10/3/2017 Catalonia urges mediation with Spain in secession dispute - StarTribune.

com

//adding in snippet to support optimizely needs

WORLD

Catalonia urges mediation with Spain in

secession dispute
By ARITZ PARRA and CIARAN GILES Associated Press OCTOBER 2, 2017 7:45PM

BARCELONA, Spain Catalan separatists called for international mediation with the
Spanish government as they pushed ahead Monday with plans to declare unilateral
independence this week after a violent police crackdown scarred a disputed secession
referendum.

The referendum debacle only deepened Spain's most serious political crisis since
democratic rule was restored in 1978. The violence on Sunday in the prosperous
northeastern region left more than 890 civilians and 430 police injured when anti-riot
Don't miss a beat!
squads moved into polling stations and dispersed voters.

Shocking videos and photos

You'veofread
police
yourdragging peoplearticles
complimentary by thefor
hair
thisand kicking
30 day them were
period.
ashed around the globe, leading some European leaders to warn about any further
1 month just
escalation of violence.

99
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said a regional parliamentary commission would
investigate why Spain's anti-riot squads red rubber bullets, smashed into polling
stations and beat protesters with batons to disperse voters in the independence
referendum that Spain opposed. He also urged the 5,000-strong contingent of special
Subscribe
Spanish police forces deployed in Catalonia to leave Now!
immediately.
(https://users.startribune.com/placement/1/environment/3/pda-
15-per-mo/start?offer=289)
Puigdemont called Monday for the European Union "to stop looking the other way" and
urged Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to accept international mediation in the
?
crisis. He urged the EUAlready
to viewa subscriber?
Catalonia'sLog in hereto(https://www.startribune.com/login).
desire break away from Spain as a Europe-
wide issue.

"This is not a domestic issue. The need for mediation is evident," Puigdemont said.

Calls for restraint came from across Europe, including EU chief Donald Tusk, who (http://stme
appealed to Rajoy to "avoid further escalation and use of force" while agreeing that the Catalan ac
independence vote was invalid. Several human rights organizations called for an Oct. 2, 201
impartial investigation into the violence. Catalonia

Of the 893 civilians injured in the melee, two suered serious wounds, Catalan health
authorities said. The Interior Ministry said 39 police received immediate medical
treatment and 392 others had scrapes and bruises.

http://www.startribune.com/catalan-government-to-meet-to-plan-independence-declaration/449000613/ 1/3
10/3/2017 Catalonia urges mediation with Spain in secession dispute - StarTribune.com

But Spanish authorities commended the police, saying their response to the voting was
professional and proportionate. And Spain's interior minister said the 5,000 extra
ocers deployed to Catalonia would stay as long as necessary.

"I don't think there was such a heavy hand, but in any case, they had to react," said
Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis, calling the police reaction videos "a matter of
interpretation."

Speaking in Rome, Dastis said "some of the pictures are real, some of them are not real"
but that police had simply responded when people prevented them from doing their job.

Catalan ocials say an overwhelming majority of the 2.26 million who voted supported
independence from Spain they said 90 percent but the central government in
Madrid has repeatedly condemned the referendum as unconstitutional and invalid.

The Catalan president said the regional parliament will be asked to declare
independence this week after nal results are announced and plenary sessions are
scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

The euro and Spanish stocks fell Monday as investors tried to gauge what the weekend
unrest in Catalonia means for the future of Spain and European unity.

The referendum asco brought Spain and Catalonia closer to a potentially disastrous
showdown as each side said Sunday's events proved them right.

Rajoy met with his conservative Popular Party members before seeking a parliamentary
session to discuss how to confront Spain's most serious political crisis in decades. He
also met with the leaders of the opposition Socialist and Citizens parties to discuss
Spain's options, although no immediate consensus emerged.

The impasse developed after Catalan authorities decided to go ahead with Sunday's
referendum even after Spain's Constitutional Court suspended it while assessing the
claims by Rajoy's government that the vote was illegal. The court has previously ruled
against unilateral secession attempts.

Amnesty International said the Spanish police used "excessive and disproportionate"
force against people "passively resisting" a judge's order to impede the referendum. U.N.
human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein called on Spain's government to ensure
"thorough, independent and impartial investigations" of the violence.

Some Catalans said both sides bore some responsibility.

"I think both sides involved committed grave mistakes," said Eric Tigra, 56. "But we must
also highlight that if the people of Catalonia go out in the streets and you don't listen to
them, then something is not working right."

In an editorial, the Spanish daily El Pais blamed the Catalan government for Sunday's
"shameful" events but also criticized the Spanish government for its inability to tackle
the crisis that began about seven years ago.

http://www.startribune.com/catalan-government-to-meet-to-plan-independence-declaration/449000613/ 2/3
10/3/2017 Catalonia urges mediation with Spain in secession dispute - StarTribune.com

So far, most European governments, the U.S. and most international bodies have backed
Spain in its stance against Catalan independence, fearing that Catalonia could unleash a
wave of secessionist movements. French President Emmanuel Macron called Rajoy on
Monday to oer support.

"These are times for unity and stability," EU spokesman Margaritis Schinas said, urging
all sides in Spain to move from confrontation to dialogue.

Catalonia, with the vibrant city of Barcelona as its capital, represents a fth of Spain's
economy. Polls consistently show that while most of its 7.5 million inhabitants favored a
referendum, they are roughly evenly split on independence from Spain.

Those in favor of secession argue that the region contributes more to the national
government than it receives in return. Catalans already enjoy a wide measure of
autonomy but the central government still controls taxation and other nancial levers,
as well as infrastructure projects.

http://www.startribune.com/catalan-government-to-meet-to-plan-independence-declaration/449000613/ 3/3