The Catalan National Assembly has once again brought the Catalan people’s struggle for democracy and self-determination to the international stage, taking part in the 2025 OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference.
This year’s conference, marking the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, brought together civil society and government representatives from 57 participating states to discuss the rule of law, democracy, and fundamental freedoms.
Assemblea’s board member Ariadna Heinz intervened in two sessions on the Rule of Law, denouncing Spain’s ongoing violations of civil and political rights, the lack of judicial independence, and the political persecution of Catalan leaders and activists.
In the fourth session, on the Prevention and Eradication of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and Human Rights when Combatting Terrorism, Heinz condemned Spain’s brutal police crackdown during the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, where over 1,000 peaceful voters–many of them elderly– were injured as Spanish police fired rubber bullets and beat citizens attempting to vote.
Ariadna Heinz also denounced that, under the 2024 Amnesty Law, 129 out of 133 police officers (97%) accused of violence have already benefited from amnesty, while nearly half of the pro-independence activists prosecuted remain criminalised — including those in Operation Judas, still facing unfounded terrorism charges.
She also warned that Spain continues to weaponise anti-terrorism laws against peaceful dissent, mentioning cases such as rapper Pablo Hasél’s, who has spent almost five years in prison for his lyrics and tweets, and is reportedly denied adequate medical care.
In the fifth session Judicial Independence, Fair Trial and Democratic Law-Making, Heinz highlighted the politicisation of Spain’s judiciary, repeatedly criticised by international bodies such as the UN Human Rights Committee and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.
In fact, since 2017, over 4,000 Catalans — including teachers, mayors, activists — have faced judicial persecution. The 2024 Amnesty Law, intended to redress these injustices, has been blocked by Spanish judges, who apply it selectively to benefit police officers while denying amnesty to Catalan political prisoners and exiles.
Heinz recalled that in 2022, the UN Human Rights Committee found Spain guilty of violating the political participation rights of Catalan MPs, and that in in 2023, UN Special Rapporteurs condemned the Catalangate espionage scandal, where over 65 Catalan leaders, lawyers, and journalists were targeted with Pegasus spyware. Despite these findings, Spain has failed to implement international rulings and recommendations.
For all the previous reasons, Assemblea urged the OSCE to press Spain to:
- Guarantee the impartial application of the 2024 Amnesty Law.
- Guarantee independent investigations into police brutality.
- End the misuse of anti-terrorism laws against peaceful activism.
- Ensure Spain implements the rulings of international human rights bodies.
Assemblea’s participation in the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference reaffirms its commitment to internationalise Catalonia’s struggle for democracy and self-determination, denouncing Spain’s human rights violations before major international institutions.
Watch the entire interventions here: