up

:: The date of the public hearing against Gestoras pro Amnistía - Askatasuna has been set

The Fourth section of the Penal Court of the Audiencia Nacional published a indictment to set the date for the hearing of the associations for the solidarity with the political prisoners and against state repression, the case Gestoras pro Amnistía – Askatasuna. These proceedings include 27 Basque citizens against which the prosecutor asks penalties of 10 years of imprisonment.

So, after the public hearings of the case Jarrai-Haika-Segi and the well known 18/98 case, there will be the trial of this association under the accusation of “control the prisoners of the terrorist organisation” in the words of the prosecution.

Since the first operation against these associations happened, Octobre 31st 2001 their activities have been suspended and 12 of the defendants have been in pre trial prison –remand- for four years, the maximum limit that the Spanish legislation allows. Still today, Juan Maria Olano is in solitary confinement in the prison of Segovia after been again arrested the 9th of September 2007 in a demonstration brutally repressed by the Basque Autonomous Police and accused by the judge Baltasar Garzón for “criminal reiteration” for its activities as spokesperson of the pro-amnesty association Askatasuna.

up

:: The European Council takes position against the United Nations and European Union “black lists”

After 2001 the United Nations and European Union confectioned both lists of individual and organisations presumably linked to the “international terrorism”, among them thirty Basque citizens and the organisations Batasuna, Haika-Segi, Gestoras pro Amnistía-Askatasuna, Xaki and Ekin.

The Swiss senator Dick Marty submitted his resolution to the Plenary of the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council. He considers “imprecise and vague” the criteria uses to elaborate these lists, considering that they do not fulfil the individual fundamental rights and are “completely arbitrary”.

Marty denounced in his report that these sanctions can be imposed “on simply suspicions”, what results “despicable”.

In the previous meeting with members of the Basque Observatory-Behatokia, he had first hand information about the fact that a simply indictment with pre trial contents of the judge that investigate the activities of these organisations was enough for the inclusion in these lists. In the concrete case of the youth organisation Segi, it was not at that time even a judicial decision on the suspension of its activities. In the case of many others, today they have not even been listened in a public hearing.

Regarding the issue of the right to access to a judicial review to appeal the illegitimacy of the inclusion of those individuals and organisations, the Swiss senator had prompt information around the steps taken by their defence. On January an appeal was submitted to the European Court on Human Rights, after exhaust all domestic remedies, invoking the lack of judicial remedy as there is not in the European Union any procedure to remove the inclusion.

The report introduced by Dyck marty got the favourable vote of nearly the totality of the members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council, among them the members of the Spanish PSOE Ramón Jáuregui y Meritxell Batet. This attitude was publicly considered by the basque Observatory- Behatokia as contradictory, as «the PSOE has demonstrated their disposal to use all instruments against the Basque dissidence, also the “black lists” designed by the EU”.

up

:: Arrested the spokesperson of Batasuna, Pernando Barrena and the member of the National Board, Patxi Urrutia

The 4th of February the National Police detained Pernando Barrena, spokesperson of Batasuna and member of its direction board Patxi Urrutia. The arrest was decreed by the judge Baltasar Garzón in continuation of the actuations opened since 2002 against the political party.

The detention happened alter the celebration of a public conference offered two days before in a hotel of Iruñea-Pamplona, on the contents of the last conversations, carried on by PNV, PSE and Batasuna, in the recent process of negotiation, known as “Loyola process” that finished as a failure. The breakdown of the process has produced a pour of detentions against the members of that party, among them, the very known operation against 22 leaders of Batasuna, when they were about to celebrate a internal meeting, in town of Segura.

Barrena and Urrutia were prosecuted in the Batasuna proceedings and now, the fact of participate in that public conference, with contents eminently politics, would be enough to be considered by the judge of the National Court a “criminal reiteration”, and for that reason, decreed the arrest and imprisonment of both Batasuna leaders.

The Security Forces have developed a baste operative to try to arrest Unai Fano, the third of the panellists that participated in the public conference. Nowadays his whereabouts are unknown.

up

:: Suspension of the activities of the political parties EHAK-PCTV y EAE-ANV

It was long time ago that the independentist political parties have been subdued to two different proceedings: one of the, for the penal investigations opened by the Audiencia Nacional under the accusation of “belonging to armed organisation” and the other, by administrative conduct, in application of the law of Political Parties, in front of the Supreme Court. The conjunction of those two different, but concurrent ways would be justified by the political interest of the two Spanish majority political parties to take out of the ballot boxes, be unable to present a electoral platform to run the next election to the Spanish Parliament.

Thus, EHAK-PCTV had participated in the elections to the Basque Autonomous Parliament, at 2005 and EAE-ANV, historic political party that counts 77 years of activity, presented nearly 240 candidatures to the city council elections of May 2007. More than the half of them where illegalised by the Supreme Court as this list where compared with some secret police files and consider that they were “contaminated” or “infiltrated” by persons that had participated in previous lists or electoral candidatures. It must be remarked the language used, and the seriousness of the discrimination against this people, taking in consideration that, as police sources made public, those files could contained secret data of 19.000 persons.

The last attack against these parties came from the statement of suspension of their activities, decreed the 8th of February by the judge of the National Court Baltasar Garzón, on the bases that Batasuna would have “took control” of those parties. This decision will have a preventive character as a mere caution, but it will have a special importance as it has been extended to successive electoral candidatures. After the opening of the penal proceedings against Batasuna, at 2002, never has occurred a hearing against that political party.

These actuations have been accumulated in the macroproceding 11/08, enough to avoid the participation in the electoral pools, seize their premises and offices, freeze their asses and accuse of “belonging to armed organisation” to 38 independentist activists and “collaboration” against seven.

The interpretation of the judge will be that both parties are in the “threshold of ETA” as they have established relationship with individuals that are linked to Batasuna. In regard to the activities described in the two indictments of suspension of activities, it is mentioned to consult members of Batasuna the contents of public press releases, or show coincidences with them in conflicts of social character, as the one opened regarding the environmental impact of the High Speed Train. In this ambiguous and uniform view, what is considered by the judge “ETA-Batasuna” would “have taken control of the PCTV-EHAK and ANV”. It would have been a fact of “colonization” or “absorption”. As a proof of that is that people linked with Batasuna would have received salaries from EHAL-PCTV. The judge remarks that “it is clear that the PCTV can have any employee they consider apropriate and the members of Batasuna are not deprived of the right to work”, nevertheless the problem is in the “task they develop” labour that is not individualised, not concreted in the proceedings.

This actuation of Garzón has coincided in time with the deliberations of the Special Court of the Article 61 of the Supreme Court, in charge to analyse the conformity of the Law of Political Parties in the register of candidates of EAE-ANV to the Spanish elections. In its resolution the Supreme Court opposes the way opened by Garzon, as considering the suspension of activities of EHAK-PCTV and EAE-ANV “disproportional”. However, it prohibits their participation in the elections of 9th March and to receive any official subvention. In the proceeding remarks that it arrives to that consideration because “since May 2007 […] occurred the infiltration in n the candidatures of ANV of members of Batasuna”.

In conclusion, two different ways to obtain a unique goal, discriminatory for thousand of Basque citizens that can not concur to the lists, which would result “contaminated” and, in frank opposition to the rights of freedom of opinion and vote: impede the presentation to the electoral pools one option widely supported by the Basque electorate.

up

:: Consecuentes of the suspensión of EAE-ANV: police brutality and detention of political spokesperson

Tras la apertura de macrosumario 11/08 en el que Baltasar Garzón acumula en las causas abiertas contra miembros de ANV, EHAK y Batasuna, la primera de las reacciones del magistrado antiterrorista fue la prohibición de la manifestación que electos independentistas habían convocado para protestar por la suspensión de aquellos partidos políticos. Esta prohibición, si bien consecuente con el afán del juez de evitar cualquier actividad de estos partidos, cierra la posibilidad de la acción política, al suspender “sine qua non” cualquier derecho de actuación política de este sector social.

Así, el juez se dirige a la Policía Autonómica Vasca para ordenar que impida el desarrollo de la manifestación «y persiga a quienes quebranten el orden». El Departamento de Interior emitió una nota para advertir de que la manifestación está prohibida. Sin embargo, el domingo día 10 de febrero, miles de ciudadanos, en ejercicio de sus derechos de manifestación, se concentraron en la calle Autonomía de Bilbao para protestar por la ilegalización de los partidos políticos. La Policía Autonómica impidió la marcha pacífica, tras lo que los concentrados se sentaron en el suelo, coreando lemas en contra de las medidas de excepción impuestas y a favor de los derechos políticos. Al intentar proseguir por calles adyacentes, la policía cargó violentamente contra los concentrados, generándose enfrentamientos, heridos y detenciones.

Posteriormente, se celebraba una rueda de prensa en la que se denunciaban los hechos y se hacía llamamiento a la sociedad vasca a que participe en una huelga general contra la "represión judicial, política y policial". Durante esa misma noche, cientos de miembros de las Fuerzas de Seguridad del Estado han detenido a catorce miembros reconocidos de EHAK, ANV y Batasuna entre los que se encuentran Karmelo Landa, Mikel Etxaburu y Karmele Aierbe, quienes habían participado en la conferencia de prensa de la víspera. Garzón ha decretado el régimen de incomunicación contra ellos y les imputa delitos de "integración y/colaboración con organización terrorista". Además, ha procedido a registrar varias sedes de ANV y EHAK en Belartza (Donostia), Oiartzun, Barakaldo e Iruñea. Estos dos últimos han sido precintados.

up

:: The previous board of the Basque Parliament accused of disobedience
Previously we have spoken on the absurd effects of the application to the limit of the Political Parties Law, and the criminalization of the dialogue and the political activity.

The Spanish Supreme Court released a decision, on January 20 that admitted the pretension of a fascist trade union of functionaries –Manos Limpias- against the former members of the Board of the Basque Autonomous Parliament - -Juan María Atutxa, president, and Gorka Knörr and Kontxi Bilbao first and second vice-presidents respectively-. Thus, the three political leaders of the PNV –Basque Nationalist Party-, EA –Basque Social democrats- and EB-IU -United Left- have resulted punished by the highest Spanish Court for a crime of disobedience, as they did not dissolve, as the Supreme Court has ordered, the Parlamentary Group Sozialista Abertzaleak, name that was adopted by the members of Batasuna after their suspension in application of the political Parties Law.

The members of the Board justified their position in a lack of internal procedure in the Rules of the Autonomous Parliament, so that, they allowed to continue with the task of the parliamentarian group.

Now, the Supreme Court has taken in consideration the appeal presented by Manos Limpias, deciding to condemn with two years of inhabilitation for the three former members of the Parliament and the obligation to pay a fine during the first year. These are the effects of the widest extent of the application of the law of Political Parties.

up

:: ANALYSIS:
Prisoners with serious diseases and denial of freedom
Ohiana Lizaso
Association of Relatives of Basque Political Prisoners- Etxerat

Before the summer, the negotiation process on the future of the Basque country was definitively concluded as a failure. The methodology of the political debate aimed two points. The first one between ETA organization and the Spanish government, regarding military questions. The second between the political parties: Batasuna, PNB and PSE and dealt with an argument in view of unblocking the political side of the Basque conflict based mainly on the recognition of the Basque territory southern Perynees and its right to decide of its future as well as its political projects.

Although it is clear that the reasons of the disagreement and rapture of the negotiations are questions of political order, namely discrepancies in the content of the matter, the form was not less important either. Thus, while the positive result of the verification that ETA did deactivate its violent means of expression was being rendered public by the Spanish State, this very latter did not cease a single minute its repressive and violent actions. A situation in total opposition with the basic standards of human rights and fundamental liberties which the State has signed and willingly undertaken in a good many international treaties and conventions. Thus remain illegal the political parties and so making it impossible for a great social vector to sit in the elections or exercise the right to vote. Basque political and social movements have been suspended and their activists prosecuted. Omnipresence of the army and the Guardia Civil is noted in the streets and villages of the Basque country making it the territory the most militarized in Western Europe. Increased pressure on the group of political prisoners (dispersion of prisoners in the Spanish and French States, full accomplishment of the sentences up to 40 years, impossibility to release sick prisoners suffering from incurable diseases, and eventually the carrying-out of the known “Parot Doctrine” through which the penitentiary institutions refuse to the prisoners the exercise of their right to freedom after having served their full sentence, or hatch new charges to keep them in prison like was the case of Inaki de Juana, etc.), the anti-terrorist structure implemented by the PP still remains the same with the incommunicado detention regime, the powers conferred to the Audiencia Nacional… in short, like the PSOE itself has recognized it, the State has never observed a truce. This situation was exposed as well by Basque organisms supported by international observers and institutions. The Spanish State did not want to assume minimal conditions for a democratic policy in order to overcome all violence and find a political issue to the Basque conflict.

As expected, an increase of violent repression has been noted after summer as reported above in this bulletin. “The State is ready for this fight”, announced Zapatero and returned to his castles to exhibit his ancient weapons; the political ones consisting of the Spanish Constitution and the straightjacket of Spanish legality. In the other side, the repressive ones consisting of Garzon, la Audiencia Nacional, incommunicado regime and the penitentiary system.

They certainly are not good days for the dissident critical movements of the opposition facing this “castled” system, managing very well verbal arguments which nourish the set of repressive measures, ordinary or exceptional, implemented in along the course of recent years. It is certainly one of the necessities the most imperious for the social movements of the Basque country as well as the Spanish State and all Europe to find a strategy to respond to this repression.

up