A/HRC/42/59/Add.2 Civil society representatives reported notable police and judicial persecution of street vendors, particularly those of Senegalese origin in Buenos Aires, especially in the neighbourhoods of Flores and Once. “Police saturation” operations, which include members of the infantry corps, police officers armed with shields and helmets and motorcycle police, have been mobilized to prevent the street vendors setting up their stalls and disperse the neighbours who come to their aid. Similar operations were also reported in La Plata, Province of Buenos Aires, and in Córdoba city. Daily operations have also reportedly been carried out jointly by the city police and the Ministry of Environment and Public Space of the city of Buenos Aires, where inspectors who do not wear uniforms or carry identification allegedly intimidate the vendors to withdraw, under threat of action by the police. This has caused countless episodes of fights and violent struggles that result in injuries to the street vendors, in addition to violent and arbitrary arrests. The vendors are reportedly criminalized for misdemeanours, such as resisting arrest or violation of the Trademark Law, and subjected to police violence, arbitrary detention and confiscation of goods. Those with irregular immigration status are in a more vulnerable situation. The outcome is always the same: following warrantless arrests and detention, the street vendors are eventually released by the prosecutor or judge. This practice is repeated as a tool of harassment without any accountability. 36. Starting in 2018, the programme against institutional violence of the Office of the Public Defender was intensified, monitoring and documenting the repeated arrests of street vendors in Buenos Aires. The manner of those arrests could imply that the Buenos Aires police are carrying out arbitrary arrests of street vendors. According to the information received, such arrests often involve violence, resulting in injuries, in some cases severe, such as broken bones or deep cuts. In cases in which vendors are injured, they are often accused, in addition to offences under the Trademark Law, of the crime of resisting authority under article 239 of the Penal Code. According to the allegations received, that type of accusation would have the function of justifying violent police action against those resisting arrest, or the seizure of their merchandise. 37. Sellers of Senegalese origin and other street vendors detained in the context of such operations have alleged that the merchandise confiscated during their detention by the police is never inventoried in its entirety and mostly never returned or sometimes returned in part. The Working Group noted with concern the use of criminal law tools to justify police violence in a situation that should be limited to verifying a minor infraction for improper occupation of public space for a commercial activity without the corresponding permits. The Working Group was informed that arrests for violation of the Trademark Law increased markedly as of mid-2018, after the competency for such arrests was transferred in March 2018 from the State to the judicial authority of Buenos Aires, within the framework of a progressive programme of transfers of jurisdiction. 38. The monitoring and documentation of this situation by the Office of the Public Defender reveals a pattern that indicates that the arrests of street vendors of Senegalese origin for violation of the Trademark Law are not validated by the criminal justice system of Buenos Aires. In spite of this, the procedures for the seizure of merchandise and for detention continue, with a suggestion of arbitrariness, both in the laying of charges and in the selection of the persons at whom police action is directed. That analysis is based on possible discrimination due to immigration, ethnic origin, poverty and other reasons of vulnerability. Detention can lead to swift expulsion from Argentine territory, with little chance of defence, owing to the “special express expulsion procedure” established under decree No. 70/2017. 39. The Government acknowledges receiving complaints of institutional violence and racism faced by the street vendors of African descent and states that it has introduced promotion and protection actions in various municipalities of the Province and City of Buenos Aires, through dialogue with municipal and provincial officials. The Working Group notes that these efforts need to be further enhanced and supported by punitive measures, so that perpetrators are sensitized against racial bias, discrimination and the excessive use of force against people of African descent. 11