The Human Rights Commission of the Bar Association calls for a judicial investigation into the police charges

PalmaThe Human Rights Commission of the Bar Association of the Balearic Islands has condemned the police charges after last Sunday's demonstration in Palma under the slogan 'Mallorca, at the limit' and has called for an independent and effective judicial investigation into the injuries caused to about twenty people and into those responsible for ordering and carrying out these assaults.

This was indicated in a statement in which they censure the "unnecessary, arbitrary, and disproportionate use of force" and point out that an "unjustified" use of dissuasive and dangerous elements was carried out against defenseless demonstrators and journalists, with an "illegitimate use of force".

"We denounce the violation of fundamental rights," they emphasized, explaining that the police charges and acts of violent dispersal directly infringe upon the right to freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and physical integrity.

As they argue, in a democratic society, the right to assembly and demonstration is essential for the construction of political pluralism. Thus, they recall that the Spanish Constitution enshrines this in its Article 21 and attributes to the security forces the mission of protecting the free exercise of rights and freedoms. They also add that Organic Law 9/1983, of July 15, regulating the right of assembly, reproduces this guarantor context, which must be interpreted in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the Court created by the aforementioned convention.

"States must not be limited to non-interference, but rather have a positive obligation to take reasonable and appropriate measures to ensure that peaceful assemblies proceed without incident," they state. According to their assessment, the peaceful nature of the demonstration must be presumed, which is why the burden of proof for violent interventions by participants "falls on the authorities, who must present credible evidence regarding this matter." Therefore, they point out, "objectively verifiable factual indications" are required.

In any case, they point out that the actual violence of a few participants does not make a meeting non-peaceful, as each demonstrator exercises their right to freedom of peaceful assembly individually. Therefore, the right must be respected, protected, and facilitated. To reach the threshold of violence or a non-peaceful act in the context of assemblies, "the behavior must equate to the use of physical force against other persons that may result in injury or death, or that causes serious damage to property".

In the case of last Sunday's demonstration, they argue that they are not aware of the production of such acts by some of the participants having been proven, "but we have seen indiscriminate police charges against people with a non-violent attitude and baton assaults on citizens with a peaceful attitude, standing with their arms raised as a sign of peace, or who were simply taking photographs or videos, including a photojournalist who was doing his job, resulting in about twenty people injured, according to current data".