A/HRC/44/2 3. General comments made by other stakeholders 387. During the adoption of the outcome of the review of Spain, 10 other stakeholders made statements.** 388. The World Evangelical Alliance and the Alliance Defending Freedom, in a joint statement, welcomed the acceptance by Spain of the recommendation to bring the Catalonia legislation on places of worship in conformity with international human rights law. It observed that laws in Catalonia have set unreasonably high safety standards for nonCatholic places of worship, which face the risk of being closed. It called on Spain to refrain from discriminatory provisions targeting religious minorities and to ensure their freedom of religion. It noted that protestant ministers do not have access to the pension system and urged Spain to ensure their right to social security. It stated that retired pastors still suffer from the consequences of discriminatory provisions established during Franco’s regime and called on Spain to remedy the situation. 389. Réseau Européen pour l'Égalité des Langues (by video message) welcomed Spain’s plan to adopt a National Plan for human rights. It noted with concern that, while States recommended Spain to guarantee the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, Spain continued to restrict these freedoms. It called on Spain to reform the definition of the crime of sedition. It urged Spain to carry out swift, independent and effective investigations into all allegations of disproportionate use of force during the Catalan referendum and protests. It also called on Spain to address the systemic language discrimination and to reverse Supreme Court rulings against the use of Catalan, Basque and Galician. It urged Spain to ensure the right to public participation for elected Catalan politicians. 390. Article 19: International Centre against Censorship (by video message) expressed concern on the situation of freedom of expression in Spain. It stated that the Supreme Court has issued a conviction for glorification of terrorism and insult to the Crown and that more than a million sanctions were issued during the recent state of emergency. While welcoming the acceptance by Spain of recommendations on speech, it remained concerned that Spain did not accept recommendations to decriminalize defamation. It urged the Government to reform the Criminal Code dispositions used to restrict freedom of expression and to reform the the Organic Law on the Protection of Citizens’ Security. It called for the repeal of the glorification of terrorism crime and of dispositions that protect against insults to religions. 391. Society for Threatened Peoples (by video message) noted that several States called on Spain to guarantee the right to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, as well as the statements made by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which called for the release of Catalan detainees. It was concerned that the Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan political and civil society leaders to prison, that over 750 protesters, including journalists were injured during related protests, and that 600 activists have been prosecuted since the judgments were made public. It was concerned that some faced terrorist-related charges despite their non-violent actions. It urged Spain to ensure that its legal provisions respect international standards and do not criminalize acts of peaceful ** The statements of stakeholders that were unable to deliver them owing to time constraints which were made available are posted on the extranet of the Human Rights Council, at https://extranet.ohchr.org/sites/hrc/HRCSessions/RegularSessions/44session/Pages/Oralstatements.aspx 66