The document signed by almost 1.4 million citizens formally accuses
the Spanish Government of "violating the right of the Catalan people to
decide on its own political future". It lists reasons of democratic
legitimacy for allowing such a vote. It also stresses the Catalan
people's sustained self-determination demands and highlights that
Catalan representatives have explored all the possible legal avenues to
hold a legal self-determination vote. The complaint also emphasises the
Spanish Government's total blocking attitude, which "goes against
international practice". Furthermore, it announces that Catalan
representatives "feel legitimised in launching all the necessary
political and legal actions to know the will of the majority of the
Catalan people". Finally, it also asks those international organisations
to act in order "to guarantee that Catalonia's citizenry can
democratically decide its future".
Civil society organisations are behind the action
The ANC has been in charge of all the logistics aspects, including
the digitalisation of all the documents. The sheets of paper with the
signatures were divided by municipalities in order to ease their
classification and numbering. Furthermore, an official affidavit has
been carried out, including all the files with the signatures and the
documents of the complaint. This affidavit and the digitalised
signatures will be the documents that are to be handed to the UN, the
European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of Europe and
the OSCE.
A petition for the UN, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the OSCE
The 3-page document is divided into three main parts. In the first
one, the signers recall the main events that have driven Catalan society
to the current situation. They stress the democratic legitimacy of the
self-determination demands, which has always respected the principles of
legality, dialogue, negotiation and social cohesion, and they accuse
the Spanish stance of going against democratic standards of
plurinational states and recent evolutions of international law.
Secondly, they inform the aforementioned international institutions that
Catalan representatives have tried all the legal ways to vote and that
the Spanish authorities have adopted a no-to-everything attitude.
Therefore, Catalan representatives "feel legitimate to launch all the
required political and legal actions" to honour "the democratic mandate"
and guarantee that Catalans will be able to vote on their own future,
and, "based on the vote's results, to act accordingly". Finally, they
ask the international community and the aforementioned institutions "to
make all the necessary actions to guarantee that Catalonia's citizenry
can democratically decide its political future".
The main steps leading to the current situation
The first part of the document is split into 4 main points, which
have subsequent minor bullet points. Firstly, the document states that
"the people of Catalonia has the nature of a sovereign political entity
and subject, for reasons of democratic legitimacy". "As such, it grants
itself the right to decide its own political future". Then the petition
recalls Catalonia's long tradition of self-government, its historical
rights, how the Spanish authorities trimmed Catalonia's statute of
autonomy between 2005 and 2010, and the reaction of the Catalan people
through a massive demonstration in July 2010.
Secondly, the document emphasises that "in the last few years the
Catalan citizenry has repeatedly expressed, directly or through its
political representatives, its will to decide its own future". The
petition then recalls the massive pro-independence demonstration
organised on Catalonia's National Day in 2012, 2013 and 2014. It also
highlights the "unequivocal mandate" from the last Catalan Parliament
elections (November 2012) in which a great majority of citizens voted
for parties supporting the organisation of a self-determination vote.
Based on such a mandate, two-thirds of the Catalan Parliament approved a
'Declaration of Sovereignty' in January 2013 to launch a
self-determination process, but the Spanish authorities banned such a
declaration. In addition, in September 2014, 96% of the Catalan
municipalities issued motions backing the organisation of a
self-determination vote.
Thirdly, the document also highlights that Catalan representatives
tried to reach agreements with the Spanish authorities on many
occasions, but they were all rejected, and therefore they used the
Catalan legal framework to hold the self-determination vote. They
mention the attempts to organise a referendum mutually agreed with the
Spanish authorities, the consensus reached in Catalonia for organising a
consultation vote on November 9 and the approval in September 2014 of
the Catalan Law on Consultation Votes. However, the Spanish authorities
banned Catalonia's actions once again and an alternative and non-binding
participatory-process was launched to allow Catalans to at least give
their opinion, but this process has also been appealed against.
Fourthly, the signers state that the Spanish stance goes against "the
international practice of plurinational states and international law".
They justify such a statement by recalling that Canada's Supreme Court
recognised Quebec's right to self-determination, even if it was not
explicitly recognised in the Constitution, because of the democratic
principle on which the legal framework is based. It also mentions the
agreement reached between the British and Scottish governments.
Furthermore, it mentions a verdict of the International Court of Justice
from the 22nd July of 2010, in which that body concluded
that the right to self-determination has evolved and that no rule or
habit against this evolution has appeared at international level.
Therefore, in the 21st century, the right to self-determination can be
exercised to allow specific peoples and political communities to
democratically elect their future.
Catalan representatives inform the international community that they "feel legitimate" to act
The second part of the document is also divided into four points,
although no minor bullet points are included this time. Firstly, the
signers inform the aforementioned institutions that "the Catalan
institutions, with the support of a majority of the citizenry, have used
all the legal ways to organise a referendum or a consultation vote on
Catalonia's political future, which includes the option of independence"
from Spain. Secondly, they "acknowledge the Spanish Government's lack
of political will to set dialogue and negotiation frameworks" and they
"also acknowledge its permanent denial to allow the Catalan people to
exercise their right to decide" on its future.
Thirdly, the petition emphasises "the accumulation of difficulties
and negative answers by the Spanish State's main political and judicial
institutions, which constantly reject all the proposals that have been
sent from Catalonia, reflects a clear political and democratic
involution, clearly aiming to weaken Catalonia's self-government". "This
involution is today expressed with an absolute clarity in political,
jurisdictional, financial, social, cultural and linguistic aspects", it
states. Therefore, based on all the previous points, Catalan
representatives "feel legitimised to launch all the necessary political
and legal actions that will allow them to know the will of the majority
of the Catalan people about their political future and, afterwards, to
act consequently and following this democratic mandate".
A clear petition to the international community: react and allow Catalans to vote
Finally, the document concludes with a clear and direct petition to
the international community and the organisations receiving the
complaint: "based on the United Nations' Foundational Charter and the
successive international pacts and treaties that guarantee the rights of
peoples to decide their political future, we ask the United Nations,
the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of Europe
and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to
launch all the necessary actions to guarantee that Catalonia's citizenry
can democratically decide its future".
