One of the more brutal Apartheid-like policies that the Spanish State has set in place to punish the Basque society is known by the euphemistic name of "dispersion". This policy is applied only against Basque political prisoners and it goes against Spain's own laws. Due to this policy Basque political prisoners are jailed as far away from home as possible. What the Spaniards achieve by doing this is that they extend the punishment to the prisoner on to his relatives and friends which is a clear violation of international law.
The note you are about to read talks about the last two mortal victims of this policy:
The note you are about to read talks about the last two mortal victims of this policy:
Dispersion kills: 2 Basques killed while visiting relative
Relative of Basque prisoner imprisoned while visit
By Euskalinfo (www.euskalinfo.org.uk)
Yesterday (Monday 3rd March) the mother (73) and the brother (45)of the Basque prisoner Juan Karlos Balerdi died in a traffic accident while travelling to visit their relative in Almeria (South of Spain). The prisoner’s father resulted severely injured.
The victims were innocent people once again paying for dispersion: an extra punishment for Basque prisoners, where the consequences are paid by their relatives. Like in this case, the parents and brother of Balerdi had to travel 810 km (503 miles) to visit their loved one, to spend just five minutes with him. And when you have to be back to carry on with work, with your family, etc, all that distance can be done in very extreme circumstances.
The proof is that they are not the first ones suffering the consequences of dispersion: the Basque political prisoners support organisation Etxerat has reported thirteen people killed as a consequence of dispersion since 1982. Just last year there were 25 car accidents, 19 in 2001 and 13 in 2000. These car accidents have many times very serious consequences from loose of legs to -like in this case- death.
One day after the traffic accident was known, 250 people gathered in the family's hometown Lasarte to homage the 3 people. The official homage will happen on Saturday. In this homage, a member of the prisoner support group Etxerat stated that these victims were victims of the State's violence. He reminded that the dispersion of Basque prisoners was condemned by the Basque regional government on the 28th December 1995, but that this government doesn't put the resulted resolution into practice. He demanded human rights for those Basque citizens who have relatives imprisoned miles away from their home. On the same day demos happened in other towns while in other towns people also protested for terminal ill prisoner Bautista Barandalla who the government is denying the article 92 of the Penal Code which state the release for prisoners in this situation. Barandalla has had 10 operations. (Euskalinfo will provide broader information in this case in the near future).
Also linked to the dispersion, yesterday, the sister of the prisoner Xabier Irastorza, Itziar Irastorza was kept in the prison of Gradignan (French State) where she was visiting her brother. Apparently the whole reason to arrest Itziar Irastorza was the attempt of passing a letter together with a parcel that she delivered to her brother (!!!). Friends and relatives of this prisoner were kept inside before too. Xabier Irastorza has been imprisoned since the 1st August and he's awaiting to be extradited to Spain.
As it's usual with this cases the Spanish media ignored these cases in yesterday's papers.
Mortal victims of dispersion:
Rosa AmezagaArantza AmezagaPilar Arzuaga
Alfonso IsasiMatilde ArribilagaAntxoni Fernández
José Mari MaruriMari Karmen SalbideRuben Garate
Asier HerizIñaki SáezArgi Iturralde
Iñaki Balerdi
Can you even imagine what a political prisoner feels when one of his/her loved ones dies while trying to visit him/her?
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