[VIDEO] Jordi Cuixart to the UN: “The Catalangate needs to be investigated”

  • The president of Òmnium Civil Rights Europe demands sanctions and an immediate and impartial investigation following Spain's inaction

VilaWeb
20.09.2022 - 16:02
Actualització: 20.09.2022 - 23:43

Jordi Cuixart, ex-president of Òmnium Cultural and current president of Òmnium Civil Rights Europe, has spoken at the headquarters of the United Nations during the 51st meeting session of the Human Rights Council. His intervention focused on the Catalangate espionage case, following Spain’s inaction: “We recommend that international organizations urge Spain to carry out an immediate and impartial investigation, to sanction the perpetrators, and to ensure that this will not happen again and that victims will be able to have access to effective redress.”

Cuixart has addressed the acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif, to demand action in the case, which he recalled was the world’s largest forensically documented case of espionage with Pegasus. And he added that it is a very serious interference in the right to privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, due process and a fair trial. In addition, Cuixart said that it has a strong deterrent effect.

Cuixart also emphasized that the link that those who have been spied have is that they defend the right to self-determination and he said that Citizen Lab considers that numerous circumstantial evidence points to the Spanish government as the material author. “Spain disregards the recommendations of the UN, spies on the political opposition, journalists, civil society organizations and lawyers, through unclear judicial procedures, or even without any kind of authorization”, he added.

Cuixart made this speech at the UN, coinciding with the presentation of the report The right to privacy in the digital era, by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report focuses on the abuse of intrusive hacking tools, especially Pegasus, the key role of encryption in ensuring the right to privacy and more rights, and the surveillance of public spaces. In addition, it highlights the risk of creating generalized surveillance and control systems that can harm the development of democratic societies.

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