Kidnapping at the Spanish Consulate in Havana Part II

15 long months have passed and my wife is still being held in Cuba. After the corresponding Appeal on September 15th, 2017, a week later my wife applied for a Precautionary Measure for the suspension of the execution of the appealed Writ with the return of her ID and passport, in order to be able to go back home to Las Palmas, to reunite with her husband and daughter; and to obtain an effective judicial protection. In absence of a response from the General Direction of Registers and Notaries, on November 24th, 2017 I lodged a Complaint with the Ombudsman of the Canary Islands (Diputado del Común), who in turn forwarded it on January 29th, 2018 to the Defender of the People of Spain, Mr. Francisco Fernández Marugán. Unfortunately and inexplicably, on March 12th, 2018 the Defender of the People notified me the non-admission to procedure of my Complaint; but I insisted again on March 19th, 2018, and that way, almost 4 months later, my complaint was allowed to procedure on May 18th, 2018. But nothing seems to persuade the Administration to give a legal and humanitarian solution to our family's separation; and the economic, moral and psychological damage increases.

The universal declaration of human rights, establishes in article 8 that everyone has a right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law; and the Spanish constitution states in its article 10. 1, that the dignity of the person, the inviolable rights which are inherent, the free development of the personality, the respect for the law and for the rights of others are the foundation of political order and social peace; and it establishes in article 24 that all persons have the right to obtain the effective protection from the judges and the courts in the exercise of their rights and legitimate interests, and in no case, may there be a lack of defense. In Spain the Article 54 of the Constitution regulates the institution of the Defender of the People as high commissioner of The Cortes Generales, appointed by them to defend the rights contained in their Constitution, for this purpose he or she may supervise the activity of the Administration. The Organic Law of the Defender of the People establishes in its Article 18. 1, that once a complaint is admitted, the Defender of the People will promote the appropriate brief and informal investigation for the establishment of the suppositions of the same. In any case he or she will render account of the substance of the request to the appropriate organism or administrative dependence so that, in the maximum term of 15 days, a written report be forwarded by its boss. Such term will be extended when Circumstances advise, in the opinion of the Defender of the People. But the procedure of my complaint stopped being Brief because, as the Defender of the People points out to me, in the case of the Spanish General Consulate in Havana the lack of personnel and the accumulation of work make impossible the issue of the mandatory reports within the stipulated period; and that the General Direction of Registers and Notaries suffers a generalized backlog in the resolution of submitted files, due to budget constraints that prevent the filling of officials’ vacant jobs. So, considering the Circumstances that affect the Administration, the Defender of the People has increased the term of 15 days to 239 days (over 7 months); and even so, the General Direction of Registers and Notaries does not respond.

If the Defender of the People only considers the Circumstances that affect the Administration, ¿who will take into consideration the Circumstances that affect my right to honor, to personal and family privacy, and to the own image, guaranteed in article 18, 1 of the Spanish Constitution, and my wife's fundamental right to obtain an effective judicial protection and in no case suffer a lack of defense, enshrined in article 24, 1?