First of all,
we regret that the Rapporteur was not able to meet with the political party,
Ciudadanos, which was the first political force in votes in the last regional
elections on 21 December 2017, and which is currently the main opposition party
in the Catalan Parliament.
How is it
possible that the Rapporteur met with authorities of the Autonomous Community
of Catalonia and did not, on the other hand, do the same with the first
political force in the Catalan Parliament, which, in this matter, has a
position radically opposed to that of the autonomic Government?
It is not a
minor issue since the Autonomous Community of Catalonia enjoys great autonomy
with a wide range of competences, some of them of an exclusive nature, such as
Culture, as well as many areas of education, just to give an example. In
reality, the Spanish autonomous system of government is a federal system rather
than a "strongly decentralized unitary state", as the Rapporteur
maintains, if the high level of competences corresponding to the Autonomous
Communities of Spain, one of the highest in Europe, is taken into account.
Secondly, we state that the ideas
that we are advancing below are a brief summary of our proposals, for which we
would appreciate that the Rapporteur would contact us to expand and explain in
greater depth those aspects that he might consider of interest.
Minorities, language and
participation
Along the lines followed by the Rapporteur
regarding the concept of minority used in his statement, "the concept of
minorities must be understood within the scope of my mandate, which refers only to a strictly numerical
category: a minority group is any linguistic, religious or ethnical group
amounting to less than half of the population of the State (in this case the
Spanish State). This concept has no negative connotations, does not depend on
official recognition, is not affected by regional agreements or other forms of
autonomy, and does not imply any problem of domination, servitude or
socioeconomic status".
In this regard,
we maintain that the Spanish language in the field of education in Catalonia is
a minority language, which clearly harms the linguistic rights of Catalans.
In Catalonia, 0
hours of Spanish language are taught per week in Early Childhood Education, 2
in primary school, 3 in compulsory secondary education and 2 in high school.
All the other subjects are in Catalan. In the same way, all communications and
all written materials are always in Catalan. Many families, especially those
recently coming from abroad, complain that the teachers hold the meetings in
Catalan and refuse to change their language even if they are told they have
trouble understanding it. This model begins to spread throughout the Valencia
Community and the Balearic Islands.
One of the
causes of the lack of empirical data on the impact of the different educational
models that are applied is because the successive nationalist governments of
Catalonia flatly refuse the possibility of carrying out comparable tests
throughout Spain. On the one hand, if we take into account data from PISA, the
outcomes are discouraging. Catalonia is the region of Europe with the worst
results in students of immigrant origin. Likewise, Catalan Spanish-speaking students
obtain worse results for all socioeconomic strata than Catalan-speaking
students.
In Catalonia,
outside of the educational field, -and this affects the Spanish language
because it is a minority language in the
institutional sphere-, businesses which do not label their establishments
in Catalan are fined, and traffic signs and indications are only in Catalan.
On the other
hand, we find surprising the inclusion, in this section of the report, of the
reference made by the Rapporteur about the trial against the political leaders
who carried out an attempt to subvert the constitutional democratic order by declaring
the independence of Catalonia through the unilateral secession from the Kingdom
of Spain. Likewise, we see as absolutely improper and wrong the classification as
"non-violent political dissidence of a minority" made by the
Rapporteur as regards the authors of this attempt to subvert the political
order of a Member State of the European Union such as Spain, considered by all
international standards one of the most advanced democracies in the world. How
can be classified as "non-violent political dissidents" the
politicians who from within the very State institutions they were lawfully
holding (in this case the regional government) have tried to break the
territorial unity of the State, thus violating the rights of citizenship and
the freedoms of the citizens, Catalan as well as from the rest of Spain?
The deaf community and the use of sign language
Regarding the members of the community
of deaf people and persons with hearing impairments, it should be noted that in
Catalonia parents of deaf children are not informed about the option of sign
language, and the only solution provided are cochlear implants and hearing aids
that are causing Language Deprivation Syndrome for many of them. For all the
Catalan territory there is only one Primary and one Secondary Education center
offering interpreters to deaf children and, even in that case, they do not have
an interpreter available during all school hours.
Framework of human rights
The Rapporteur in this section of
his report mentions again the language so that it should not subjected to
discrimination. From this perspective we have to remember again the situation
of vulnerability in which the Spanish language is found as a very minority
vehicular language of the educational system in Catalonia. In addition, the Spanish
language is the mother tongue of most of the Catalan people, so that the UNESCO
standards of protection for the mother tongues are not being met either.
As members of
Parliament of the first party in the Parliament of Catalonia, we think it is
important to highlight the diversity and plurality of Catalan society and of
Spain as a whole. To this end, we are at your disposal to expand or detail any
information that you might consider necessary.
CIUTADANS Rapport (Catalan Parliamentary Group) on:
The UN rapporteur, subsidized by
Puigdemont, criticizes the trial of 1-O
‘Ciudadanos’ sends a letter of
complaint to Varennes, responsible for minorities of the international
organization, who refused to meet with the first opposition party
"Nonviolent political dissidence of
minorities should not result in criminal charges." This is the opinion
of the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on questions of minorities,
Fernand de Varennes. And so he stated in a report published after a visit to
Spain that included, among others, a meeting with the minister of the Foreign
Action, Alfred Bosch, and the Síndic de Greuges [Catalan Ombudsman], Rafael Ribó. ‘Citizens’
has just sent a letter to Varennes in which this political party regrets his
refusal to meet with the party that won the elections in Catalonia, which, says
the orange party, would have allowed him to produce a report, at least more
complete, on the procés, as well as on
the situation of the "linguistic minorities" that the representative
of the United Nations claims to be obliged to protect.
The position of
the UN rapporteur on the pro-independence prisoners is to be seen
as part of the close relations maintained by the Catalan Government with that
international organization which, during the government of Carles Puigdemont,
resulted in agreements and subsidies by the Generalitat that in some cases exceeded 100,000 euros. These
agreements were signed in Geneva, a city included in the network of ‘embassies’ of the Generalitat that Bosch runs. Last October, President Quim Torra gave a conference in
the Swiss city, in which he called for international mediation. Ana Gabriel (CUP) and Marta Rovira (ERC) escaped to Geneva to
elude the Spanish Justice.
Varennes made
an official visit to Spain between January 14 and 25, 2019. During his stay he
met with the Spanish Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Interior or
Education; the Attorney General of the State and members of the
Supreme Court. In Catalonia,
the rapporteur held a meeting with the Minister of External Action, Alfred
Bosch, and the Síndic de Greuges [Catalan Ombudsman], Rafael Ribó.
‘Citizens’
believes that the report prepared by the UN rapporteur –which can be
read through this link - suffers from
a partial view of the Catalan reality. The orange party requested a meeting
with Varennes, but Varennes alleged agenda reasons to reject the request.
"Acts that did not involve
violence"
Varennes
alludes in his document to a "strongly decentralized unitary State" while,
according to Cs, in fact "the Spanish autonomous state is an almost federal
system, taking into account the high level of competencies". But the most
"surprising" thing, according to the orange party - and this is
stated in a letter addressed to the delegate of the United Nations - is the
reference "to the judicial process against the political leaders who
carried out an attempt to subvert the democratic constitutional order by
declaring the independence of Catalonia through the
unilateral secession from the Kingdom of Spain".
In the report,
Varennes recalls that "the UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and
expression issued a statement on April 6, 2018 urging the Spanish authorities
to refrain from bringing criminal charges of rebellion against political
figures and demonstrators belonging to the Catalan minority. He indicated that
such charges for acts that did not
involve violence or incitement to violence could interfere with the rights
of public protest and dissent. Although he considered the issue strictly from
the point of view of freedom of opinion and expression under this mandate, I
also join his concerns in terms of the message that this gives to minorities in
general, since the non-violent political dissidence of minorities should not
lead, as the Special Rapporteur points out, to criminal charges, since such
restrictions should only be imposed when they are strictly necessary and proportionate".
The complaint of Cs
In this sense,
Cs affirms that "it seems to us at all inappropriate and erroneous the
classification as 'non-violent political dissidence of a minority' that the
Rapporteur makes of the authors of that attempt
to subvert the political order of a Member State of the EU like Spain, a
country considered by all international standards as one of the most advanced
democracies in the world. How can he classify as "non-violent political
dissidents" politicians who, from within the State institutions (in this
case the regional government) have tried to break the territorial unity of the
State, thus violating the rights of citizenship and the freedoms of the Catalan
citizens and of the rest of Spain?"
The rapporteur
refers in his report to the mandate he has regarding the protection of
minorities, a concept with which he refers to "any linguistic, religious
or ethnic group that counts less than half of the population of the State (in
this case, the Spanish State)". Cs recalls that in Catalonia “0
hours of Spanish are taught every week in Pre-school Education, 2 in primary
education, 3 in compulsory secondary education and 2 in high school. All the
other subjects are in Catalan. In the same way, all communications and all
written materials are always in Catalan. Many families, especially those
recently coming from abroad, complain that the teachers hold the meetings in
Catalan and refuse to change their language even if they are told they have
trouble understanding it. This model begins to spread throughout the Valencian
Community and the Balearic Islands".
The Spanish language, minority
"In
Catalonia - it adds - outside the educational sphere, and this of course
affects the Spanish language as it is a minority language in the institutional
field, the businesses which do not label their establishments in Catalan are
fined".
The Rapporteur
mentions the language "so that it is not subjected to
discrimination", but Cs recalls "the situation of vulnerability in
which the Spanish language is found as a very minority vehicular language of
the education system in Catalonia. In addition, the Spanish language is the
mother tongue of most Catalans, so the Unesco standards of protection for the
mother tongues are not being met either".
The member of
Parliament of Cs Susana Beltrán regrets, in statements to Global Chronicle,
that the rapporteur Varennes did not find a time in his agenda to meet
"with the political group that won the elections in Catalonia, because the
logical thing would have been to gather information, not only from the Catalan
Government, if one wants to be objective and to know the Catalan reality".
Beltrán hopes
that the rapporteur could incorporate her reflections in the final conclusions,
which will be presented to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in
March 2020.
Close relationship between the
Generalitat and the United Nations
The
relationship between the United Nations and the Generalitat is very close, as
can be seen in the agreements signed between the Government of Puigdemont and
the United Nations, to which this newspaper has had access. At the end of 2016,
the former president of Catalonia signed an agreement with the Office of the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights, whereby the Catalan Government undertook to contribute financially to their
defense.
The Catalan
Administration made a contribution of
100,000 euros. The document was signed in Geneva by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, representing the
aforementioned Office of the High Commissioner, while, interestingly, Puigdemont
undersigns the agreement on behalf of
"the Generalitat of Catalonia (Kingdom of Spain)".
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