Summer 2009
This is a summary of some of the incidents that took place in Basque Country in the last two weeks of July.
Basque political prisoners in three different Spanish jails were attacked by guards and taken to solitary confinement. This situation happens often and sometimes prisoners have to go on hunger strike to denounce them and get their basic rights respected. This is the case of Sebas Lasa who entered his 9th day on hunger strike today. He’s already lost 6 kilos.
Former Basque prisoner and pro-independence activist Alain Berastegi denounced last week that he was kidnapped and tortured in a forest by ten masked men on the 17th of July.
Basque prisoner Jose Mari Sagardui "Gatza", the oldest political prisoner in Europe has already spent 29 years in Spanish jails. According to Spanish law he should have been released in 2005. He’s spent most of his life in jail. His home town has seen many demonstrations for his support and even the Basque Autonomous Region’s Parliament has asked for his release.
The Spanish flag hanging from the balcony of the local government buildings in Gernika was burnt over the weekend. It’s within the building’s gardens where the Basque liberties’ symbol, the Gernika Tree is situated. Gernika was bombed in 1937 by the Spanish fascists in the first civilian bombing of history and killed 2,000 people.
Two pro-independence youths have been arrested in the early hours of today by the Spanish Guardia Civil police. One of them is surfer champion Iker Acero. The arrested pair have been taken to the Basque youth website Gaztesarea offices in what seems to be an operation against this popular communication project.
Last week 38-year-old Basque political refugee Ekai Alkorta was arrested in the north of the Basque Country under French administration and sent to prison following an arrest warrant issued by the Spanish Special Court.
Young pro-independence activist Xan Beyrie was also imprisoned after his solicitor's appeal was refused by the French judges. He was previously arrested along with 12 pro-independence youths in the north of the Basque Country at the end of June and was released on bail.
The Basque-Spanish police continues with its campaign to make all expressions of solidarity with Basque political prisoners disappear. Prisoners' pictures and solidarity banners are being taken off walls, festivals, balconies, bars...The largest Basque trade union ELA denounced this practice and reminded people that Basque political prisoners are scattered in jails around France and Spain while many of them should be released under Spanish law after finishing their sentences or due to serious illnesses.
Last week the Spanish Supreme Court ordered the disbanding of all local pro-independence ANV/Basque Nationalist Action councillors groups. Elorrio town’s pro-independence mayor said they’ve been denied public funds and that this is yet another step in the process of banning the ANV party.
A Basque volunteers’ garden of remembrance was riddled with bullets two weeks ago and was defaced with pro-Spanish graffiti over the last weekend in Oiartzun, near Donostia/San Sebastian.
The Spanish Coordination to Prevent Torture group said last week the Spanish authorities promote torture and impunity after the Spanish government failed to comply with the implementation of the National Mechanism to Prevent Torture.
150 Basque, European and American lawyers signed a petition to ask for the immediate release of Basque political prisoners' solicitor Inaki Goioaga. Inaki was arrested one month ago and accused of helping in an attempt prison escape in 2007. The arrest has been seen as an effort to threaten the Basque political prisoners’ solicitors work.
Last Saturday hundreds of mainly young people rallied in the northern town of Donibane Lohitzune/Saint Jéan de Luz. The demonstration had been called by the pro-independence youth organization Segi to protest against the recent months French police operations. During the last protest at the end of June, 12 young people were arrested.
30 years ago Joxe Antonio Otxoantesana had to escape from Spanish repression to Mexico. For three decades he helped Basque escapees in the north American country. He died last month from a brain haemorrhage. One of his sons last Sunday brought his ashes back to the Basque Country. Hundreds of people were waiting for him at the airport. Finally, hundreds more paid a well deserved homage to Otxoantesana in his home town of Ondarru where his ashes were scattered into the sea.
1 August 2009
August 09
- -ETA destroys police barracks in Burgos and Kills two Guardia Civil in Majorca.
- -Former Basque prisoner kidnapped and tortured.
- Attacks against Basque prisoners.
- -Three months without Jon.
- Basque prisoner enters 30th year in jail.
NEWS :
-ETA destroys police barracks in Burgos and Kills two Guardia Civil in Majorca.
A strong van bomb destroyed the Spanish Guardia Civil police barracks in Burgos near the Basque Country . 47 people were injured. There were fears of an escalation of violence in Spain by Eta, after a bomb placed under a car on the island of Mallorca killed two members of the Guardia Civil only 34 hours after the first incident.
Some analysts set the 31st of July 1959 as the ETA’s creation day.
The pro-independence movement said on a statement that it’s impossible to defeat ETA through police means and that the only way to resolve the political conflict it’s through inclusive dialogue, negotiation and respect the Basque people’s rights.
-Former Basque prisoner kidnapped and tortured.
Former Basque prisoner and pro-independence activist Alain Berastegi denounced last week that he was kidnapped and tortured in a forest by ten masked men on the 17th of July.
Everything started when he was call to do a building job in Irunberri, near Irunea/Pamplona. Two men asked him to follow them to a forest where they said they had an old farm they wanted to refurbish. It was there where another ten men wearing masks and guns were waiting for him. They questioned and tortured him for 7 hours.
They beat him and asphyxiated him with a plastic bag.
The masked men, most probably Spanish policemen, asked him to collaborate with them. They offered him money and threatened him with arrest if he didn’t help him or if he denounced what happened.
Alain was released after being told to meet them again in another day in the following days. Instead the former Basque prisoner denounced what happened to him in court and in a press conference.
The organisation against repression Askatasuna said that this is the new 21st century dirty war but reminded people that it was the Spanish Socialist government which set up the GAL death squads in the 80’s. The Spanish Socialist Party is again in power in Spain.
In the last 6 months 4 former political prisoners and pro-independence activists have been kidnapped and one of them is still missing.
Askatasuna denounced the main political parties and mass media silence around these kidnappings.
-Attacks against Basque prisoners.
Basque political prisoners in three different Spanish jails were attacked by guards and taken to solitary confinement. This situation happens often and sometimes prisoners have to go on hunger strike to denounce them and get their basic rights respected. This is the case of Sebas Lasa who entered his 9th day on hunger strike today. He’s already lost 6 kilos.
A former Basque prisoner saw his parents' house attacked last week just two days after being released. The Goikoetxea family’s house was painted with threats and the entrance was burnt in broad daylight. Another son is currently in jail.
-Three months without Jon.
Basque political prisoner Jon Anza was released after 20 years in jail and then moved to the north of the Basque Country to be free from Spanish police harassment. Three months ago he went missing. His family and the Basque pro-independence movement have said the Spanish secret services and the French government are responsible for his disappearance. ETA said in a statement that Jon was a member of the organization at the time he went missing.
Other Basque political refugees were kidnapped, tortured and killed by pro-Spanish death squads in collusion with Spanish and French police in the 80’s and some of them are still missing.
In an interview carried out by the newspaper Gara over the last weekend Jon Anza’s girlfriend speaks of the hard three months herself and Jon's other relatives and friends are having not knowing what happened to him. She denounces the political parties and mass media silence surrounding the case and expresses her sorrow. Jon Anza’s girlfriend goes on to say it’s been a political kidnapping. She thanks the people for their support and campaign across the Basque Country.
Posters with Jon Anza’s face asking where is he can be seen on walls and banners around the country and protests are constantly being held.
The Basque pro-independence movement accused the Spanish government of reactivating the dirty war and pointed at the French government as an accomplice in it. At a press conference last week pro-independence spokespersons reaffirmed their commitment to continue working to achieve an democratic scenario and warned that the dirty war won’t distract them from that work.
-Basque prisoner enters 30th year in jail.
Basque prisoner Jose Mari Sagardui "Gatza", the oldest political prisoner in Europe has already spent 29 years in Spanish jails. According to Spanish law he should have been released in 2005. He’s spent most of his life in jail. His home town has seen many demonstrations for his support and even the Basque Autonomous Region’s Parliament has asked for his release.
Since his arrest on the 8th of July 1980 when he was brutally tortured, he has been in 13 different Spanish jails and in total he’s been transfered 34 times. In those 30 years he’s been in prisons in the Basque Country just twice, and only for a very short period.
He is currently being detained in Jaen’s jail, 730 kilometres from his home.
He has been a victim of the different Spanish prison policies including those of the cruel treatment in Carabanchel, the dispersal policy and currently the extreme confinement in Jaen. There is no natural light in his cell, and all his communications and movements are under strict control. He’s kept in isolation for 20 hours per day and under the hardest prison regime.
The Basque pro-amnesty movement has reiterated that despite the Spanish and French states not recognizing the political status of Basque prisoners, the measures they impose upon them are political.
Gatza has numerous obstacles to continue with his university studies and has many obstacles to get medical assistance.
Due to the relentless changes introduced by the Spanish authorities to act against the Basque political prisoners, Gatza has seen his remissions denied. He also saw his sentence modified and increased to 30 years.
- -Former Basque prisoner kidnapped and tortured.
- Attacks against Basque prisoners.
- -Three months without Jon.
- Basque prisoner enters 30th year in jail.
NEWS :
-ETA destroys police barracks in Burgos and Kills two Guardia Civil in Majorca.
A strong van bomb destroyed the Spanish Guardia Civil police barracks in Burgos near the Basque Country . 47 people were injured. There were fears of an escalation of violence in Spain by Eta, after a bomb placed under a car on the island of Mallorca killed two members of the Guardia Civil only 34 hours after the first incident.
Some analysts set the 31st of July 1959 as the ETA’s creation day.
The pro-independence movement said on a statement that it’s impossible to defeat ETA through police means and that the only way to resolve the political conflict it’s through inclusive dialogue, negotiation and respect the Basque people’s rights.
-Former Basque prisoner kidnapped and tortured.
Former Basque prisoner and pro-independence activist Alain Berastegi denounced last week that he was kidnapped and tortured in a forest by ten masked men on the 17th of July.
Everything started when he was call to do a building job in Irunberri, near Irunea/Pamplona. Two men asked him to follow them to a forest where they said they had an old farm they wanted to refurbish. It was there where another ten men wearing masks and guns were waiting for him. They questioned and tortured him for 7 hours.
They beat him and asphyxiated him with a plastic bag.
The masked men, most probably Spanish policemen, asked him to collaborate with them. They offered him money and threatened him with arrest if he didn’t help him or if he denounced what happened.
Alain was released after being told to meet them again in another day in the following days. Instead the former Basque prisoner denounced what happened to him in court and in a press conference.
The organisation against repression Askatasuna said that this is the new 21st century dirty war but reminded people that it was the Spanish Socialist government which set up the GAL death squads in the 80’s. The Spanish Socialist Party is again in power in Spain.
In the last 6 months 4 former political prisoners and pro-independence activists have been kidnapped and one of them is still missing.
Askatasuna denounced the main political parties and mass media silence around these kidnappings.
-Attacks against Basque prisoners.
Basque political prisoners in three different Spanish jails were attacked by guards and taken to solitary confinement. This situation happens often and sometimes prisoners have to go on hunger strike to denounce them and get their basic rights respected. This is the case of Sebas Lasa who entered his 9th day on hunger strike today. He’s already lost 6 kilos.
A former Basque prisoner saw his parents' house attacked last week just two days after being released. The Goikoetxea family’s house was painted with threats and the entrance was burnt in broad daylight. Another son is currently in jail.
-Three months without Jon.
Basque political prisoner Jon Anza was released after 20 years in jail and then moved to the north of the Basque Country to be free from Spanish police harassment. Three months ago he went missing. His family and the Basque pro-independence movement have said the Spanish secret services and the French government are responsible for his disappearance. ETA said in a statement that Jon was a member of the organization at the time he went missing.
Other Basque political refugees were kidnapped, tortured and killed by pro-Spanish death squads in collusion with Spanish and French police in the 80’s and some of them are still missing.
In an interview carried out by the newspaper Gara over the last weekend Jon Anza’s girlfriend speaks of the hard three months herself and Jon's other relatives and friends are having not knowing what happened to him. She denounces the political parties and mass media silence surrounding the case and expresses her sorrow. Jon Anza’s girlfriend goes on to say it’s been a political kidnapping. She thanks the people for their support and campaign across the Basque Country.
Posters with Jon Anza’s face asking where is he can be seen on walls and banners around the country and protests are constantly being held.
The Basque pro-independence movement accused the Spanish government of reactivating the dirty war and pointed at the French government as an accomplice in it. At a press conference last week pro-independence spokespersons reaffirmed their commitment to continue working to achieve an democratic scenario and warned that the dirty war won’t distract them from that work.
-Basque prisoner enters 30th year in jail.
Basque prisoner Jose Mari Sagardui "Gatza", the oldest political prisoner in Europe has already spent 29 years in Spanish jails. According to Spanish law he should have been released in 2005. He’s spent most of his life in jail. His home town has seen many demonstrations for his support and even the Basque Autonomous Region’s Parliament has asked for his release.
Since his arrest on the 8th of July 1980 when he was brutally tortured, he has been in 13 different Spanish jails and in total he’s been transfered 34 times. In those 30 years he’s been in prisons in the Basque Country just twice, and only for a very short period.
He is currently being detained in Jaen’s jail, 730 kilometres from his home.
He has been a victim of the different Spanish prison policies including those of the cruel treatment in Carabanchel, the dispersal policy and currently the extreme confinement in Jaen. There is no natural light in his cell, and all his communications and movements are under strict control. He’s kept in isolation for 20 hours per day and under the hardest prison regime.
The Basque pro-amnesty movement has reiterated that despite the Spanish and French states not recognizing the political status of Basque prisoners, the measures they impose upon them are political.
Gatza has numerous obstacles to continue with his university studies and has many obstacles to get medical assistance.
Due to the relentless changes introduced by the Spanish authorities to act against the Basque political prisoners, Gatza has seen his remissions denied. He also saw his sentence modified and increased to 30 years.
11 July 2009
July 2009
- Strasbourg’s judgement supports political apartheid.
- Basque activists still at risk of extradition.
- More arrests in France.
- European election votes still missing
NEWS :
-Strasbourg’s judgement supports political apartheid.
The European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg, has made a judgement related to the Spanish "Law on Political Parties". In the judgement the Court supported the bannings of pro-independence political parties in the Basque Country.
In a press conference pro-independence spokesperson Arnaldo Otegi said that the judgement does not contribute in any way to the political settlement of the Basque conflict, but just the opposite. Otegi continued: “We believe that it is a clear step backwards for fundamental rights and freedoms in the European framework which can affect other progressive organisations in the future if they raise questions about the legal framework of the states in which they act.”
According to Otegi the Court has accepted the reasoning and arguments initiated by the former government of Mr. Aznar's Popular Party, with the consent of the PSOE, aimed at preventing solutions in the Basque Country and to put in place a situation of permanent confrontation.
Otegi recalled that the "Law on Political Parties" - which was created ad hoc in order to ban Batasuna (and later on other political organisations supported by or related to the Basque pro-independence left) - came into being under the cover of the antiterrorist offensive initiated by the Bush Government. That war against “terrorism” permitted clear violations and restrictions of fundamental rights.
It is surprising that the Spanish conservative PP, which still has not condemned the dictatorship of Franco, and the Spanish Labour Party, which organised acts of State terrorism while in government in the past, are the ones who are pleased about the judgement.
The pro-independence left reasserts before the European community that there is no other way of settling the Basque conflict apart from inclusive dialogue and political negotiation, in a situation of non-violence and goodwill, leading to an agreement that recognises the democratic right of Basque citizens to decide on their own future, just as the European citizens of Ireland, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Flanders or other countries.
-Basque activists still at risk of extradition.
Last week a hearing on the case of Basque political refugee Inaki Etxeberria was held in Caracas, Venezuela. The prosecution was in favour of dropping the case. The solidarity campaign denounced pressures from the Spanish authorities to get Inaki extradited. He’s still in jail awaiting the court’s decision.
The judge in the case of Belfast-based Basque activist Arturo “Benat” Villanueva decided last Friday to set the 25th of September as the date for the hearing on the extradition case. The hearing of Belfast-based Basque activist Inaki de Juana will also be held in September.
-More arrests in France.
Three alleged ETA members were arrested in the southern French region of Bearn last Saturday. According to the French police they seized guns, money, false ID’s and material to build weapons dumps in their car.
The other two alleged ETA members arrested last week after a road accident they had are still in hospital. Their injuries are not life threatening. Despite their condition, one of them, 20-year-old woman Oihana Mardaras, was taken in for questioning. She told her solicitors afterwards that she had been ill-treated by the French police.
-European election votes still missing
As we previously reported, the left wing pro-self-determination right platform Internationalist Iniciative (II) was subjected to a brutal criminalization campaign by the Spanish media and authorities during the last European elections. The attacks didn’t stop there. During the day of the elections there were numerous abnormalities such as lack of II ballots in the poll stations. Many more irregularities arose in the following days.
For the past ten days II members and solicitors have been denouncing these abnormalities and a campaign has been launched to expose the truth about the results. In the three western Basque provinces 1,800 votes have been recovered in favour of the platform after new vote counts. These new results have raised more suspicion about what really happened in the entire Spanish state. In Barcelona for example, the II representatives weren’t allowed to be present at the new vote count and the same happened in many other places. The counts, by law, are supposed to be public and accountable.
Surprisingly, the blank and no valid votes increased by 300% when there were 1 million less voters than at previous European elections. If we add to that the lack of transparency and explanations from the Spanish authorities, the extrangely poor results in traditionally strong pro-independence places, the systematic destruction of the invalid votes...we can understand why the II candidate Doris Benegas said that this situation shows the lack of democratic protections and standards in the Spanish state.
- Basque activists still at risk of extradition.
- More arrests in France.
- European election votes still missing
NEWS :
-Strasbourg’s judgement supports political apartheid.
The European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg, has made a judgement related to the Spanish "Law on Political Parties". In the judgement the Court supported the bannings of pro-independence political parties in the Basque Country.
In a press conference pro-independence spokesperson Arnaldo Otegi said that the judgement does not contribute in any way to the political settlement of the Basque conflict, but just the opposite. Otegi continued: “We believe that it is a clear step backwards for fundamental rights and freedoms in the European framework which can affect other progressive organisations in the future if they raise questions about the legal framework of the states in which they act.”
According to Otegi the Court has accepted the reasoning and arguments initiated by the former government of Mr. Aznar's Popular Party, with the consent of the PSOE, aimed at preventing solutions in the Basque Country and to put in place a situation of permanent confrontation.
Otegi recalled that the "Law on Political Parties" - which was created ad hoc in order to ban Batasuna (and later on other political organisations supported by or related to the Basque pro-independence left) - came into being under the cover of the antiterrorist offensive initiated by the Bush Government. That war against “terrorism” permitted clear violations and restrictions of fundamental rights.
It is surprising that the Spanish conservative PP, which still has not condemned the dictatorship of Franco, and the Spanish Labour Party, which organised acts of State terrorism while in government in the past, are the ones who are pleased about the judgement.
The pro-independence left reasserts before the European community that there is no other way of settling the Basque conflict apart from inclusive dialogue and political negotiation, in a situation of non-violence and goodwill, leading to an agreement that recognises the democratic right of Basque citizens to decide on their own future, just as the European citizens of Ireland, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Flanders or other countries.
-Basque activists still at risk of extradition.
Last week a hearing on the case of Basque political refugee Inaki Etxeberria was held in Caracas, Venezuela. The prosecution was in favour of dropping the case. The solidarity campaign denounced pressures from the Spanish authorities to get Inaki extradited. He’s still in jail awaiting the court’s decision.
The judge in the case of Belfast-based Basque activist Arturo “Benat” Villanueva decided last Friday to set the 25th of September as the date for the hearing on the extradition case. The hearing of Belfast-based Basque activist Inaki de Juana will also be held in September.
-More arrests in France.
Three alleged ETA members were arrested in the southern French region of Bearn last Saturday. According to the French police they seized guns, money, false ID’s and material to build weapons dumps in their car.
The other two alleged ETA members arrested last week after a road accident they had are still in hospital. Their injuries are not life threatening. Despite their condition, one of them, 20-year-old woman Oihana Mardaras, was taken in for questioning. She told her solicitors afterwards that she had been ill-treated by the French police.
-European election votes still missing
As we previously reported, the left wing pro-self-determination right platform Internationalist Iniciative (II) was subjected to a brutal criminalization campaign by the Spanish media and authorities during the last European elections. The attacks didn’t stop there. During the day of the elections there were numerous abnormalities such as lack of II ballots in the poll stations. Many more irregularities arose in the following days.
For the past ten days II members and solicitors have been denouncing these abnormalities and a campaign has been launched to expose the truth about the results. In the three western Basque provinces 1,800 votes have been recovered in favour of the platform after new vote counts. These new results have raised more suspicion about what really happened in the entire Spanish state. In Barcelona for example, the II representatives weren’t allowed to be present at the new vote count and the same happened in many other places. The counts, by law, are supposed to be public and accountable.
Surprisingly, the blank and no valid votes increased by 300% when there were 1 million less voters than at previous European elections. If we add to that the lack of transparency and explanations from the Spanish authorities, the extrangely poor results in traditionally strong pro-independence places, the systematic destruction of the invalid votes...we can understand why the II candidate Doris Benegas said that this situation shows the lack of democratic protections and standards in the Spanish state.
June 2006
- Great results for the pro-independence left in the European elections.
- Thousands against dirty war.
NEWS :
-Great results for the pro-independence left in the European elections.
Despite the criminalization campaign and the initial banning, the Basque pro-independence left supported electoral platform, Internationalist Initiative received 13.5% of the vote (10% in 2004 for the banned Herritarren Zerrenda/The People’s List). In the north, the pro-independence left organised under the Euskal Herriaren Alde (In Favour of the Basque Country) name and achieved a great success with 6% of the vote. Other left pro-independence parties in the north supported Europe Ecologie lead by the French ecologist farmer José Bové and received 15% of the vote.
On Sunday there were numerous complaints about Internationalist Initiative ballots being missing in many polling stations. Others arrived after 5pm. In the early hours of Monday dozens of reports from across the Spanish state emerged with very suspicious news. Thousands of votes for Internationalist Initiative were missing or allocated to other parties. In the Basque Country votes disappeared in 24 towns. In the Catalan Countries the blank and no valid vote’s numbers increased dramatically, in some cases by three to six times. As more and more reports and allegations emerge, there are serious concerns of a historical fraude.
-Thousands against dirty war.
4,000 people rallied in Donostia/San Sebastian last Saturday to ask “Where is Jon?”. Anger and frustration were the feelings among the thousands of people who attended the demonstration to denounce the disappeareance of former Basque political prisoner refugee Jon Anza two months ago.
Speakers at the end of the rally pointed at the Spanish and French governments responsabilities behind the disappearance. They remembered those who were tortured and killed by the Spanish dirty war during the 80’s and 90’s.
150 people gathered on Sunday to remember the 29th anniversary of the disappearance of another Basque militant, Naparra, whose body was never found and expressed their anger and sadness at Jon Anza’s disappearance.
After the election results were released on Sunday night, Basque pro-independence left spokesperson Arnaldo Otegi congratulated the movement for the results obtained and said that there can’t be a solution to the conflict without the pro-independence left. He went on to say that the great result will be used to create movement towards a scenario of democracy in the Basque Country and to get the European bodies and mediators involved in a new process of negotiation and dialogue.
- Thousands against dirty war.
NEWS :
-Great results for the pro-independence left in the European elections.
Despite the criminalization campaign and the initial banning, the Basque pro-independence left supported electoral platform, Internationalist Initiative received 13.5% of the vote (10% in 2004 for the banned Herritarren Zerrenda/The People’s List). In the north, the pro-independence left organised under the Euskal Herriaren Alde (In Favour of the Basque Country) name and achieved a great success with 6% of the vote. Other left pro-independence parties in the north supported Europe Ecologie lead by the French ecologist farmer José Bové and received 15% of the vote.
On Sunday there were numerous complaints about Internationalist Initiative ballots being missing in many polling stations. Others arrived after 5pm. In the early hours of Monday dozens of reports from across the Spanish state emerged with very suspicious news. Thousands of votes for Internationalist Initiative were missing or allocated to other parties. In the Basque Country votes disappeared in 24 towns. In the Catalan Countries the blank and no valid vote’s numbers increased dramatically, in some cases by three to six times. As more and more reports and allegations emerge, there are serious concerns of a historical fraude.
-Thousands against dirty war.
4,000 people rallied in Donostia/San Sebastian last Saturday to ask “Where is Jon?”. Anger and frustration were the feelings among the thousands of people who attended the demonstration to denounce the disappeareance of former Basque political prisoner refugee Jon Anza two months ago.
Speakers at the end of the rally pointed at the Spanish and French governments responsabilities behind the disappearance. They remembered those who were tortured and killed by the Spanish dirty war during the 80’s and 90’s.
150 people gathered on Sunday to remember the 29th anniversary of the disappearance of another Basque militant, Naparra, whose body was never found and expressed their anger and sadness at Jon Anza’s disappearance.
After the election results were released on Sunday night, Basque pro-independence left spokesperson Arnaldo Otegi congratulated the movement for the results obtained and said that there can’t be a solution to the conflict without the pro-independence left. He went on to say that the great result will be used to create movement towards a scenario of democracy in the Basque Country and to get the European bodies and mediators involved in a new process of negotiation and dialogue.
17 June 2009
Two Seminars in London organised by LBSC
The Basque Country and Northern Ireland:
Self-Determination, Proscription and Human Rights in the EU
Seminar 1
The Right to Self Determination and Conflict Resolution in the EU
Thursday 25 June, 6.30-8.30pm
Room SGO1, College of Law, 14 Store Street WC1 (Goodge St.station)
Speakers:
Bill Bowring (Professor or Law, Birkbeck College )
Urko Aiartza (Attorney and a member of Eskubideak, the Basque Lawyers Association)
Séanna Walsh (Head of Cultural Department, Sinn Fein)
Seminar 2
Proscription and Human Rights in the EU
Thursday 9 July, 6.30-8.30pm
Birkbeck College, Clore Building, Torrington Square, WC1 (Russell Square station)
Ben Hayes (Associate Director, Statewatch)
Julen Arzuaga (Behatokia Human Rights Observatory, Basque Country)
Alex Fitch (Peace in Kurdistan Campaign & CAMPACC)
The Basque Country (Euskal Herria) is located on both sides of the border between Spain and France. The majority of the 3 million Basques live within the Spanish state. The Basque people have waged a centuries-long struggle for self-determination from Spanish rule. On 15 February 1990, by an absolute majority of 38 votes, the Basque Parliament proclaimed the right of the Basque People to self-determination, including the lawful authority of its citizens to take decisions, freely and democratically.
Some years later, the Good Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998, overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of Ireland, North and South, in referenda, enshrined the right to self-determination of the people of Ireland alone. Recognition of this right by the UK government had been a key demand of Sinn Fein. The UK Government never banned or proscribed Sinn Fein, and the Agreement was the result of negotiations with its leaders.
This is a progressive trend, repeated throughout the EU – but not in Spain.
Batasuna, the Basque pro-independence political party, was outlawed in 2003. The most recent elections, held on 1 March 2009, were far from free or democratic. Some 20% of the Basque electorate were disenfranchised when the Supreme Court banned two more parties, Democracy 3 Million and Askatasuna (Freedom), from standing candidates. On March 23 2009, the Spanish investigating judge Baltasar Garzon, who is waging a crusade against Basque nationalism, filed “terrorism”' charges against 44 pro-independence activists. The activists are alleged to be members of banned parties, including Batasuna, the Communist Party of the Basque Lands (PCTV) and Basque Nationalist Action (ANV). Among those charged is the Mayor of the famous town of Mondragon in Gipuzkoa province, Maria Inocencia Galparsoro.
Martin Scheinin, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, said in his Report of 16 December 2008 that he was “troubled” by Spain’s Law of Political Parties, which provides the legislative basis to ban political organisations. He said it defined “terrorism” so vaguely that it “might be interpreted to include any political party which through peaceful political means seeks similar political objectives” as those pursued by armed organisations.
These two seminars will explore the issues of self-determination, proscription and violations of human rights, especially the right to democratic elections, throughout the EU including Kurdistan, with a special comparative focus on the Northern Irish and Basque experiences.
Entrance is free! All welcome!
Further information: www.campacc.org.uk estella24@tiscali.co.uk
Tel 020 7586 5892 www.haldane.org / www.statewatch.org
Basque Solidarity Campaign askida.net@googlemail.com
CAMPACC, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, Statewatch, Basque Solidarity Campaign
Self-Determination, Proscription and Human Rights in the EU
Seminar 1
The Right to Self Determination and Conflict Resolution in the EU
Thursday 25 June, 6.30-8.30pm
Room SGO1, College of Law, 14 Store Street WC1 (Goodge St.station)
Speakers:
Bill Bowring (Professor or Law, Birkbeck College )
Urko Aiartza (Attorney and a member of Eskubideak, the Basque Lawyers Association)
Séanna Walsh (Head of Cultural Department, Sinn Fein)
Seminar 2
Proscription and Human Rights in the EU
Thursday 9 July, 6.30-8.30pm
Birkbeck College, Clore Building, Torrington Square, WC1 (Russell Square station)
Ben Hayes (Associate Director, Statewatch)
Julen Arzuaga (Behatokia Human Rights Observatory, Basque Country)
Alex Fitch (Peace in Kurdistan Campaign & CAMPACC)
The Basque Country (Euskal Herria) is located on both sides of the border between Spain and France. The majority of the 3 million Basques live within the Spanish state. The Basque people have waged a centuries-long struggle for self-determination from Spanish rule. On 15 February 1990, by an absolute majority of 38 votes, the Basque Parliament proclaimed the right of the Basque People to self-determination, including the lawful authority of its citizens to take decisions, freely and democratically.
Some years later, the Good Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998, overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of Ireland, North and South, in referenda, enshrined the right to self-determination of the people of Ireland alone. Recognition of this right by the UK government had been a key demand of Sinn Fein. The UK Government never banned or proscribed Sinn Fein, and the Agreement was the result of negotiations with its leaders.
This is a progressive trend, repeated throughout the EU – but not in Spain.
Batasuna, the Basque pro-independence political party, was outlawed in 2003. The most recent elections, held on 1 March 2009, were far from free or democratic. Some 20% of the Basque electorate were disenfranchised when the Supreme Court banned two more parties, Democracy 3 Million and Askatasuna (Freedom), from standing candidates. On March 23 2009, the Spanish investigating judge Baltasar Garzon, who is waging a crusade against Basque nationalism, filed “terrorism”' charges against 44 pro-independence activists. The activists are alleged to be members of banned parties, including Batasuna, the Communist Party of the Basque Lands (PCTV) and Basque Nationalist Action (ANV). Among those charged is the Mayor of the famous town of Mondragon in Gipuzkoa province, Maria Inocencia Galparsoro.
Martin Scheinin, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, said in his Report of 16 December 2008 that he was “troubled” by Spain’s Law of Political Parties, which provides the legislative basis to ban political organisations. He said it defined “terrorism” so vaguely that it “might be interpreted to include any political party which through peaceful political means seeks similar political objectives” as those pursued by armed organisations.
These two seminars will explore the issues of self-determination, proscription and violations of human rights, especially the right to democratic elections, throughout the EU including Kurdistan, with a special comparative focus on the Northern Irish and Basque experiences.
Entrance is free! All welcome!
Further information: www.campacc.org.uk estella24@tiscali.co.uk
Tel 020 7586 5892 www.haldane.org / www.statewatch.org
Basque Solidarity Campaign askida.net@googlemail.com
CAMPACC, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, Statewatch, Basque Solidarity Campaign
4 June 2009
Iniciativa Internacionalista and the Cynisism of Spanish Judges
We have been experiencing the proscription of all pro-independence political parties and many years of repressive policies agaisnt social movements in the Basque Country for a long time. After all these years, a new initiative, Internationalist Initiatiative, has been allowed to take part in this European Elections by the Constitutional Tribunal. Basque newspaper Gara provides some interesting views about the cynicism of the behaviour of the Spanish Judiciary.
2009/05/23
Cynicism as a legal doctrine
The positive consequences from a democratic point of view that comes from the new ruling by the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal - the possibility that Internationalist Initiative (II-SP) can be presented to the European Parliament elections and those who support their ideology and/or programme can legally vote for that option - can not disguise the cynicism that characterised this decision. The defence of "political pluralism" and the discourse of legitimacy of an abstract pro-independentist left coming from a the very same judges that have endorsed the banning of hundreds of candidates with “laughable” evidence and based on fascist concepts such as the “contamination of candidates”, are either an act of deep judicial revocation or a little trick to save the credibility of the Spanish legal system in front of international bodies.
Despite guaranteeing rhetoric of this ruling, there is no indication that a structural change of this dimension has taken place. Also, the threatening tone that the Spanish Executive maintained yesterday, which should first explain its position and then accept the political consequences of the political pressure that it has enforce on the courts, does not show any signs of remorse, far from it.
The Political Parties Act violates from the onset one of the pillars of law, that is, not to produce ad hoc legislation or to create laws that apply solely to a particular group or a single manifestation of a phenomenon and by definition not applicable to others. The verdict, paradoxically, shows how this law is aimed only at outlawing the Basque pro-independence left movement as a tradition and political expression. And there can be found a political miscalculation, even anthropological one could say, of their promoters. It was designed with the perspective that the outlawing of Batasuna would be the final push into hiding for the Basque pro-independence left . But this idea just shows a profound ignorance of the Basque situation. From this ignorance, the Spanish courts have had to enforce their own doctrine. A doctrine based on political cynicism, not the law.
3 June 2009
may 2009
- Extensive interview with ETA.
- Dirty war behind Jon Anza’s disappearence.
- Successful general strike.
- Internationalist Iniciative will stand in elections.
- Spanish Supreme Court rules against newspaper's closure.
NEWS :
Click here to watch the more serious program: THE SPANISH INQUISTION
-Extensive interview with ETA.
During an interview published by the Basque newspaper Gara on Monday ETA says that “our weapons will be laid down when all political projects will have the opportunity to become reality, including independence.”
According to ETA, the Spanish and French states attack the Basque pro-independence movement in order to stop the engine for political change and sovereignty.
ETA says that a new negotiation process depends on the will of the states to respect equal opportunities and civil and political rights in the Basque Country. Before sitting at the negotiation table ETA believes that all those who are in favour of the Basque Country’s democratic rights should reach a basic agreement.
ETA calls once again upon these forces to come together and put in practice an efficient strategy to achieve a democratic scenario. ETA goes on to state that the current standstill situation can only be overcome in this way.
-Dirty war behind Jon Anza’s disappearence.
500 people gathered on Saturday in Biarritz demanding that the French Defence Minister disclose the whereabouts of the Basque militant Jon Anza’s. He went missing on the 18th of April and two weeks later ETA claimed the Spanish and French secret services were responsible for his disappearance. The protesters were attacked with gas and batons by the police.
On Friday hundreds of people asked “Where is Jon?” at the 70 vigils for Basque political prisoners that take place around the country every week.
Last January a Basque political refugee was kidnapped and threatened by a group comprised of French and Spanish individuals just to be released a few hours later.
The former Basque political prisoner stated at a press conference last week that several individuals kidnapped him on May 19th in Bilbo. After threatening his life, they asked him to become an informer. Next day he noticed he was under surveillance by the same people. Last Wednesday these individuals approached him and identified themselves as Basque-Spanish police. They threatened him again and then violently assaulted him, as a result of which he required hospital medical attention.
Another protest was held in Irunea/Pamplona last week to denounce several “dirty war” attacks that happened recently in the province of Navarre. Death threats on walls, paint and petrol bomb attacks against independence movement bars ...The latest one happened on Tuesday when the car belonging to the spokesperson of several campaigns against repression in the province, was broken into and destroyed.
Basque political refugee and former prisoner Jon Anza remains missing since the 18th of April. In a statement released last week ETA claims Jon Anza is a member of the armed organization and accuses the Spanish and French police of being involved in his disappearance. ETA says he was on his way to a meeting with other militants but he never arrived. According to ETA the police knew he was an ETA member after they discovered his finger prints on some computers seized in January.
Last Saturday 1,300 people took to the streets in the northern town of Baiona/Bayonne to protest against Jon’s kidnapping and asking for his release.
- Successful general strike.
Despite the bosses and governments’ threats, police repression and media boycott thousands upon thousands of workers took part in the general strike in the southern Basque Country last Thursday. The general strike had been called by the mayority of Basque trade unions. These trade unions are working-class minded, against social partnership and for self-determination.
Large demonstrations were held in the main cities at mid-day and in dozens of towns across the country in the evening. The day’s main slogans were in favour of a fair social and economic model and against the bosses blackmailing. According to the trade unions the capitalist crisis should be paid by those who created it and not by the workers, unemployed, pensioners, women, students, inmigrants...
The general strike was branded as a success by the trade unions and as a first step in a series of fights for different economy policies.
- Internationalist Iniciative will stand in elections.
Despite the Spanish government’s bids to ban the left wing electoral platform Internationalist Initiative late on Thursday night the Constitutional Court ruled against the previous Supreme Court decission and allowed them to take part in the next European elections.
The latter decission came as a surprise move although many pointed out at the lack of evidence against the platform and the possibility the first decission being rejected by the European Court.
The pro-independence left called upon those who want a democratic resolution to the Basque conflict and a socialist Europe to vote for Internationalist Initiative-The solidarity of the peoples.
- Spanish Supreme Court rules against newspaper's closure.
In July 1998 the Spanish authorities closed down the Basque pro-independence newspaper Egin and radio station Egin Irratia. Last week the Spanish Supreme Court accepted the appeal in favour of the defence when it declared the closures were in breach of the law. It was also the case not just of the mentioned media, but also of other several companies.
On the same judgement the Supreme Court halved the sentences against 38 Basque pro-independence political activists who were tried on the 18/98 case. They will still have to spend an average of 10 years in jail for their peaceful and public political and cultural work.
Many political activists judged in several political trials held a press conference last week to denounce the attacks against the civil and political rights in the Basque Country and to ask for the construction of an effective people’s wall to stop them.
- Dirty war behind Jon Anza’s disappearence.
- Successful general strike.
- Internationalist Iniciative will stand in elections.
- Spanish Supreme Court rules against newspaper's closure.
NEWS :
"THE SPANISH INQUISITION"
Click here to watch the more serious program: THE SPANISH INQUISTION
-Extensive interview with ETA.
During an interview published by the Basque newspaper Gara on Monday ETA says that “our weapons will be laid down when all political projects will have the opportunity to become reality, including independence.”
According to ETA, the Spanish and French states attack the Basque pro-independence movement in order to stop the engine for political change and sovereignty.
ETA says that a new negotiation process depends on the will of the states to respect equal opportunities and civil and political rights in the Basque Country. Before sitting at the negotiation table ETA believes that all those who are in favour of the Basque Country’s democratic rights should reach a basic agreement.
ETA calls once again upon these forces to come together and put in practice an efficient strategy to achieve a democratic scenario. ETA goes on to state that the current standstill situation can only be overcome in this way.
-Dirty war behind Jon Anza’s disappearence.
500 people gathered on Saturday in Biarritz demanding that the French Defence Minister disclose the whereabouts of the Basque militant Jon Anza’s. He went missing on the 18th of April and two weeks later ETA claimed the Spanish and French secret services were responsible for his disappearance. The protesters were attacked with gas and batons by the police.
On Friday hundreds of people asked “Where is Jon?” at the 70 vigils for Basque political prisoners that take place around the country every week.
Last January a Basque political refugee was kidnapped and threatened by a group comprised of French and Spanish individuals just to be released a few hours later.
The former Basque political prisoner stated at a press conference last week that several individuals kidnapped him on May 19th in Bilbo. After threatening his life, they asked him to become an informer. Next day he noticed he was under surveillance by the same people. Last Wednesday these individuals approached him and identified themselves as Basque-Spanish police. They threatened him again and then violently assaulted him, as a result of which he required hospital medical attention.
Another protest was held in Irunea/Pamplona last week to denounce several “dirty war” attacks that happened recently in the province of Navarre. Death threats on walls, paint and petrol bomb attacks against independence movement bars ...The latest one happened on Tuesday when the car belonging to the spokesperson of several campaigns against repression in the province, was broken into and destroyed.
Basque political refugee and former prisoner Jon Anza remains missing since the 18th of April. In a statement released last week ETA claims Jon Anza is a member of the armed organization and accuses the Spanish and French police of being involved in his disappearance. ETA says he was on his way to a meeting with other militants but he never arrived. According to ETA the police knew he was an ETA member after they discovered his finger prints on some computers seized in January.
Last Saturday 1,300 people took to the streets in the northern town of Baiona/Bayonne to protest against Jon’s kidnapping and asking for his release.
- Successful general strike.
Despite the bosses and governments’ threats, police repression and media boycott thousands upon thousands of workers took part in the general strike in the southern Basque Country last Thursday. The general strike had been called by the mayority of Basque trade unions. These trade unions are working-class minded, against social partnership and for self-determination.
Large demonstrations were held in the main cities at mid-day and in dozens of towns across the country in the evening. The day’s main slogans were in favour of a fair social and economic model and against the bosses blackmailing. According to the trade unions the capitalist crisis should be paid by those who created it and not by the workers, unemployed, pensioners, women, students, inmigrants...
The general strike was branded as a success by the trade unions and as a first step in a series of fights for different economy policies.
- Internationalist Iniciative will stand in elections.
Despite the Spanish government’s bids to ban the left wing electoral platform Internationalist Initiative late on Thursday night the Constitutional Court ruled against the previous Supreme Court decission and allowed them to take part in the next European elections.
The latter decission came as a surprise move although many pointed out at the lack of evidence against the platform and the possibility the first decission being rejected by the European Court.
The pro-independence left called upon those who want a democratic resolution to the Basque conflict and a socialist Europe to vote for Internationalist Initiative-The solidarity of the peoples.
- Spanish Supreme Court rules against newspaper's closure.
In July 1998 the Spanish authorities closed down the Basque pro-independence newspaper Egin and radio station Egin Irratia. Last week the Spanish Supreme Court accepted the appeal in favour of the defence when it declared the closures were in breach of the law. It was also the case not just of the mentioned media, but also of other several companies.
On the same judgement the Supreme Court halved the sentences against 38 Basque pro-independence political activists who were tried on the 18/98 case. They will still have to spend an average of 10 years in jail for their peaceful and public political and cultural work.
Many political activists judged in several political trials held a press conference last week to denounce the attacks against the civil and political rights in the Basque Country and to ask for the construction of an effective people’s wall to stop them.
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