The Spanish government ignores the Catalan issue in the periodic review before the UN

MadridThe situation of the Catalan language or the rights of pro-independence activists were not discussed during the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) that Spain underwent this Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland. It has been five years since the previous evaluation, which countries voluntarily submit to, and this is the fourth time the Spanish government has addressed it. Neither in the interventions of its representatives nor in the preliminary report presented by Pedro Sánchez's administration did the Catalan issue appear. However, in the compilation of information conducted by the UN and among the contributions of civil society organizations, it does appear as a concern regarding the human rights situation in the country.

Among the organizations that have raised this issue are Òmnium Cultural and the Catalan National Assembly. In the document, the ANC warns that "the right to a fair trial and equality before the law of Catalan pro-independence representatives is not guaranteed." "Several organizations expressed concern about discrimination and hate speech against Catalans, as well as reports of workplace harassment for speaking Catalan," the report states. Òmnium, for its part, expresses "concern about the alleged inadequate application of the 2024 organic amnesty law and the judicial obstacles to its implementation." It recommends applying it "without political interference or arbitrary interpretations and creating an international monitoring mechanism" to oversee it.

For about three hours, the other delegations made brief, formal and incisive interventions, comments on the actions taken by the Spanish government since 2020. Many delegations recommended improving protection against hate speech or discrimination. Austria explicitly mentioned the need to protect "national or linguistic minorities." Belarus also focused on "discrimination against national minorities," and Samoa on ensuring education in "regional languages." Several delegations also warned against the gag law, like Norway, and Cameroon has called for control over "excessive use of force" by police forces.

In the previous compilation that the UN had made, in parallel with that of the entities, it is recalled that the Committee against Torture expressed concern about "the broad discretion granted" by the law to the security forces and that the special rapporteur on minority issues denounced the interference with humans their opinions, assemble peacefully and participate in associations" as well as the "disproportionate" criminal charges brought against them with the aim of "coercing them for their political opinions." The violation of the right to privacy and privacy of correspondence with espionage with Pegasus and Candiru and the need to investigate it are also noted.

Housing, immigrant minors or abortion

Leaving the Catalan issue aside, most interventions focused on calling for greater efforts to protect immigrant minors, with some explicit mention of the overcrowding in the Canary Islands, on guaranteeing the right to abortion throughout the country, and on improving access to housing. Although numerous countries praised Spain's work in the fight against gender-based violence and the feminist agenda, they urged greater efforts, including in the fight against human trafficking. Palestine, for its part, praised its official recognition as a state and its actions against genocide, which it urged to be increased.