Barcelona (EFE) parallel to the increase of authoritarianism in the world.
This is how he explains it in an interview with EFE Ricard González, an expert in the Euro-Mediterranean region and the Middle East who has worked as a “freelance” for media such as “El País” or “El Mundo” and author of the book “Rise and Fall of the Brothers Muslims”.
Report “Don’t call me a terrorist when I’m not”
On behalf of Novact – International Institute for Nonviolent Action, González was in charge of presenting the report “Don’t call me a terrorist when I’m not” last Tuesday, in the third edition of the UN Anti-Terrorism Week, a summit in which representatives of states, organizations and civil society evaluate anti-terrorist policies at a global level.
The report warns that the practice of applying anti-terrorism laws with weak evidence to repress political opponents, which has been carried out for years in countries such as Turkey or Egypt, has increased after the coronavirus pandemic in line with the rise of authoritarianism in global level.
After analyzing the anti-terrorism policy of countries such as Spain, Tunisia, Algeria, Israel or Palestine, González concludes that “there is a general trend towards greater authoritarianism, which in recent decades has used terrorism and the vagueness of the concept to silence its critics.” ”.
The case of Spain
In Spain, it points to the use of anti-terrorist laws against the Catalan independence movement, as in the case of Tamara Carrasco -the activist who was arrested by the Civil Guard on charges of terrorism and later acquitted- or Tsunami Democràtic, the anonymous platform that He organized the protests against the sentence of the procés and that the National Court investigates for this crime.
According to González, “actions such as roadblocks or acts of civil disobedience cannot be included” in the definition of terrorism.
“Rights to legitimate protest are being restricted”, affirms the political scientist, who believes that “in a democratic State there must always be a space for legitimate defense and, although they may be forceful actions, they cannot be framed under the umbrella of terrorism ”.
In general, Ricard González warns that “tolerance towards protests is decreasing compared to twenty years ago.”
Environmental activists, another victim group
Another of the groups that have been victims of this method, according to the report, are environmental activists: “There is an environmental movement that, given the serious situation of climate change, has taken direct action and has sometimes been accused of terrorists”, explains the political scientist.
This is a global trend, and González exemplifies it by indicating that, in Spain, an anti-terrorist unit of the National Police intervened to arrest fourteen climate activists who launched red-painted balloons at the Madrid Congress of Deputies.
“These accusations do not always carry legal charges, but are accusations in the media that aim to delegitimize these social movements in the eyes of society at a general level,” González points out.
“We believe that this is something that can also be denounced. The concept of terrorism should not be used in vain”, added the political scientist.
Currently there is no international definition of what terrorism is due to discrepancies between states, especially when it comes to admitting the existence of State terrorism, which facilitates the type of accusations against dissidents that the report analyzes, warns the expert.
Ricard González thinks that, if a conclusion cannot be reached on what is terrorism, “at least an agreement could be reached on what is not”, so that an international consensus is reached on the limits of legitimate protests .
In that right to protest, the political scientist maintains, “civil disobedience must be included, which has been key to the progress of humanity, such as the fight against apartheid and racial discrimination in the United States.”