The Committees for the Defence of the Republic ( ca, Comitès de Defensa de la República, links=no), or CDR, previously named Committees for the Defense of the Referendum, are a network of

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

s that function on a local, regional and national level in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

. Its initial purpose was to facilitate the Catalan independence referendum. After the referendum, they adopted the new objective to fight for the Catalan Republic, and publicly called for violent protests and civil disobedience. The Committees for the Defense of the Republic have also made acts of

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

, blocking

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

lines and the Barcelona–El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport. The CDR was created in September 2017 as voluntary groups founded by a diverse collective of popular associations. Their initial goal was to collaborate with the implementation of the Catalan independence referendum (1-O) which had been suspended by the

Spanish Constitutional Court The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spa ...

. After the referendum, the Committees promoted demonstrations against the

Spanish police Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and organized several actions during the general strike of October 2017. On June 17 2021, Spanish

Guardia Civil The Civil Guard ( es, Guardia Civil, link=no; ) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a national gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the au ...

(National Guard) concluded an investigation that defined the CDR as a "criminal organisation with

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

purposes ndcapacity of assault, occupation and seize of institutional Catalan buildings and infrastructures."

Arrests

On September 23 2019, the Civil Guard arrested 9 members of the CDR in Barcelona. The members had been monitored for more than a year under ''Operación Judas'', and were arrested on

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

and possession of explosives charges. The charge claimed that the group planned attacks as a result of the Trial of Catalonia independence leaders, and 7 were ultimately charged with belonging to a terrorist group, manufacturing and possessing firearm, and conspiracy to cause criminal damage.

References

External links

Committees for the Defense of the Republic
- Twitter account
International CDR
- Twitter account {{Catalan nationalism 2017 in Catalonia Autonomism Catalan independence movement