Announcement of a very important new book:
Alfred de Zayas:
Building a Just World Order,
Atlanta (Georgia): Clarity Press, 2021 (1. 10.),
ISBN 978-1-949762-42-6
«The beautiful European project, based on human dignity and respect for the culture of peoples, has been betrayed by the Brussels politicians and bureaucrats, many of whom I had the opportunity to meet when I was the United Nations Rapporteur for the International Order (2012-2018), and my duties frequently took me to Brussels and Strasbourg.
It is regrettable when those fundamental principles of upholding individual and collective rights are abandoned, and when standards are ignored or selectively applied by ignoring abuses in some states and pressuring others to impose values that do not correspond to the European Convention on Human Rights.
It is incomprehensible and unacceptable that in Europe there are political prisoners, and that it is tolerated that Catalan politicians entirely dedicated to peace and democracy are forced into exile because of persecution of conscience in Spain. It is sad to note that the rule of law in Spain has been corrupted and the Supreme Court itself ignores the Spanish Constitution itself, not respecting articles 10 (2) and 96 of the Constitution, which incorporate international human rights law, including the right of self-determination of peoples.
It is worrying that while the European Commission tolerates the flagrant violation of article 2 of the Lisbon Treaty by Spain, it starts investigations under article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty against Poland and Hungary, two countries where it is feared that the rule of law is in danger, and even tries to blackmail these countries economically into obeying the despotism of Brussels. However, neither in Poland nor in Hungary are opposition politicians or conscientious dissidents imprisoned.
It is sad to see that the European Commission, which has obligations towards all European citizens, including Catalans, corrupts the law, applying it arbitrarily, à la carte.
I was Secretary of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and head of the Complaints Department at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. There is no doubt that Spain
violates articles 1, 9, 14, 17, 17, 19, 21, 22, 22, 25, 26 and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In September, October and November 2017 I and other UN Independent Experts appealed to Spain to respect the right of Catalans to have their say in a referendum, we also condemned the violation of Catalonia's autonomous status. But Spain ignored us, and this rejection of UN monitoring was of no consequence in Brussels. The credibility of the European Union and the Commission have suffered, but neither in Spain nor in the world is this situation reflected. We are in the midst of censorship and media lies.
We live in an Orwellian world where words like «democracy» or «law» have lost their meaning. As my grandmother used to say: «Shame was green and the goat ate it.»
Chapter 5 of my new book Building a Just World Order focuses on the theory and practice of the right of self-determination, examines the implications of inaction, and proposes pragmatic solutions.
The book contains a long essay devoted entirely to the rights of the Catalan people.»
Prof. Dr. Alfred de Zayas