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ARCHIVED - Amnesty International criticises controversial gag laws in Spain
Human rights activists believe Spain should go further to protect demonstrators
Human rights group Amnesty International has criticised Spain’s reform of the Citizen Security Law, claiming that the so-called gag law doesn’t go quite far enough in repealing the most controversial articles on the rights of assembly and freedom expression.
Six years after its original conception, the divisive gag law, which includes reducing the time a demonstrator can be held in custody and allowing spontaneous, peaceful protests to go unpunished, has been welcomed by the majority of political parties in Spain but criticised heavily by law enforcement officers.
Amnesty has berated the government for the new law which, in its opinion, continues to seriously threaten the rights to peaceful protest and freedom of expression, since the reform doesn’t address the current infractions for disobedience, resistance or refusing to name oneself, rules which the organisation believes "have been applied extensively and unfairly to thousands of citizens".
One point on which Amnesty and the current administration strenuously disagree is the reform relating to the application of anti-riot equipment by police officers. According to the group, the new law fails to adequately control mechanisms for arbitrary police actions, and doesn’t respond in any way to warnings from the UN that have urged Spain to make drastic changes “due to its repressive potential”.
While Amnesty International goes on to question Spain’s policies on immigration and prostitution, the rights activists have acknowledged the positive aspects raised in the law, such as the elimination of fines for spontaneous protests.
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