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The Human Rights Commission of the Illustrious Bar Association (CDHOA) issued a statement yesterday in which it is concerned about “the creation of a so-called ‘panic button’ in the rooms of the installation centers.” Following the case of the death of the Ukrainian citizen Ihor Homenyuk, in March this year, at the facilities of the Aliens and Borders Service, a public place “where the State has the duty to guarantee and ensure the principles of the democratic rule of law.” , CDHOA recalls “the need, importance and urgency of the mandatory presence of a lawyer to accompany all immigrant citizens on the premises”.
In line with this need, CDHOA affirms that the Illustrious Bar Association has already signed an agreement with the Ministries of the Interior and Justice “with the aim of ensuring a stopover system at the country’s airports so that foreign citizens have immediate access. assistance of a lawyer ”. Contacted by i, the president of the Illustrious Bar Association, Luís Menezes Leitão, affirms that “by the Bar Association, this system would already be implemented”. However, it is still waiting for communication from SEF.
For the commission of the Illustrious Bar Association, the creation of a panic button “can show and transmit a message that citizens are in danger in those places, which represents a threat to the guarantee of respect for fundamental rights and freedoms. of any being. human being who enters our country, and it is the duty of the State to guarantee their safety ”.
Luís Menezes Leitão even affirmed that the order has had access to several complaints from lawyers who denounce a difficult “access to their constituents” by the SEF. The president considers that this is a worrying situation, since it is necessary that “any person who is denied entry to Portugal has the right and immediate access to a lawyer.” Ao i explains that “for example, when someone is called to SEF, they can go to the lawyer, but they place him in a room, the client is obliged to be alone in front of the respective inspectors”, many times without being able to speak Portuguese. For the president, “a foreign citizen who is not assisted by his lawyer is a violation of his rights” and “an attack on the practice of law.” In turn, the argument invoked by SEF to explain this situation was the context of the pandemic and subsequent health measures.
In its statement, the CDHOA calls for the restructuring of the SEF “in its organization and operation, so that there can be no serious violations of human rights”, and is willing to “give its contribution in this area.”
The issue of the panic button was made public on the 7th, after the Diário de Notícias had access to the new regulation of the Equitable Space as a Temporary Installation Center (EECIT). The document was signed by Mário Cabrita on July 31 and sent to all SEF organic units on November 26.
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