ICIP (International Catalan Institute for Peace) firmly condemns the arrest warrant, issued against the presidents of ANC and Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart, for their calls for peaceful protest and for having exercised their right to freedom of speech. As an institution for the defence and pursuit of peace, human rights and conflict resolution, we can only consider that politically and ideologically motivated arrests are inconceivable.
The arrest warrants without bail, issued by the Audiencia Nacional (Spanish national high court), constitute a serious political error and demonstrate how politics has failed to resolve the political conflict between Catalonia and Spain.
This measure demonstrates the breakdown of the rule of law, where separation of powers should be a fundamental principle. We understand that the Spanish government is determined in using these two arrests to leave actions, which should be taken on the political level, in the hands of the courts. We want to make clear that legal power should not become an instrument of political power.
Likewise, this action boosts social tensions rather than lowering them, which would have been the appropriate attitude to take by the public powers.
We also want to make clear that the Spanish government’s constant denial of the political conflict Catalonia is going through makes it impossible to find mechanisms to resolve it, as there are the requested international mediation and solution through dialogue.
Finally, within this context, once more we call upon the citizens of Catalonia to keep defending their ideas, using the values on nonviolence and peaceful resistance, as they have been doing lately during the massive pacific and civic protest rallies.
25.01.2017
