Spain is facing a political and constitutional crisis after Catalans voted in favor of independence in a contested referendum that descended into chaos when police launched a widespread and violent crackdown.
The Catalan government said it had earned the right to split from Spain after results showed 90% of those who voted were in favor of a split.
But amid an unexpectedly harsh response from Spanish police, turnout was only around 42%. The Catalan health ministry said 893 people were injured in the clashes Sunday as riot police raided polling stations, dragged away voters and fired rubber bullets.
The Catalan President Carles Puigdemont denounced the police crackdown as the worst violence Catalonia had seen since the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and demanded the withdrawal of Spanish national forces from the region.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, called for "independent and impartial investigations into all acts of violence" around the independence referendum, and asked the Spanish government to allow UN human rights experts to visit.
"Police responses must at all times be proportionate and necessary," he said in a statement. "I firmly believe that the current situation should be resolved through political dialogue, with full respect for democratic freedoms," he added.
Trade unions in Catalonia called a strike and a mass demonstration for Tuesday, an action likely to test public support for the Catalan government in the aftermath of Sunday's chaos.
The Spanish government of Mariano Rajoy said it was discussing its response with opposition parties in Madrid.
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