Today, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has made public a decision calling for the immediate release of the political prisoners Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart. Clearly, the decision also bears on the other political prisoners, even though they were not included in the application lodged.

 

This is a decision issued by the highest international authority on arbitrary detention, and anyone who seeks to downplay its significance will be making a big mistake. Compliance with the decisions of the Working Group is compulsory. If the Kingdom of Spain does not comply, it will be violating international law.

 

The decision is a devastating one for the Spanish state because it finds that the detention of the political prisoners is arbitrary, and that they are in prison for defending the right to self-determination. The report also calls on the Spanish government to take measures against those responsible for violating their rights.

 

According to the United Nations body, many articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights have been violated in the case of the Catalan political prisoners; namely:

 

Rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

 

Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration.

 

Article 9. The right not to be arrested arbitrarily.

 

Article 10. The right to be tried by an independent and impartial tribunal.

 

Article 11. The right to defence and to be presumed innocent until proved guilty.

 

Article 18. The right to hold opinions and to change one’s opinion.

 

Article 20. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

 

Article 21. The right to take part in the government of one’s country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

 

Rights set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

 

Article 3. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant.

 

Article 14. The right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.

 

Article 19. The right to hold opinions without interference, and the right to freedom of expression.

 

Article 21. The right of peaceful assembly.

 

Article 22. The right to freedom of association with others.

 

Article 25. The right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

 

As you see, many rights have been violated in this completely unjust process, which has culminated in a sham trial, as we can unfortunately see day after day in the court sessions.

 

The United Nations is demanding the release of our political and social representatives – something we shouldn’t have to call for because they never should have been imprisoned for defending the democratic rights of all Catalans.

 

Spanish law permits referendums, and calls to participate in them are lawful. And there is no political project, opinion or patriotic interest that can ever take precedence over the human, civil and political rights of European citizens.

 

The Kingdom of Spain squanders any democratic credibility it may have when it uses the institutions and powers of the state in an indiscriminate and biased way. And sooner or later it will have to face the consequences of this conduct in international courts.

 

For all these reasons, pursuant to Motion 33/XII of the Catalan Parliament, which is based on the power expressly attributed to the Parliament by Law 50/1981, regulating the Organic Statute of the Office of the Public Prosecutor, the Catalan government will submit a formal petition to the Spanish Attorney General, through the Public Prosecutor of Catalonia, requesting that in view of the decision of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Attention, it urge the Supreme Court and other judicial bodies prosecuting individuals for their role in organising the 1 October self-determination referendum to withdraw all charges, and that it call for the immediate release of all political prisoners. Such a response is especially important today, when we have learned that the Public Prosecutor and the State Legal Service are maintaining their request for sentences on charges of rebellion and sedition, demonstrating yet again the spirit of revenge, rather than justice, that is driving the whole process.

 

Our communication to the Public Prosecutor will be approved at an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Council of the Government of Catalonia to be held this Friday.

 

Every hour that the political prisoners are deprived of their freedom is another step in the violation of human rights in Spain. And every hour of prison or exile only strengthens our determination to build a free, republican Catalonia.