The United Nations Human Rights Committee concludes that Spain violated the political rights of Carles Puigdemont

The former president had resorted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee pleading a violation of his political rights under Article 25 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The claim was filed, in part, regarding the suspension of his seat in the Catalan Parliament after being prosecuted by a crime of rebellion by the investigating judge of the case against the against the leaders of the 1 October. Regarding this matter, the Committee finds that “the implementation of internal law which results automatically in the suspension of the role of elected officials, for alleged offences on the basis of public and pacific events, before a sentence, precludes an individualized analysis of the proportionality of the measure, and cannot be deemed to comply with the requirements of reasonability and objectivity.” However, the Committee does not find a contravention of article 25 regarding the requirement of the physical presence of Puigdemont in the Parliament for the vote on his election, which in practice barred his election as president.