UN: Jordi Cuixart's partner denounces violation of children's rights due to imprisonment

Geneva"I and my 11-month-old son have made 22 trips so that he can see his father, often only through a glass partition for forty minutes, with physical contact permitted only once a month. We have travelled 30,000 kilometers."

The testimony of Txell Bonet, partner of Jordi Cuixart, was heard this week at the United Nations. On Monday it was Laura Masvidal, wife of Interior Minister Joaquim Form, who told of her experience at a conference organized by the Institute for Human Rights in Catalonia, in the presence of UN independent expert Alfred de Zayas. On Tuesday it was Txell Bonet's turn, whose partner (grassroots activist Jordi Cuixart) has been imprisoned at Soto del Real since October 16th.

Bonet appealed to children's rights to express the "injustice" faced by Cuixart. She noted that the United Nations has recognized the primacy of the right of children to have a family, and that preventive imprisonment must be the last resort for someone facing criminal charges. "Prison has physical and emotional effects on children, and it prevents them from growing up in a real family environment, a basic right, especially in the case of children younger than five", she said.

Catalan minister Meritxell Serret, exiled in Brussels since the end of October, also spoke out, comparing her freedom of movement in Geneva to that of her government colleagues --Joaquim Forn and Oriol Junqueras-- and the grassroots leaders Jordi Sànchez and Cuixart, who are still jailed in Madrid.

"I am living in Belgium because if I were in Spain I would certainly be in prison", she stated, after saying that this Tuesday the Spanish Prosecutor asked for their passports to be restricted. She also recalled how the Supreme Court had decided to withdraw the European arrest warrant against her and the rest of the exiled ministers and the president because they were sure that the Belgian judge would not grant the extradition.

The prisoners, a "dangerous precedent"

Also appearing at this conference was international lawyer Rachel Lindon, who is a member of the legal team advising President Carles Puigdemont. She stated that Spain "locks away the political opposition and refuses to free them until they renounce their political ideas".

"Spain must free these men. The actions of the Spanish government in this case are a dangerous precedent for the right to peaceful demonstration in the rest of the world", said the lawyer.

Lindon also lamented the EU's "absolute silence" in the face of the Catalan situation, and said that apealing to the UN is the only option because a case before the European Court of Human Rights could take many years.

In turn, MEP Lynn Boylan, who is a member of the platform for dialogue with Catalonia, denounced Spain's "systematic obstruction" of the Catalan people's right to decide and debate their future.

In addition, not only did she denounce the Spanish government's use of "disproportionate" force on October 1st, but she also noted that it had previously violated the rights of freedom of expression and assembly, giving as an example the closing of websites and the censorship of posters to do with the vote.