The Catalan National Assembly has taken part the latest edition of the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, a gathering that brings together representatives of the OSCE participating states, institutions, inter-governmental organizations, and civil society.
General board and International Committee member Josep Punga has taken the floor in two sessions of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Warsar Human Dimension Conference focusing on the rule of law, to denounce Spain’s use of terrorism labels for political purposes as well as the politicization and bias of the Spanish judiciary in regard to Catalonia’s self-determination movement.
Assemblea’s representative noted that the rule of law and judicial independence are prerequisites for a functioning democracy, yet its situation is deteriorating in many countries of the OSCE region. That is the case of Spain, which “has stood against the Catalan self-determination movement”, with repression that has taken the form of fines, bans from office, prosecution and even imprisonment.
Punga highlighted that Spain uses anti-terrorism laws and national security to silence non-violent activists, as denounced by Amnesty International in their 2024 report on the right to protest. Such are the cases of the persecution and criminalization of the Committees of the Defence of the Republic or Tsunami Democràtic, falsely accused of terrorism.
In the sixth session, on the rule of law and the judiciary, Assemblea’s representative noted the selective and unequal manner in which the Amnesty Law has been implemented, granted to 51 police officers accused of violence and degrading treatment against peaceful voters in the October 1st 2017 referendum, while on the other hand, “it has been denied to many pro-independence activists, public servants and politicians such as democratically elected Leader of the Opposition, Carles Puigdemont”.
For all these reasons, the Catalan National Assembly, has called on the OSCE to ensure the Spanish authorities comply with human rights obligations while countering terrorism and cease the persecution of the self-determination movement, while establishing mechanisms to oversee that national judiciaries respect fundamental rights.
Assemblea, participates regularly in international human rights meetings as part of its international advocacy work to champion Catalonia’s self-determination and to denounce violations of rights by Spanish institutions against the Catalan people.