The Spanish authorities’ response to Catalonia’s independence movement has raised concerns over fundamental freedoms. Terms like state unity, national interest and national security are used to justify repressive policies such as prohibiting free speech or labelling activists as terrorists in an attempt to silence a democratic self-determination movement. A report by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) highlights how governments around the world, especially undemocratic ones, are influenced by the Spanish government’s repressive response to Catalonia’s independence movement.

In that regard, Catalonia has seen a clear deterioration in human rights, especially after the repression inflicted by Spanish authorities during and after the 2017 independence referendum. Their attempt to quash Catalonia’s self-determination movement has weakened freedom of expression, the press, association and assembly, as well as the rights to liberty and security and a fair trial.

The repression surrounding the 2017 referendum has also been described by international organisations as a worrying precedent for other self-determination movements around the world, such as the Kurds, the Crimean Tatars, the Tibetans, and many others.

Read the full Report.