Lawyers call for investigation into Spain's human rights infringements in Catalonia

A group of law professors from Catalan universities, with the backing of colleagues from around Spain, has filed a complaint with the Council of Europe over the infringement of human rights in Catalonia by the Spanish authorities during the independence referendum on October 1.

The 50-page report from the Col·lectiu Praga, an association of academic lawyers set up in 2013 to promote Catalonia’s right to self-determination, has been signed by some 650 lawyers from all over Spain and sent to the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks.

The document includes a full list of all the restrictions and infringements that the Col·lectiu Praga claims that Mariano Rajoy’s executive has imposed on the Catalan institutions and public that contravene “the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950.”

'Extreme judicialization' of Catalan conflict

The report also condemns the “extreme judicialization” of the Catalan conflict, the repression by the Spanish police that left 1,066 people injured, and the suspension of Catalonia’s self-rule under Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. The Col·lectiu Praga argues there is enough evidence for the Council to “begin an independent investigation.”