Thousands rally in Barcelona to defend Catalan vote

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• UN rights experts criticized efforts by Spain to block Catalan vote
• At least 10,000 high school and university students led a strike in Barcelona
• Catalonia's right to hold an independence referendum has been banned by Madrid

BARCELONA, Spain - Defending Catalonia's right to hold an independence referendum, that has been condemned and blocked by Spanish government - thousands took to the streets of Barcelona. 

On Thursday, at least 10,000 high school and university students led a protest rally in Barcelona to defend the independence referendum.

Draped in red and yellow Catalan independence flags, several of the students gathered outside a building at the University of Barcelona in the centre of the Catalan capital.

Students chanted, "We will vote!" and "Independence!" and marched along the Gran Via, which is one of Barcelona's main avenues, blocking traffic.

According to recent opinion polls, Catalans are split on the issue of independence, however, a large majority want to vote in a legitimate referendum.

For months now, thousands of Catalan separatists have been holding rallies demanding their region break away from Spain.

However, Spain has not only condemned and banned the vote, it has also detained over a dozen senior Catalan officials and raided several regional government ministries over claims that they were involved in organising a banned independence vote.

Further, judges and prosecutors have ordered the seizure of electoral material including millions of ballot papers, the closure of websites linked to the vote.

In addition, the electoral board set up to oversee the vote has been dissolved.

Earlier this week, prosecutors ordered police to seal off places to be used as polling stations and guard them until Sunday.

Meanwhile, in Barcelona, some students said they may occupy schools and universities that could be used as polling station in Sunday's referendum in the northeastern region of Spain.

On Wednesday, Catalonia's regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, warned that there was a risk of a "disruption of public order" if police sealed polling stations as they have been instructed to do.

On Thursday, UN human rights experts criticised and warned Spanish authorities that their “worrying” efforts to halt Catalonia’s independence referendum appear to violate fundamental individual rights as well as stifle debate “at a critical moment for Spain’s democracy.”

Catalans are due to vote in a poll declared illegal by both the Spanish government and the country’s constitutional court three days later.

David Kaye and Alfred de Zayas issued a statement meanwhile, singling out the recent arrests of 14 Catalan officials, the blocking of referendum websites and the possibility that protest organisers could be charged with sedition.

The statement read, “The measures we are witnessing are worrying because they appear to violate fundamental individual rights, cutting off public information and the possibility of debate at a critical moment for Spain’s democracy.”

David Kaye, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and De Zayas, an independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order expressed reservations over the Spanish government’s decision to deploy thousands of extra police officers to Catalonia.

They said, “We are concerned that this order and the accompanying rhetoric may heighten tensions and social unrest. We urge all parties to exercise the utmost restraint and avoid violence of any kind to ensure peaceful protests in the coming days.”

Meanwhile, Catalan foreign minister, Raül Romeva has accused the Spanish government of a “brutal crackdown” and said the EU needed to “understand that this is a big issue.”

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