Council of Europe urges Spain to sanction abusive use of force by police in Catalan protests

The Council of Europe has expressed its concern regarding the ”disproportionate use of force and inappropriate use of anti-riot weapons by police on demonstrators during last week’s protests” in Catalonia. Commissioner for human rights Duna Mitjatović has cited the ”misuse of rubber and foam bullets’,’ which have led to four known serious eye injuries during the demonstrations in response to the verdict of the Catalan referendum trial, issued on October 14.

In her statement, Mitjatović has urged that ”Spanish authorities reconsider the use of these weapons in operations aimed at managing public demonstrations,” and that they must ”investigate and adequately sanction all reported instances of abusive use of force by law enforcement officials.”

Therefore, I urge the Spanish authorities to reconsider the use of these weapons in operations aimed at managing public demonstrations. They should also investigate and adequately sanction all reported instances of abusive use of force by law enforcement officials. https://t.co/4lpeBiU3YN

— Dunja Mijatovic (@Dunja_Mijatovic) October 21, 2019

This message mirrors that of her predecessor, Nils Muižnieks, who in 2017 wrote a letter to Interior Minister of Spain at the time Juan Ignacio Zoido raising his concerns over disproportionate use of force by police during the crackdown of the independence referendum for which 9 leaders were now sentenced to prison terms between 9 and 13 years.

Furthermore, current commissioner Mijatović has urged for the ”protection of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly” after nearly 65 journalists were injured over the course of last week. She voiced her concern regarding ”attacks carried out by demonstrators” but also ”violent behaviour at the hands of police officers” which has involved beatings, broken equipment and even being shot at with foam bullets.

Worried about attacks on journalists & reported disproportionate use of force by police on demonstrators in Catalonia. Everyone should play their part in de-escalating tensions. Spanish authorities should protect #freedomofexpression & #freedomofassembly https://t.co/Rl3DgmU2rZ

— Commissioner for Human Rights (@CommissionerHR) October 21, 2019

The council remarked that there is ”growing insecurity for journalists reporting on the situation in Catalonia in recent months.” They have called on Spanish authorities to act by ”investigating all reported cases of attacks against journalists, whether they were carried out by police officers or demonstrators” and to take measures to ”guarantee the safety of all journalists during demonstrations.”

During the debate, some MEPs accused the Spanish socialist Juan Fernando López Aguilar, president of the Committee of Freedoms, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament, of using his post to abusively contradict Catalan MEP Diana Riba in front of  Commissioner Dunja Mijatović. In her turn of question to the curator, Riba reported that the referendum trial sentence attacks fundamental rights. Lopez Aguilar replied that “there has been no criminal conviction caused by the exercise of freedom of expression”. Tineke Strik and Sophie in ‘t Veld were among those who protested and told him that he was committing “abuse of power”. Kathleen Van Brempt also criticised police violence and defended the right to discuss about Spain’s law system and its problems.

"#Spanje is een rechtstaat. Maar dat wil niet zeggen dat er geen problemen kunnen zijn met het juridische systeem. Daar moeten we ook op Europees niveau over durven praten. Bovendien is het politiegeweld in #Catalonië onaanvaardbaar." #deochtend

— Kathleen Van Brempt (@kvanbrempt) October 22, 2019

Look at this video (specially the English part) as @Tineke_Strik (green) @SophieintVeld (liberal) denounce the “abuse of position” of the Spanis representative (socialist)pic.twitter.com/8bU9NSu4uU

— Help Catalonia 🎗 (@CataloniaHelp2) October 21, 2019

Full statement –>  Protection of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly during last week’s demonstrations in Catalonia