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| Spain’s New Public Safety Law Has Its Challengers | Spain’s New Public Safety Law Has Its Challengers |
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| MADRID — Spain has been the epicenter of some of the largest protests in Europe against government austerity cuts, including a youth-led mobilization that called itself the “indignants,” which took over Madrid’s main square in May 2011 as a precursor to the Occupy Wall Street movement. | MADRID — Spain has been the epicenter of some of the largest protests in Europe against government austerity cuts, including a youth-led mobilization that called itself the “indignants,” which took over Madrid’s main square in May 2011 as a precursor to the Occupy Wall Street movement. |
| As of Wednesday, though, such demonstrators could individually face fines of as much as 600,000 euros, or nearly $670,000, under a new law that has been strongly criticized by human rights activists and others as an antidemocratic response by the conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to the social discontent set off by the financial crisis and near-record joblessness. | As of Wednesday, though, such demonstrators could individually face fines of as much as 600,000 euros, or nearly $670,000, under a new law that has been strongly criticized by human rights activists and others as an antidemocratic response by the conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to the social discontent set off by the financial crisis and near-record joblessness. |
| Spain’s new public safety law — called “the gag law” by its critics — was approved in March by Parliament, where Mr. Rajoy’s Popular Party holds a majority. The party faces a stiff challenge in elections later this year. The law now comes into force, despite continued criticism from activists and opposition politicians. | |
| Among other restrictions, the law forbids unauthorized gatherings around Parliament and other important buildings — a direct response to some of the anti-austerity protests held in Madrid, where dozens of people were injured in September 2012 when protesters encircled the Congress building. | |
| The law also forbids the kind of amateur video footage that has increasingly been used to expose police tactics in the United States, and which last month showed police beating demonstrators in the Basque country. In addition, the law sets hefty fines for a range of offenses: ¤600 for insulting a police officer, as much as ¤30,000 for spreading damaging photos of police officers and ¤600,000 for taking part in an unauthorized protest outside Parliament and other sensitive locations. | |
| In a report issued last year, Amnesty International criticized several aspects of the new law, including its clampdown on citizens filming of the police. Such footage, Amnesty argued, can make “an important contribution to getting police agents to answer for their actions.” | In a report issued last year, Amnesty International criticized several aspects of the new law, including its clampdown on citizens filming of the police. Such footage, Amnesty argued, can make “an important contribution to getting police agents to answer for their actions.” |
| Judith Sunderland, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the new law presented “a direct threat to the rights to meet peacefully and freedom of speech in Spain.” | Judith Sunderland, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the new law presented “a direct threat to the rights to meet peacefully and freedom of speech in Spain.” |
| She added, “It’s essential for democracy that people have the right to go out on the street in nonviolent protests, to criticize and even insult the authorities, as well as denounce abuses when they occur.” | She added, “It’s essential for democracy that people have the right to go out on the street in nonviolent protests, to criticize and even insult the authorities, as well as denounce abuses when they occur.” |
| On Tuesday, some protesters tried to test the limits of the new legislation. In Madrid, activists from Greenpeace climbed atop a construction crane and held a sign protesting the law, which specifically prohibits protesters from scaling buildings or monuments without permission. In the northern city of Gijón, protesters blocked a main road with tires. | |
| Spain’s main police union has sided with some of the criticism of the new law. The union’s spokesman, Javier Estévez de Cáceres, said the law had some positive aspects, but was not specific enough to help police officers in their work, particularly since most have not received adequate training to know how to apply the law. | |
| The union added in a statement, “It’s not the best timing, since we’re living in clear times of social, political and economic change, made harder when a planned law hasn’t gathered the necessary political or social consensus.” | The union added in a statement, “It’s not the best timing, since we’re living in clear times of social, political and economic change, made harder when a planned law hasn’t gathered the necessary political or social consensus.” |
| In fact, some of the protesters who occupied Madrid’s main square, Sol, four years ago are now at the forefront of Podemos, a far-left party that has emerged as the main challenger to Mr. Rajoy’s party and Spain’s main Socialist opposition party. | In fact, some of the protesters who occupied Madrid’s main square, Sol, four years ago are now at the forefront of Podemos, a far-left party that has emerged as the main challenger to Mr. Rajoy’s party and Spain’s main Socialist opposition party. |
| The leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, sent a letter to the Council of Europe last December demanding that it examine whether the safety law breached the charter of fundamental rights of the European Union. The Spanish law has also been criticized by Maina Kiai, the special rapporteur at the United Nations on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly. | The leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, sent a letter to the Council of Europe last December demanding that it examine whether the safety law breached the charter of fundamental rights of the European Union. The Spanish law has also been criticized by Maina Kiai, the special rapporteur at the United Nations on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly. |
| In Spain, demonstrations against the law began last year as it was being debated in Parliament, with protesters often using tape to cover their mouths and ridicule the law. In another more innovative protest last April, a group of activists called No Somos Delito, or We Are Not Crime, projected holograms of virtual protesters on the portico of the main Parliament building. | In Spain, demonstrations against the law began last year as it was being debated in Parliament, with protesters often using tape to cover their mouths and ridicule the law. In another more innovative protest last April, a group of activists called No Somos Delito, or We Are Not Crime, projected holograms of virtual protesters on the portico of the main Parliament building. |
| The government has repeatedly defended its law and insisted that it does not violate human and democratic rights. | The government has repeatedly defended its law and insisted that it does not violate human and democratic rights. |
| On Tuesday, Jorge Fernández Díaz, Spain’s interior minister, said the law should “only worry the violent ones.” Speaking in Parliament this year, Prime Minister Rajoy said that it was an exaggeration to present the law as a restriction on fundamental rights when in fact it was intended to “improve the free exercise of these fundamental rights.” | On Tuesday, Jorge Fernández Díaz, Spain’s interior minister, said the law should “only worry the violent ones.” Speaking in Parliament this year, Prime Minister Rajoy said that it was an exaggeration to present the law as a restriction on fundamental rights when in fact it was intended to “improve the free exercise of these fundamental rights.” |
| The law that goes into effect on Wednesday is actually a watered-down version of the initial draft presented by Mr. Rajoy’s government, which included granting private security companies the right to help the police break up protests. | The law that goes into effect on Wednesday is actually a watered-down version of the initial draft presented by Mr. Rajoy’s government, which included granting private security companies the right to help the police break up protests. |
| Still, among the dozens of types of protest or public behavior that the new law aims to punish are some that have become a staple of Spain’s antiausterity movement during the financial crisis, including efforts by activists to prevent housing evictions, authorized by courts but mostly demanded by banks. One of the leading antieviction activists, Ada Colau, was recently elected mayor of Barcelona. | Still, among the dozens of types of protest or public behavior that the new law aims to punish are some that have become a staple of Spain’s antiausterity movement during the financial crisis, including efforts by activists to prevent housing evictions, authorized by courts but mostly demanded by banks. One of the leading antieviction activists, Ada Colau, was recently elected mayor of Barcelona. |