Amnesty International’s 2014 annual report for the first time highlights the impact of austerity measures in Portugal, saying that the economic and social rights of the poor have been affected.
António Pinto Nunes, president of the Federation of Roma Associations, says little has changed in police behaviour and that the Roma community continues to have a hard time finding jobs.
Antonia Barradas, responsible for institutional relations and foreign policy at Amnesty International, comments that even though some of the anti-crisis measures have been declared unconstitutional by Portugal’s Constitutional Court, she says the impact of austerity measures should be evaluated by the government and that human rights of the most vulnerable groups should be protected.
The annual report points out "reports of the excessive use of force by police and inadequate prison conditions."
Amnesty International says that in June 2014 the homes of 67 members of the Roma community in Vidígueira were demolished by the local council and that the evictions were implemented without prior notice.
The allegations of inadequate prison conditions centred on Lisbon and Santa Cruz do Bispo.
The Annual Report also noted that same sex couples are still unable to co-adopt children; that there is serious overcrowding in a refugee centre in Lisbon and that in the first eleven months of last year 40 women were killed by their partners, ex-partners or close relatives. This total was an increase on 2013, when there were 37 such killings.
