CATALONIA
The choice between freedom and bondage, by Prof. dr. Axel Schönberger
Three hundred and three years and four and a half months of colonial
subjugation did not break the spirit of resistance of the Catalan
nation, at least in the heartland of Catalonia. In Spain and in the
Balearic Islands, however, Spain's policy of assimilation according to
the old motto "divide et impera!" Was quite successful - but led the
Catalans to be too eager to submit to the dictates of their Spanish
masters, and some of them appear to be ready to throw the gun, even
though their struggle for self-determined freedom, democracy and the
rule of law has just begun ,
Spanish law has completely lost its
legitimacy in recent months. It must be made clear that significant
rulings by Spanish supreme courts, as well as the actions of the Spanish
Public Prosecutor's Office, have resulted in the Spanish judiciary
becoming a law of injustice. The so-called Spanish Constitutional Court,
whose judges were and are not selected by judges according to
professional criteria, but by political parties according to political
views, which defies the Spanish and compelling international law, which
claims to grant human rights a la carte and to refuse, not only
adjudicatory, but also executive, and that it takes out far-reaching
decisions that have nothing to do with present petitions and, on the
other hand, does not deal with appeals that it considers admissible as
long as the reason for the appeal is current is lost his face.
Germans may think of the law of injustice at the time of National
Socialism, whose legal view and jurisdiction are approaching Spain with
milestones. One can only hope that, as Slobodan Milošević once did, all
Spanish judges and prosecutors, as well as all members of the Spanish
Government who have arbitrarily bowed and broken Spanish and
international law during these months and days, are responsible for
massive, millions of human rights violations International Court of
Justice for their actions, for which they would otherwise never be held
accountable by the partially corrupt Spanish courts.
If and
as long as the supporters of Catalan state sovereignty recognize the
Spanish judiciary and are also recognizing unlawful decisions, they will
inevitably lose and will win Spain.
For the Catalans, on the
other hand, the Republic of Catalonia and its freedom are tangibly close
if they are implemented consistently. If, on the other hand, they
remain hesitant and undecided, divide and accept the unlawful legal
requirements of the Spanish state, they will lose and may never again
have an opportunity to realize their human right of self-determination
in free choice.
The peaceful resistance is indispensable
The
human right of self-determination of the Catalan people is not caused by
obedience to Spain and its courts, but only by massive civil
disobedience to the Spanish authorities and a permanent,
all-encompassing disregard to the authorities of the Spanish state,
which their legitimacy in Catalonia by the gait that have lost events,
to be realized. In the process, it will be crucial for the Catalan
nation to ensure that the Catalan struggle for freedom remains
non-violent. He may be hard and determined in the matter, but not
physically harm one person. Even in the face of previous and yet to be
expected violent violent measures by the Spanish state, which just aim
to provoke counter-violence and thus an excuse for the use of the
Spanish military, the Catalans may only peacefully, but in the matter
but all the more determined.
In a political debate on such a
dimension, it is human if actors make a mistake or show weakness. It
ultimately only counts the result in the end. From the Catalan side,
since October 27, 2017, three recognizable mistakes have been made:
the unconditional submission of the Generalitat de Catalunya and
all its officials and employees to the unlawful dictates of the Spanish
state,
the election to be held on 21 December 2017 in three
separate lists rather than in an exceptional list appropriate to the
exceptional situation,
the postponement of the election of the Catalan President scheduled for January 30, 2018.
Before 27 October 2017, the Spanish state did not have enough
information on how Catalonia is managed and can be governed. Now he has
her. However, he is only in a position to effectively control and
administer Catalonia if and as long as the Catalans cooperate with him.
Neither would he be able to replace hundreds of thousands of competent
officials in the short or medium term, nor could he overcome the
language barrier if the Catalans did not show him the linguistic
subjugation practiced from childhood (editor's note: in Castilian
communicate instead of in Catalan) .
For the world community
counts who controls the territory of Catalonia effectively. As long as
this is effectively the Spanish state, the legitimate government of
Catalonia, the Catalan Parliament has no chance of successfully
enforcing the right of self-determination for the Catalan people.
Language as a means of peaceful resistance
Article 3 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Spain of 1978 reads as follows:
"Art. Third
(1) Castilian is the official state language. All Spaniards have the duty to know them and the right to use them.
(2) The other languages of Spain are also official languages in the
Autonomous Communities and in accordance with their respective statutes.
(3) The richness of Spain's different linguistic realities is a cultural asset that needs special respect and protection. »
If the Catalans still recognize the validity of this constitution after
the proclamation of the independence of Catalonia on 27 October 2017,
which is valid under international law, they would only have the
obligation to use the Castilian language, which is usually referred to
as "Spanish" in Germany. to know, and the constitution makes no
specifications (and may not make!), to what degree of mastery they must
"know" this language.
They do not have to exercise their right to
use them. Nor must they be compelled to do so. Under the Spanish
Constitution, they have the inalienable right to use only the Catalan
language at any time, especially in Catalonia and above all as civil
servants and employees of the Generalitat de Catalunya . If the Spanish
central government, which still governs Catalonia with dictatorial
powers under suspension of the democratic authorities, makes inquiries
in Spanish to Catalan officials, it is their right to respond to them
only in Catalan.
There must be no criminal prosecution under the
Spanish Constitution and the Human Rights Pacts if the Catalans exercise
their constitutional rights. In such a case, they do not refuse to
answer but respond within the framework of the Spanish constitution: in
their own language. If at least two million Catalans cease to use the
Spanish language in civil and professional life and consistently use
only Catalan and other languages such as German, English or French when
dealing with foreigners, Spain is legally bound to and it will hardly be
capable of long-term effective control and further economic
exploitation of its Catalan colony.
Similar to the "Me Too"
movement, if the pro-independence activists are serious, a complete
refusal to continue using the language of Franco and Rajoy and the
economic boycott of all media products in Spanish are needed. It could
also be called an "I do not know" movement: "As long as we are still
oppressed and deprived of our freedom, I do not speak Spanish anymore!"
"Me neither!".
"Who splits, wins"
The Spanish state is
trying in no small way to divide and split the pro-independence
activists. However, their goal, if they want to be successful, but not
be, primarily to enforce goals of their own party or electoral list.
They have to do what Catalonia piously and uses.
In the current
situation, this can only be the investment of the legitimate President
of the Generalitat de Catalunya , whom Spain was not entitled to remove,
but in fact has deprived of power. Anything else would be an
unforgivable mistake.
It is the goal of the Partido Popular to
completely and permanently subjugate Catalonia, to destroy the Catalan
institutions, to assimilate Catalonia to Spain in the long term, and to
perpetuate the economic exploitation of Catalonia. Every yield from the
Catalan side helps Spain and harms Catalonia. There will be no
compromise acceptable to Catalonia.
It would be a mistake to
believe that Catalonia could negotiate a more advantageous embodiment of
its Statute of Autonomy and remain in the Spanish state without serious
disadvantages. It's all or nothing for Catalonia.
If Catalonia
stays with Spain, it will be drowned out in terms of language and
culture, and politically and economically will continue to be a de facto
colony of Spain. Who gives Spain the little finger, will experience
that it will take not only the whole hand, but simply everything . The
Catalan offer for an equal dialogue was and will be rejected by Spain.
Now the Catalan people must react in the same way to the repressive
measures of Spanish politics and the judiciary dependent on it. It must
not withdraw its unconditional support from the 130th President of the
Generalitat de Catalunya, Carles Puigdemont. It must conspire against
the human rights-related repression of the Spanish state and implement
the establishment of the Catalan Republic step by step.
An entire people can not be imprisoned
It was and is wrong to postpone the election of the Catalan president,
taking into account the repressive rules of the Spanish constitutional
court. Catalonia does not win, but risks losing everything. If the
Catalan parties, who stand for the freedom of Catalonia, for the rule of
law and democracy, for the realization of the human rights of the
Catalan people and the establishment of the Catalan Republic, want to
reach their goal, they must do consistently and unerringly what needs to
be done.
It must be accepted that thousands of Catalan
politicians may be incarcerated as political prisoners in Spanish
prisons. An entire people can not be imprisoned.
For every
politician jailed by Spain in grave breach of Spanish law and human
rights, two more must follow. He who is afraid loses. Prudence and the
knowledge that the just cause will prevail will lead to success. If
Spain continues to violate human rights and oppress Catalonia to an even
greater extent than before, it will become a pariah state that will
increasingly be ostracized internationally, as it once did to the
Republic of South Africa. The economic costs of Spain will soon exceed
the annual 16 billion euros which it has so far been squeezing out of
its Catalan colony. At the latest when the economic damage that Spain
has to face due to its massive human rights violations amounts to at
least 160 billion euros a year, it will no longer be able to suppress
Catalonia.
Only those who dare win
Whatever the Catalan
Parliament does, Spain will try to do nothing if it goes against the
interests of the Partido Popular. Therefore, Catalonia must not always
respond to and submit to the Spanish rules, but must set the framework
by which events happen. Spain is not just banning the elected, until now
legally immaculate and immunity-loving Member of Parliament, Carles
Puigdemont, from having to sit in the Catalan Parliament to exercise the
active and passive rights that he or she is entitled to as an elected
Member, and does not even allow for a technically problem-free transfer
from Brussels? Then the Catalan Parliament will have to meet in Brussels
to undertake the investing of the Catalan president there. But it must
not submit to the Spanish will. Because this is clearly aimed at gaining
time and bring about legalistic tricks a state in which, under the law
of the Spanish colonialists, an election of Carles Puigdemont would be
completely excluded.
It must be made clear that anyone who is not
ready to implement his electoral program in these days as a Catalan
politician and, if necessary, go to jail, should give up his mandate and
leave it to a follower. Nobody likes to be a martyr. But in the current
situation, Catalonia needs convinced patriots who are willing to be
martyred, if necessary. Dr. Oriol Junqueras and Carles Puigdemont were
and are. They already deserve a place of honor today, not only in the
history of the Catalan nation, but throughout Europe.
