This Thursday, the Minister of Welfare and Family, Carmen Susinappeared at his request before the Cortes of Aragon, with the aim of reporting on the actions he has carried out from his department since the second week of August, five days after the provisional closure was decreed by judicial decision of the horror center from Ateca (Zaragoza), after the scandal of allegations of sexual abuse, mistreatment and humiliation by workers on some minor prisoners.
Some terrifying events that could have occurred have continued over time and in response to which the judge in charge of investigating the case decided to send five of the workers, among whom is the director of the center, to the Zuera prison, where they have remained since the decree. . his prison on August 2. We refer to Mohamed B.., Youssef B., Abdelilah A. And Alexandru R. A and Iván RM, respectively.
The Ateca debate in the Cortes of Aragon
The debate on Ateca has been intense, after the PSOE, United Left, Vox and Chunta Aragonesistaalso requested that the advisor appear in more depth on what happened regarding the guardianship of minors, including menas.
Although in the period that the exhibition occupied, the mutual recriminations between the PP and the PSOE, both responsible for the Department of Social Policies, predominated, although at different times. In this sense, Susín recalled that the Ateca contracts come from the PSOE, while from 2017 retained the services of the SEI composed of Langunduz and the NGO Health and Community Foundationto direct minors supervised by the Government of Aragon to this center, which is supposed to specialize in reintegration therapies for behavioral problems.
Susín stressed the popularThe PSOE was “aware that there was various complaints and grievances on the table” regarding its operation, and despite this, “they included it again in the framework agreement that was awarded by its government in office on June 26, 2023 and that it formalized on July 17, 2023”, referring to the former advisor of Social Policies, Maria Victoria Broto.
A statement that did not please the socialist MP Pili Mar Zamorawhich in turn justified the previous management of the left-wing Executive, despite the fact that the scandals reported by the miners occurred during his mandate and with Joaquin Santosleading as director of the Aragonese Institute of Social Services (IASS). However, the socialist only referred to the current director of the Aragonese Institute of Social Services (IASS), Angel Valwho was invited to appear before Parliament, because so far “he has not spoken”.
Actions of the Government of Aragon
The councillor said during her appearance that after the centre was closed on 2 August, that same weekend it was designed work plan which envisaged the compilation and analysis of all the documentation around the Ateca minor center, aware that the actions had to be of an “urgent nature” to “improve the system of protection of minors.”
As explained, following this work plan, an internal investigation file was opened at the IASS, with its corresponding instructor, to analyze the actions of the Administration “in its duty to monitoring and control“, in order to compile all information related to the events and to “debug internal responsibilities”, if necessary, all with the aim of safeguarding “the good work of mining professionals”.
At the time of the judicial closure, the center had 21 equipped spaces with the IASS, others 7 places in the Basque Country And 5 others with the Balearic Islands, also affected by the child abuse scandal. For now, as the advisor explained, the Aragonese government has only been invited by the Civil Guard and the Prosecutor’s Office to send information and documents that, on August 16 and 23, were transferred to both institutions.
From Ateca to the Samu Foundation
Likewise, Susín has planned that next Monday, the miners of Ateca will be reintegrated into the center of Samu Foundationfor at least six months, after having launched an emergency hiring procedure to enable the creation of a therapeutic care unit for minors, with a maximum capacity of 15 places.
Next steps
As announced by Susín, it is expected that in the coming months Aragon will have a “revision plan for juvenile centers” in addition to a ” personal file who works in these spaces”, whose initiation order was signed on August 14. He also recalled that work is underway to develop a protocol for “professional misconduct or violation of the rights” of minors placed in foster care in the Autonomous Community.
Furthermore, the Department of Social Protection and Family has requested “a report from the legal services of the Government of Aragon regarding the possibility of demanding moral damages to the entrepreneur“, he detailed, because of the discredit caused to the Government and the damage caused to its “institutional prestige”, a consequence of the actions of the said management entity.
Weekly reports
The Minister also explained that the Government of Aragon is carrying out a review of all contracts with the entities that are part of the framework agreement, with which it is in permanent communication, to which the IASS has requested all supporting documents of its economic, financial and technical solvency; also in relation to its workers.
Instructions were also given by the IASS officer to report weekly”a report signed by the provincial sub-directorates responsible for minors, with incidents that occur in the system of guardianship and protection of children”, as well as “immediate communication in the event of incidents considered serious”, measures that are added to the rest that are implemented, all considered an essential step to strengthen the monitoring of the ordinary functioning of the centers for minors.
