We respond collectively to intolerance, discrimination and institutional violence. At Irídia we offer a service of attention and denunciation in situations of police violence. This service consists in assisting you if you suffer an assault or a discriminatory situation by a police officer, a prison officer or a member of a private security force. The service is free, that is why we need to reach 2,000 members to ensure that it remains sustainable and continues defending rights: we are currently 1,000 members and we cannot guarantee its sustainability in the long term.
Since January 2016 we have attended more than 650 people offering legal and psychosocial support. In addition, we have taken on legal representation in the most serious and/or representative cases. We are currently working in 58 cases free of charge, including 4 cases of foam bullet impact, 1 case of rubber bullet impact, 13 cases of the 1st October of 2017, 8 cases that have taken place in prisons, 6 in the CIE (Foreign Internment Center) of Barcelona, as well as 5 in public space.
The economic support of public administrations to our care service only represents 20% of the cost of the service. The service depends on more than 60% of our social base: members, partners and donors. That's why we encourage you to make this collective support tool against human rights violations sustainable.
Main features and goals of the crowdfunding campaign
We have a general helpline, a specific one for the CIE and another one for prisons. When someone calls, we provide telephone and online counselling. In many cases we arrange a visit with a lawyer and a psychologist. In the prisons and the CIE our lawyers can only visit the facilities when a person specifically requests it. We advise all the people affected by police violence, and in those more serious or representative cases we assume the psychosocial accompaniment and legal representation during the whole procedure, which can last for years.
The service we provide is possible thanks to the people who support us: together we fill a gap that the administration does not cover. Victims of police violence do not have a safe place to go to denounce the situation they have experienced. Our objective is to change a reality that we do not like, we want to end impunity and change public policies to promote that the administrations are responsible for the situations of police violence they generate.
We want to contribute to raise the standards of protection and guarantee of human rights from our values: rigour, independence and transparency.
Currently, there are 136 police officers, prison officers or private security agents under investigation for cases of police violence. We have managed to identify the shot gunner who took an eye out of Roger Español on 1st October and he will be tried for a serious crime of injury. We also have managed to have condemned the agent who broke the finger of a journalist of La Directa while he was covering a protest. Besides, we have identified the two agents who fired foam bullets before a demonstrator lost her eye at a protest for the freedom of Pablo Hasel, which are now being investigated; among many other cases. You can access all the information in our annual report.
In addition, we have achieved, together with Amnesty International, the approval in the Parliament that the anti-avalanche agents should be identified in Catalonia from the front, from the back and from the helmet, as well as the creation of a study commission on the police model to improve the internal control and sanction mechanisms of Mossos d'Esquadra and to generate an independent mechanism.
Why this is important
This project, once again, is aimed at people affected by police violence. Specifically, to anyone who has been assaulted by a police officer, a prison officer or any security force performing public order functions. In many cases the people affected are migrants and/or racialized (more than 40% of the cases we represent). By collaborating, you will be able to be attended in a situation of police violence and at the same time you will guarantee that other people will also receive this attention. There are many people who have no other way to access it, especially those who are in opaque spaces such as prison or CIE. Moreover, by contributing to the project and/or becoming a partner, you are contributing to the sustainability of a basic service in a context in which rights violations are increasing.
Currently, the service operates throughout the province of Barcelona and is coordinated with groups and organizations in other localities of Catalonia and Spain. We also carry out periodic and follow-up visits to places of deprivation of liberty, such as the CIE of Barcelona
or the prisons of Catalonia.
Team and experience
This month in Irídia we celebrate 6 years of life! During this time the organization and the team have been growing and consolidating.
We are now 17 employees working on the project, with the support of volunteers/activists and interns, divided into four areas:
● The legal area is formed by 7 lawyers and coordinated by Anaïs Franquesa, criminal lawyer expert in the defence of Human Rights and with a wide national and international experience.
● The psychosocial area is formed by 2 psychologists, supervised by Irene Santiago, a psychologist with 15 years of experience in psychosocial care from a human rights approach.
● The area of communication and political incidence is formed by three journalists and coordinated by Andrés G. Berrio, lawyer and communicator with more than 10 years of experience in incidence processes in the field.
● In addition, we have a technical area in charge of grants management, economy, team and project coordination, and dealing with our social base.
At Irídia we work with an intersectional feminist perspective and methodology, making decisions in a democratic way and placing our own and society cures at the centre.
Channel 
