Will the new Spanish government respect the civil rights of Moroccan immigrants following the 11 March attacks? Serene Assir investigates Nine of the 12 prisoners captured in the hunt for the perpetrators of the 11 March massacre in Madrid of 202 commuters were released from silent, solitary confinement this week. Juan del Olmo, the judge heading the investigations, ended the detainees' isolation last Friday when he visited one of the capital's prisons accompanied by witnesses in order to check whether they would indeed recognise the suspects. So far, the witnesses' declarations have remained confidential. The detainees were kept separate, say authorities, in order to minimise the risk of violence from other prisoners present in the jails. The question of safeguarding the detainees' rights remains contentious and as yet unresolved. Only one of the detainees is a native Spaniard. Jose Emilio Suarez Trahorras, from the northern province of Asturias, has been accused of helping the alleged terrorists to steal the explosives used from a mine he used to work in. Press reports reveal that the Spanish police had knowledge prior to the catastrophe of his involvement in illegal arms trading. Aside from two men of Indian origin, the rest are Moroccan, raising alarm bells among the Arab population of Spain and the key question of whether they will at all benefit from the change of government, or whether they will be on the receiving end of intensified state and street discrimination. Meanwhile President-elect José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has promised to step up security measures, to develop a renewed policy against terrorism -- for "one cannot fight terrorism through war" -- and to show greater commitment to integrating the country's immigrants. In an interview with Cadena SER radio Zapatero spoke of a three-tiered policy on terrorism. Insisting on the need for "political unity", he called for a "different strategic approach on the question of security, one that counts far more on intelligence and on the flow of communication between the [international] security forces". His statements came amidst a flood of complaints by the Moroccan government and press that the Moroccan security services had issued repeated warnings of the presence of insurgents in Spain, with particular reference to Jamal Zougam whom the Moroccan security forces described 11 months ago as "particularly dangerous". Among the first to be arrested and now the main suspect, he is being investigated for possible links with the 16 May Casablanca bombings last year. Last Friday, according to La Vanguardia newspaper, Zougam's fingerprints were discovered -- along with those of detainee Abderrahim Zbakh -- in a house in Chinchón, 40 kilometres south of Madrid, where police believe the explosives used on 11 March were kept and prepared, thus adding to the already firm conviction of his guilt. According to the president of the Association of Moroccan Workers and Immigrants in Spain (whose acronym in the Spanish is ATIME), Mustafa Al-Murabit, international cooperation on issues of security is vital in order to develop a more comprehensive anti-terrorism strategy. He also told Al-Ahram Weekly in a telephone interview that following Zapatero's policy declarations and in the light of his party's socially-oriented traditions he has faith that the new government will not target the immigrant population, despite recent accusations by various rightist figures that all Moroccans in Spain are "dormant cells". Al-Murabit also recognised that the government of Partido Socialista Obrero Español -- PSOE, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party -- faces a singularly difficult task. How far must the new administration push judicial and police measures without antagonising Moroccans in Spain, of whom there are now over 200,000 -- including an estimated 30,000 residing in the country illegally? And to what extent is a policy of fighting terrorism from the root fully practicable in a country where right-wing elements remain influential and which has so recently been struck by the worst terrorist attack in its history? "Look, there are two Spains," Al-Murabit told the Weekly, "one before 11 March and another after 11 March. The future of the country depends largely on how the new government determines its priorities." It remains unclear which road the regime will take, but Zapatero has already begun to increase police presence in the streets, particularly in the capital. The ATIME head insists that if heightened security measures will simply mean more frequent identity checks then the Moroccan community will not mind, for its members will simply be fulfilling their role as Spanish citizens. There is, however, a deeper dimension to this issue. If targeting Moroccans in random identity checks is condoned, then what of the illegal immigrants? This question is particularly poignant in light of the fact that -- as Zapatero himself had told the national daily El Pais just weeks prior to his landslide victory -- the incumbent PP had no real policy towards that sector of the population. "I am a man with no papers and so I have no right to give my opinion," 25-year-old Nabil from Casablanca told the Weekly. He works in the food shop attached to the mosque in the central Madrid district of Tetuàn. As the only mosque in the city centre opened its gates for the first Friday prayers following the elections, hundreds of Muslims gathered, and it was not only the most marginalised who expressed anxiety. Even those who have been in the country for years and have stable work felt the backlash of the bombings. "Although we wanted the socialists to win the elections, now, after the attack, the situation has changed. It does not matter who is in power for most of the Spaniards have the same attitude towards us," Mohamed Al-Shaabi, a businessman, told the Weekly. His complaint was echoed by Fatima Amina who has lived in Spain for 20 years and whose 12-year-old son is, she said, well integrated. As for her own situation, however, she said that Spaniards view her with new suspicion. She wears the hijab. Al-Shaabi emphasised that the real problem that immigrants have is that of securing work and a place to live. Coupled with the high cost of living, the lack of an efficient system for acquiring residence papers contributes to the difficulties in finding a place to live. Depending on the area, hiring out a room can cost as much as 200 euros a month. Landlords generally prefer to exclude immigrants, viewing them as "unstable" tenants. Given the recent history of relations between the Spanish state and immigrants the PSOE regime has much work to do. As recently as in December 2002, Amnesty International released a report decrying 320 cases of neglect and torture by state agents of illegal immigrants, including the abandonment of an unaccompanied Moroccan child at the frontier in Melilla -- a Spanish colony in Morocco -- so that he would leave Spanish soil, the rape of a Brazilian woman while in police custody and the disregard by police of the beating of a Moroccan worker by a racist gang while his home was burnt down and his belongings stolen. The problem of lying somewhere between felon and victim is at the heart of many immigrants' worries. Nabil from the Tetuàn shop recounted how a Spanish man poured a bottle of wine over his friend in the Metro on 12 March -- the man was trying to start a fight. Nabil's friend did not respond, but neither did he report the man to the Metro attendants in fear that they would ask to see his papers. It seems that until the state brings about a significant reform in the country's social structure, the problems created by the ghettoisation of the immigrant community will not be properly addressed. In the light of the high level of participation by Arabs in the nationwide demonstrations of 12 March, and the spontaneous protest staged by Moroccans on 15 March in Madrid's main square condemning terrorism, there is little doubt that for the most part Moroccans are seeking as swift and total an integration as possible. Spanish voters are, for the most part, equally open to such change and empathetic of the immigrants' plight, hence the intelligent and direct response seen at the elections which condemned the PP -- and not the Arab population -- for the 11 March attacks. "In another country," declared Imam Al Laraki from Madrid's Pakistani Islamic Cultural Centre, in clear reference to the United States, "they would have lynched someone." But, as Al-Murabit told the Weekly, there must be a responsible approach by the new government. Zapatero must remember that while the immigrants live in Europe "we are Arabs. Much of what we see and experience makes us uneasy. The issue is so complicated that it requires a complex and developed response. If someone says that what we experienced [on 11 March] has nothing to do with the situation in Israel and Palestine then he knows nothing about history." Comparing the situation of migrants in Spain to that of the Arab world under uncontested though indirect US hegemony, he added that integration and "democracy are a way of life; they cannot be imposed by force". For now, the future is uncertain but a vague hope remains. Abu Taj, who owns the shop by the Tetuàn mosque, was asked what he thought about his children's future in Spain. "I don't think they will have to face a worse time than this, so inshallah it'll all be fine."
