Spanish police used “excessive force” in Catalonia, says Human Rights Watch

Spanish police engaged in "excessive force" when confronting "peaceful demonstrators" in Catalonia during the October 1 referendum, Human Rights Watch said. The NGOs carried out an on-site investigation and documented excessive use of force by Spain's Guardia Civil and national police in several locations.

"The police may well have had the law on their side to enforce a court order but it didn't give them the right to use violence against peaceful protesters," said Kartik Raj, Western Europe Researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Spain's riot police injured almost 900 people during referendum day, according to the official figures of the Catalan Health Ministry. The referendum, considered illegal by the Spanish authorities, went ahead anyway as thousands of people went to polling stations to try to cast their vote. Riot police raid several of those polling stations, using force excessively, as documented by HRW.