council in the appointment of magistrates as IGAI inspectors.
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