The following is a statement signed by Statewatch and organised by Irídia. You can find more information on the campaign and how to support on the Justice for Roger website.
Statement in support of Roger Español
The undersigned individuals and organizations support Roger Español in his case against the officer and the commanders who mutilated him on 1 October 2017 with a rubber bullet. Today, nine years later, we do not forget. In this case, Roger also represents all the other people affected by the police brutality of that day, who have not been able to bring their cases to trial because their proceedings have been shelved, amnestied or have not been investigated.
The violence of the Policia Nacional and the Guardia Civil throughout Catalonia led to 1,066 people receiving treatment from health services. Their utterly disproportionate action responded to a standardized and systematic pattern that seeks to repress and punish the exercise of fundamental rights such as the prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, political participation, freedoms of assembly and demonstration, freedom of expression and the right to self-determination.
In a context in which reactionary forces threaten rights and freedoms, the capacity for popular mobilization, self-organization, strength and drive demonstrated on 1 October 2017 is today more necessary than ever. This trial is, therefore, a call for support and collective action to demand justice for Roger, as a symbolic representation of those who suffered violence that day and of all the peoples and people who still suffer it today for the mere fact of existing and wanting to be free.
Therefore, we declare:
● Our rejection of the repression of national and social mobilization. No one should lose an eye for demonstrating. The prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment is absolute, also in protest contexts.
● Our solidarity with all those affected.
● Our recognition of all those who made the self-determination referendum of 1 October possible and those who still suffer its consequences today.
● Our demand for justice: that those responsible for Roger’s mutilation and the violence of 1 October be convicted.
● The need for personal and collective reparation for the damage caused.
So that we do not forget the past nor allow it to be repeated in the future, only a conviction can guarantee justice and reparation.
Image credits: The collage contains a modified version of “Spanish Police Colibrí” by José Luis Celada Euba, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0