Spain violated political rights of former Catalan leaders, says UN committee

Spain violated the political rights of former Catalan leaders in reference to the 2017 secession try, an unbiased UN rights committee has discovered.

The report states that Madrid shouldn't have suspended the officers from workplace and stripped them of their duties earlier than convicting them.

The previous vice-president of the Catalan regional authorities Oriol Junqueras, and three former regional ministers, Raül Romeva, Josep Rull and Jordi Turull, had been all imprisoned for his or her roles within the 2017 independence referendum.

Spain’s constitutional court docket dominated that the referendum was invalid, and the 4 had been initially discovered responsible of "rebel". In October 2019, the fees had been downgraded to "sedition".

The choice to cost them with rebel and droop them from public workplace earlier than any conviction was "not primarily based on affordable and goal grounds supplied for by the regulation," the UN committee discovered.

The cost of "rebel" required a "violent rebellion in opposition to the constitutional order," it added, noting that the 4 leaders had urged Catalonia to "stay strictly peaceable".

"The choice to droop elected officers should be primarily based on clear and predictable legal guidelines that set up affordable and goal grounds for proscribing political rights".

The group of 18 consultants launched its findings on Wednesday after a grievance was filed by Catalonia regional leaders in 2018.

9 of the 12 complete individuals who had been convicted over the failed independence push acquired jail sentences. They had been pardoned in 2021 however are nonetheless barred from holding workplace.

The UN committee's determination has been welcomed by twopro-Catalan independence events, the Republican Left and “Collectively For Catalonia”.

Spain “should stop its repressive insurance policies and can't proceed utilizing the regulation and penal processes to confront the peaceable demand for the appropriate to self-determination,” a joint assertion learn.

The previous President of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, wrote on Twitter that the UN's findings had been a "slap within the face" for Spain.

"An EU member state is violating political rights and this can be a actual menace to democracy in Europe," he stated.

Puigdemont fled to Belgium in 2017 to keep away from prosecution for his function within the 2017 secession try.