From a Latin American perspective, Europe was and is an inspiring model for the protection of human rights and democracy. And I believe that it should continue to be that way. However, this requires not only formal membership, but also lively interaction with the decisions of the relevant committees. Both the regional system and the universal system.
Within this universal framework, the European human rights system has been a fundamental conceptual reference point for the last seventy years. In 1959, the first region in the world to establish a human rights system was a regional court for this purpose, the European Court of Human Rights, which began its work in 1959. The inter-American system was created years later – in 1969 – its own regional court, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which was founded in 1979. This was followed years later by the African Court of Human Rights, which was founded in 2006.
However, the “background” was and remains the universal system of human rights within which the Human Rights Committee stands out. Created by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), which currently has 173 member states. The Human Rights Committee is the body of independent experts that monitors the implementation of the pact and makes binding decisions, i.e. binding compliance.
As this newspaper recently recalled, the UN Human Rights Committee had ruled in August 2021 that the conviction against National Court judge Baltasar Garzón for the wiretapping of the Belt case, for which he was disqualified and removed from the judiciary, was “arbitrary. “
The committee also found that Judge Garzón’s activity “did not constitute serious conduct or incompetence that could justify his criminal conviction, which would lead to the definitive loss of his office” and that Spain should therefore expunge his criminal record, “compensate” the judge. and take action to prevent something like this from happening again.
In its 2021 opinion, the committee considered that the Supreme Court had violated Article 14.1 of the pact ratified by Spain in 1977 and had failed to respect Garzón’s right to a trial “with adequate guarantees by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal.”
The former National Court of Justice judge turned to this UN body in January 2016 after being sentenced to an 11-year disability sentence for subterfuge when he ordered the wiretapping of the Belt case, the Francisco Correa-led conspiracy that has numerous indictments included. public from the PP.
Two years have passed since the committee’s decision. And due to its substantive nature, this topic makes the stability of the judicial function one of the core aspects of the rule of law. However, compliance is still pending. The Spanish State’s negligent behavior towards the decision adopted in 2021 by this important United Nations body is attracting great attention.
The fact that Spain has not yet taken any of the measures ordered by the committee has led to a new condemnatory resolution, which states that the Spanish government’s response is “unsatisfactory” because “it is not relevant or does not implement the recommendation “. .
As recalled in this newspaper in the above-mentioned issue, Helen Duffy, legal director of the international organization Interights, from the office of Garzón’s lawyer Helen Duffy, Spain, “has shown blatant disregard for the authority of the Human Rights Committee and the obligations under international law attached to it.” has within the framework of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”.
In the statement, in which the committee called for “full redress” for Garzón, it recalled that other judges had taken similar action and had not been penalized for it.
A few months ago I completed my second term as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. I cannot say that the Baltasar Garzón case is unique in the world. Wearing “white gloves” or naked, I have seen and questioned attacks and subversion of authority against judges in different parts of the world.
However, it is not common for something like this to happen in democratic Europe. What is most striking is that in democratic Spain he is met with nothing less than a failure to respond – already “confrontational” after two years – in the face of a binding decision adopted by the United Nations body responsible for monitoring compliance with the main international Treaty and human rights.
It is never too late to take action.
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