The UN Human rights Committee have ruled that the suspension of former Catalan government and parliament members from public duties prior to their conviction, following an independence referendum in 2017 was a violation of their political rights by Spain.
The findings by the group of independent human rights experts were published after revision of a complaint filed by Oriol Junqueras i Vies, former Vice-President of Catalonia, and three former ministers, Raül Romeva i Rueda, Josep Rull i Andreu and Jordi Turull i Negre.
The Parliament of Catalonia passed a law authorising a referendum on Catalonia's independence, in September 2017. Despite the Constitutional Court’s suspension order and police intervention, the referendum went ahead on 1 October.
In mid-October, Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled that both the law and the referendum were unconstitutional, null and void.
Nevertheless, the Catalonian Parliament declared independence and was thus immediately dissolved by the Government of Spain.
Mr. Junqueras and the three ministers were prosecuted, together with other officials, for the crime of rebellion, which entails a call for a violent uprising against the constitutional order, the group of experts said.
“The Committee took an important step in affirming that the safeguards against the restrictions of political rights must be applied more rigorously if these restrictions occur prior to, rather than after, a conviction for an offence,” said Committee member Hélène Tigroudja.
Taking note that the four complainants had urged the public to remain strictly peaceful, the Committee considered that the decision to charge them with the crime of rebellion, which led to their automatic suspension prior to a conviction, was not foreseeable and therefore not based on reasonable and objective grounds provided for by law.
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