The new Presidency was elected during the XXI General Assembly of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), where a resolution submitted by Assemblea was also adopted.
On 29 and 30 August, a delegation from Assemblea attended the XXI General Assembly of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), an international organisation founded 35 years ago to defend peoples’ right to self-determination. During the gathering, members of the international organisation presented and adopted several amendments, including a resolution submitted by Assemblea against the minoritisation of languages such as Catalan.
Ariadna Heinz, Secretary of Assemblea, has been elected to serve on UNPO’s Presidency Board. Heinz had previously been appointed by Assemblea’s National Secretariat to represent the organisation before the international organisation. “It is an honour and a privilege to take on this responsibility and to continue the work that Assemblea has carried out over the years in collaboration with UNPO. In the current context of polarisation, the erosion of multilateralism and the rise of hate speech, we will continue working to ensure that the Catalan cause remains present on the international stage, while also defending the rights of peoples and nations that, because they lack sovereignty, face repression and abuses at different scales,” Heinz said.
The new Assemblea representative takes on this role succeeding Elisenda Paluzie, following two highly productive terms. During this period, abuses by the Spanish state were denounced and efforts were made to internationalise the Catalan cause before international bodies such as the UN Human Rights Council, as well as UN Special Rapporteurs. Assemblea thus intervened during the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Spain in 2025
UNPO and Assemblea
Assemblea has been a member of UNPO since 2018, as part of its international strategy to raise awareness of the Catalan cause, advocating for the right to self-determination, and denouncing abuses by Spain. Cooperation between UNPO and Assemblea has been highly and has included, among other initiatives, a submission to UN Special Rapporteurs concerning the Spanish state’s inaction over Catalangate (2026). This followed an earlier complaint submitted jointly by Assemblea and UNPO (2022), which led to a strong communication from UN experts, denouncing the espionage and demanding explanations and reparations from the Spanish state.
The collaboration between the two organisations has also made possible the publication of reports such as In the Name of Unity (2024) and Tools of Repression (2022), a submission denouncing repression and the use of anti-terrorism legislation against the Catalan independence movement (2024), as well as participation in Spain’s Universal Periodic Review in 2025 through the submission of a joint report and an oral statement before the UN Human Rights Council (2025).