Òmnium Cultural, Amnesty International Denmark, and a former liberal MP and renowned Danish lawyer discussed the Spanish repression in Catalonia at the Danish Parliament

In the framework of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, the Parliament of Denmark hosted a debate this week on human rights violations in Spain and Catalonia. Òmnium Cultural, Amnesty International Denmark, and former MP and prominent Danish lawyer, Bjørn Elmquist, debated the case of Jordi Cuixart and the Spanish repression in Catalonia.

Spain has the duty to respect human rights

During the nearly two-hour long panel discussion at the Danish parliament, Amnesty International Denmark reiterated their call for the release of Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez. “The situation is very worrying and that is why we call on the prosecutors to drop the charges. They, of course, had their right to peaceful assembly,” said the representative of Amnesty in Denmark, Cecilie Gregersen. “People have the right to vote, right to freedom of expression and assembly without worrying about the consequences,” she insisted.

Amnesty International also highlighted the decline in freedom of expression in general in Spain. “We see how artists, people on social media and even puppeteers are being processed in Spain,” Gregersen said. She here referred to a report that the organization released in March about how counter-terrorism laws restrict freedom of expression in Spain entitled “Tweet… if you dare”.

“These measures lead to greater self-censorship,” Amnesty insisted. “It has a very negative effect on society when citizens are afraid of expressing their opinion.” Cecilie Gregersen concluded that “Spain has the duty to respect human rights” and she recalled that Amnesty International will monitor the trial “to ensure a fair trial and we will not be afraid to speak up.”

Spanish pressure on participants

During his speech, former MP and prominent Danish lawyer, Bjørn Elmquist, explained how he had received pressures from different Spanish actors when he published his participation in the roundtable, organized by Òmnium Cultural in Denmark. They warned him about what kind of people he was joining, Elmquist explained. He emphasized the importance of the Catalan leaders on trial knowing who they are facing. “My advice for Catalonia: do not underestimate who you are up against, but never stop reaching for the stars.”

Ignorance, the biggest enemy

The Danish MP Pelle Dragsted, one of the MPs who visited the political prisoners last November, emphasized that the biggest enemy, in this case, is ignorance. “Not knowing makes it easy for our governments to turn a blind eye to the situation. Our common duty is to create awareness about the situation in Catalonia,” said the Danish MP. In line with Dragsted from the Red-Green Alliance, Cecilie Gregersen from Amnesty International Denmark reiterated the importance of communicating what happens in Catalonia and encouraged everyone in the room to tweet about the case and was willing to develop strategies from Amnesty Denmark to collaborate with the case.

“Justice delayed is justice denied”

Danish journalist and television presenter, Lotte Thor, who moderated the debate, emphasized the importance of sending a message about what is happening in Catalonia. She was surprised by the fact that there could be political prisoners in Europe in 2018. She stressed the severity of the situation of the Catalan prisoners quoting “Justice delayed is justice denied”.

She concluded the event in Copenhagen hoping that this debate had been able to send a message to the rest of Europe, in order for there to be justice and so that the human rights would be respected in Catalonia. Lawyer at Òmnium Cultural, Adrià Font, emphasized the importance of monitoring the upcoming trial and the former MP Bjørn Elmquist promised to do everything he can to help from the distance.

Not about independence, but about fundamental rights

Txell Bonet, Jordi Cuixart’s partner, stressed that this whole case “is not about the independence of Catalonia, it’s about fundamental rights.” And to her, having her husband imprisoned is not something personal, but collective. “I don’t want to suffer, I want to fight this,” she said.

Font emphasized that the case against the imprisoned Catalan politicians and civil society leaders is clearly political. And he explained the Danish audience how “the prosecutors are constructing a history of violence.”

The debate, organized by Òmnium International, was open to everyone and a total of 70 people attended.

Danish MPs worried about the situation of the Catalan political prisoners

Prior to the event, Òmnium Cultural’s delegation met with six members of the Danish parliament from four different parties. The delegation presented the political prisoners’ case to the MP, who expressed their concern about the situation in Catalonia and Spain.

Spain, the country that violated freedom of musical expression the most in 2017

During the stay in the Danish capital, Òmnium Cultural’s delegation also met with Freemuse, an independent international organization based in Copenhagen defending the freedom of artistic expression. In 2017, the NGO published a report on the repression of artists that received a lot of attention in Catalonia. According to the Freemuse report, Spain was the country where most artists in the world had suffered reprisals, ahead of countries like China, Iran, Egypt, and Turkey. Spain also made it to the top of the countries that violated the freedom of musical expression last year.