Catalonia accounts for 44% of cases of police repression in the entire State

MadridCatalonia accounts for 44% of rights violations in protest contexts throughout the State in 2024, according to the Defender en Quien Defiende (DfD) platform, The report, presented this Thursday in Madrid, reports 228 cases affecting 1,029 people and with a minimum of 1,140 violations, which are reflected in fines, police identifications, arrests, infiltrations, legal proceedings, disproportionate use of force, etc. This is a substantial increase compared to the last two years - 314 in 2022 and 870 in 2023 -, especially due to the number of mobilizations that have taken place in solidarity with Palestine. Specifically in Catalonia, of the 100 cases detected, the majority are due to protests for the right to housing, followed by demonstrations against the war in Gaza and, thirdly, feminists.

"The work of the observatory is limited because we do not have public data. The data do not show the total number of cases of repression, but are a partial x-ray," stressed Clara Calderó, an activist from Novact. The monitoring carried out by DfD cannot cover all the cases that occur and, if they cannot prove the number of people directly affected in a group that, for example, has been identified by the police, it is counted as one. "The lack of transparency in everything that we cannot monitor as civil society can be considered abuse," added Celia Carbonell, a member of Irídia.

As for protest families, environmentalism is also one of the branches where the most episodes of police repression are recorded. In total, 249 throughout the State. In addition, this year's statistics show mobilizations for mass tourism in the places most affected by this problem, such as the Canary Islands, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, with 21 violations detected. Despite not being at the top of the list, there are still cases of violations in Catalan independence protests: 85 violations in 11 cases detected. In relation to the type of violation, it mainly involves identifications (361), fines (218), legal proceedings (198) and against physical integrity, which includes disproportionate use of force, threats, mistreatment or humiliation.

The 'gag' law

This repression is applied mainly with the so-called law jaw in hand, which is in the process of being reformed in Congress. Last October, the progressive forces introduced a series of changes that did not entirely convince the organizations that make up DfD. "The lack of respect and disobedience to authority are a catch-all that is applied systematically," denounced Sara López, from No Somos Delito.. The parties have actually pushed for changes to these offences to reduce them from serious to minor, but López believes that they still leave room for interpretation so that they can continue to be applied in a relatively arbitrary manner. "It will be cheaper for us, but it will continue to happen," he lamented.