Maragall Supports Otamendi

We all know that the main political parties in Spain, the PSOE and the PP are nothing more than the two wings of the Franco regime-styled monarchy that rules that country at this time. So you can understand how any sympathy shown by a member of the PSOE towards a Basque always comes as a surprise.

The note you are about to read will show you how Aznar's openly authoritarian measure against Egunkaria and the torture suffered by those detained in the raid against the news paper has gone too far, high profile PSOE members are speaking out in favor of the Basque struggle.

Here you have it:

Former mayor accuses police of torturing Basque editor

Spain under human rights spotlight after senior Socialist backs victim's account of police brutality

Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Friday March 7, 2003
The Guardian

A fierce row over the use of torture by Spain's anti-terrorist police erupted yesterday after a senior Socialist politician accused them of torturing a Basque newspaper editor.

The former mayor of Barcelona Pascual Maragall claimed that Martxelo Otamendi was tortured while held incommunicado under terrorism laws for five days, after his daily newspaper, Egunkaria, was shut down by a magistrate two weeks ago. It was suspected of collaborating with the armed Basque separatist group Eta.

"Personally, I think that man was telling the truth," Mr Maragall said, after hearing Mr Otamendi detail how members of the civil guard police force's anti-terrorist unit had allegedly asphyxiated him by covering his head with plastic bags.

The support from Mr Maragall, who heads the Socialists' powerful branch in Catalonia and is their candidate to become regional premier, came amid a growing debate in parts of Europe about whether, in exceptional circumstances, torture was justified.

Mr Otamendi also claimed that during his spell in custody he had a pistol held to his temple, received death threats, was deprived of sleep, and was subjected to a continual barrage of verbal abuse.

A previous Egunkaria editor, Peio Zubiria, attempted suicide after being detained at the same time as Mr Otamendi.

Mr Maragall's support for the editor, echoed by members of the moderate Basque nationalist party which runs the regional Basque government, has enraged the conservative People's party government of Spain's prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar.

The deputy prime minister, Rodrigo Rato, used a parliamentary debate to accuse Mr Maragall of "covering up" for people "who could be connected to Eta".

After the Socialists threatened to sue, the accusation was changed from "covering up" to "giving credence".

The interior minister, Angel Acebes, accused Mr Otamendi of following Eta's instructions to its members that they must automatically allege torture if detained.

"The civil guard risk their lives every day and it is intolerable that someone should give more credit to the words of a presumed terrorist," he said.

Officially the Socialist party said it believed Mr Acebes. A spokesman, Rodolfo Ares, urged Mr Otamendi to sue the civil guard if he was serious.

Mr Otamendi said he had been stopped from complaining to a court- appointed doctor by a police interrogator who allegedly threatened to shoot him if he spoke out.

"The insults, physical exercises, abuse, and a sort of homophobic obsession started _ they said, 'put yourself in that position, take your clothes off, do it the way you do it with your friends' - things that would have made the inquisition feel ashamed of itself," he said. "They made me do exercises, or crouch, or remain bent over for hours."

The suffering caused by having a plastic bag put on his head was intense, he he claimed. "I never imagined it would be so terrible. You can feel yourself going after just two seconds," he said.

In a recent article in El Pais newspaper, jurists, police and court doctors said allegations by Eta detainees that they had been beaten or sexually assaulted were almost always disproved by the doctors who visited them regularly. Other experts warned, however, that the police might be using sophisticated torture methods that left no marks.

In a report to the UN committee against torture last October, Amnesty International said that it did not believe torture was used systematically in Spain. But it warned that not all allegations could "be explained away as a strategy by detainees to undermine the moral credibility of the authorities".

"Amnesty International has received some very serious and highly detailed reports, which appear to be corroborated by medical evidence," the report said. "Many of the allegations referred to _ asphyxiation with plastic bags, repeated kicks and blows of the hand on the head or testicles, forced physical exercises for long periods of time, claims of sexual harassment _ threats of execution, rape, miscarriage or injury to partners and relatives."

Notice the reaction by Acebes, for him, there is no presumption of innocence, if you are Basque you are guilty, as easy as that.

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