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All of the police officers beat the men with fists, sticks and kicking them on all parts of their body and in the face

Date & Time 2017-10-31
Location Tovarnik, Croatia
Reported by Rigardu
Coordinates 45.147575, 19.164551
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station unknown
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved no
Age 20 - 35
Group size 4
Countries of origin Afghanistan
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 6
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), kicking, destruction of personal belongings, theft of personal belongings
Police involved 6 male police officers in blue uniforms and with black masks (only eyes seen)

4 men (23, 35, 32, 20 years old) from Afghanistan, crossed the Serbian-Croatian border by walking from Šid. They were caught by 6 police officers in blue uniforms, consistent with those of Croatian police, with black masks (only eyes seen), about 20 km from the border within Croatian territory, on October 31st. 2017, in the evening. The police asked for their personal details, and the men lied and said that they were from Syria, but stated their real ages.

The police searched their bodies and their bags, and confiscated their phones and all their money (400 euros). The men expressed their intention to seek asylum, so the police called a translator and let the men talk with him. The men explained their route and their need for asylum. In the end the translator talked with the police, after which the men were pushed back without any registration into asylum procedures, and without being given any written documents. The men were transported in what they described a big police van, driven by two of the police officers, accompanied by a small police car, driven by four police officers. They were taken to the Serbian-Croatian border near the train rails between Tovarnik and Šid, and arrived there a few hours later at about at 11pm.

After arriving at this spot, the police officers violently assaulted them. The men were beaten one by one, as they were released from the van one person at a time. All of the police officers beat the men with fists, sticks and kicking them on all parts of their body and in the face. The first three men were beaten to about the same extent, for about 3-4 minutes each. The first man were beaten in both knee joints, resulting in pain and swelling (see Picture), and the police further beat him in the face, so that he lost a tooth. The second man beaten received injuries to his left leg and his clothes were ripped. The third person beaten suffered pain to his back as a result. The last man was treated the worst, as he was beaten for about 10 minutes, and he suffered pain and injuries to his face as a result (see Picture). He had bruises and wounds to his cheek, forehead, nose and underneath it. He lost a tooth and his lips were swollen (see Picture), and his tongue was bruised and cut. In the end the police pushed them back, shouting “go back to Serbia”.