Parliament urges Catalonia’s Generalitat government to apply the changes in the legal criteria announced by the Department of the Interior so as to prioritize the exercise of fundamental rights

Esquerra Republicana has introduced a motion in Parliament “with the clear intent to defend fundamental rights,” said Esquerra Member of the Catalan Parliament (MCP) Chakir El Homrani. During the plenary session held on Thursday, the chamber reiterated full acknowledgement of human and fundamental rights for the entire population, in particular the rights of assembly, peaceful public protest, and including the right to freedom of expression and the right to information by the press. The motion received the support of all the parliamentary groups with the exception of Ciudadanos who abstained, and the People’s Party who voted against.

Parliament also urged the Government of the Generalitat to apply the changes in the legal criteria announced by the Department of the Interior to make prevail the exercise of fundamental rights of those participating in peaceful social mobilizations, of anti-eviction activists and of journalists.

“In urging the government, we ask that there be no arbitrary decisions as that is a key element. We all have a tendency to defend the rights of those we sympathize with, and we turn our backs on those we disapprove of,” the MCP warned. “When it comes to fundamental rights, we cannot do that; there are legal grounds, there is a sanctioning regime, and now we add parliamentary legitimacy,” he said during the parliamentary debate.

On the other hand, “the Council of Europe in a direct letter to the Chair of the Spanish Congress’ Home Affairs Committee and the Speakers of the Congress and the Senate, along with the United Nations, have denounced the implications of the gag law,” Mr El Homrani explained.

Esquerra has added a degree of denunciation in that regard to the motion. It was approved, with the votes against of the Catalan branch of the PSOE, that the Parliament of Catalonia should denounce the disregard and non-compliance by the Spanish government of the international recommendations on the Gag Law and that the Government of the Generalitat should urge the Spanish Government to comply with the recommendations arising from the Universal Periodic Review and those of other United Nations agencies regarding that law.

The free exercise of fundamental rights can never be considered a crime, “nor can their peaceful exercise be administratively sanctioned,” said the MCP. “That is the problem, arising from the gag law, that we have had in Spain over the last several years, so we need to repeal it. We need new legislation that defends and protects fundamental rights without introducing racial profiling in security policies,” he concluded roundly.