Statement of the CSP CoC on the need for the OSCE involvement in the crisis in Catalonia

While the issue of legality of the referendum is solely an internal matter of Spain, major human rights violations occurring in the recent days is a matter of legitimate international concern. We consider these events a human dimension crisis with a certain potential of developing into a first dimension crisis. Representatives of the CSP member organizations on the ground are reporting on escalation of the situation, with confrontation in Catalonia continuing.

We believe that immediate actions by OSCE must be taken and call in our statement on OSCE political bodies and institutions to take a swift action. In our public statement, we suggest several concrete steps to assist in ending human rights violations and prevent deepening of the crisis, such as holding urgent consultation with Madrid and Barcelona, appointing Chairmanship’s special representative to assist in negotiations between the two sides and in de-escalation of the crisis, organisation of an emergency monitoring of the situation by ODIHR, including by sending a fact-finding mission to document violations that happened in the course of the policing of peaceful assemblies and the blocking of the polling stations and to observe trials of the detained people, and examining by RFoM cases of blocking of internet sites and prevention of journalists from fulfilling their duties as well as lack of a balanced media coverage on both sides prior to the referendum.

We also suggest that in the case of further escalation of the situation you consider initiating a discussion with participating States of prospects of sending a Special Monitoring Mission.

Read a full statement here:  statement_catalonia.pdf

Photo: "Via Catalana - Catalan Way 11S-2013" by © Tonio / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 / link to the image: https://flic.kr/p/fPmRUF