In a letter sent on 8 February and published on the 14th, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, calls on the Spanish Parliament to “ensure that the review of the 2015 Law on Citizens’ Safety is used as an opportunity to bring it fully in line with European and international human rights standards”.
Ms Mijatović is particularly concerned with the provisions infringing on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly contained in this law, which is known as the “gag law” in Spain. The wide margin of discretion in its wording allows law enforcement agencies to apply it in a potentially disproportionate and arbitrary manner, the Commissioner said, noting that the implementation of the law has already led to “the imposition of sanctions on unclear grounds”.
With regard to the right to seek asylum and the prohibition of refoulement, she recommends that the authorities provide clear and legally binding guidance to law enforcement officials on how to act in a manner consistent with human rights when intercepting migrants at the borders of Ceuta and Melilla.
Link to the Commissioner’s letter to the Spanish Parliament: https://aeur.eu/f/bs (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)