The UN points out that Spain violated the political rights of Catalan independentistas

First modification: 08/31/2022 – 19:15

This Wednesday, August 31, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled that Spain violated the political rights of four pro-independence members of the Catalan regional government when it froze their public powers in 2018, before their sentences were defined a year later.

Due to the independence referendum held in the region in 2017, the Spanish government suspended former Vice President Oriol Junqueras and the “ex-consellers” –the Catalan equivalent of the position of minister, in this regional case– Raül Romeva, Josep Rull and Jordi Turull.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee said that the four were removed after being accused of encouraging a violent rebellion, although they had publicly emphasized the importance of peaceful demonstrations, and were later punished for sedition.

The independence referendum held in 2017 was unilateral and did not have the support of the Spanish government. Subsequently, massive pro-independence demonstrations of a mostly peaceful nature were called, although there were altercations in the main Catalan cities, such as Barcelona.

The suspension of those denounced was implemented in 2018 based on the Law of Criminal Procedure, which allows politicians to paralyze their functions, but only when they are accused of rebellion and not of sedition as they were finally sentenced.

French jurist Helene Tigroudja, a member of the panel, said the body “took an important step in stating that safeguards against restrictions on political rights should be applied more rigorously if they occur before a conviction, rather than after.”

“The decision to suspend elected officials must be based on clear and predictable laws that establish reasonable and objective reasons for the restriction of political rights, and must be applied on the basis of an individualized analysis,” he added.

This determination is contrary to that issued by the Constitutional Court of Spain, which in 2020 ratified the 2018 resolution of the Supreme Court to provisionally suspend Catalan officials while awaiting the definition of their situations.

In 2019, the Spanish Supreme Court sanctioned a total of nine separatist leaders with prison sentences for sedition in relation to the referendum held two years earlier. Some cases had a maximum of 13 years of confinement. Similarly, in 2021 they benefited from a pardon from the Government of Pedro Sánchez.

Junqueras, Romeva, Rull and Turull had filed a joint complaint for the suspension of public positions to the UN Committee alleging that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was violated.

Despite the fact that the ruling has a symbolic character that cannot be punished for Spain and the national courts, it is a boost for the independence movement in Catalonia, today with less activity.

The current Catalan regional government branded the action of the Spanish justice as “political repression” and remarked that there are dozens of similar cases still pending. For its part, the Spanish administration did not comment.

With EFE and Reuters