Euphemisms

So, now you will know how to say "We tortured him to death" in the jargon of the Guardia Civil.

You say: "He slipped away during the interrogations".

You see?

Is not as harsh that way.

Remember, this euphemism is to be applied only when the victim is either a Basque, a Catalan or an African immigrant.

Here is the note that appeared at Berria:

Gomez-Nieto: “He slipped away during the interrogations”

‘Zabalza Case’ inquest. Two journalists have handed the judge a recording in which the Spanish Civil Guard Gomez-Nieto tells the CESID agent Perote that they killed Mikel Zabalza in Intxaurrondo

I. Murua-Uria – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian)

Juan Alberto Perote, the former CESID (Spanish Secret Services) agent said previously that Pedro Gomez-Nieto, the former Spanish Civil Guard sergeant, had told him that they had tortured Mikel Zabalza to death at their headquarters in Intxaurrondo (near Donostia). Perote admitted this to the judge in 1997 but Gomez-Nieto denied it. Now two El Mundo Televisión journalists have got hold of a recording of the conversation between Perote and Gomez-Nieto. The recording is now in possession of Elena Rodriguez, the investigating judge of the Court of Donostia (San Sebastian), and shortly all the parties involved in the inquest will be given the opportunity to listen to it, including Iñigo Iruin, the lawyer representing the Zabalza family, and Jorge Argote, the lawyer acting for the Spanish Civil Guard. This proof gives the parties an opportunity to request that fresh proceedings be started to clarify where the responsibilities lie, because it supports the testimony which until now has lacked proof.

The inquest into Zabalza’s death has been open since 1995, because there are a number of testimonies and pieces of evidence which cast doubt on the official version –the Spanish Civil Guards’ version is that Zabalza, in handcuffs, escaped from them, jumped into the Bidasoa river and drowned– but nobody has been charged yet; the Spanish Civil Guards Felipe Bayo and Enrique Dorado were accused but not indicted.

According to Sunday’s edition of El Mundo newspaper, the recording dates back to December 1985 –Zabalza was arrested on November 20th of that year and in December the Spanish Civil Guard discovered his body in the Bidasoa river– and Gomez-Nieto says in it that he reckons that the interrogators “overdid it” and that he [Zabalza] “slipped away” during the interrogations, “most likely of a heart attack, because a plastic bag had been put on his head”; besides “according to the doctors, he [Zabalza] was in poor health and needed three operations last year”.

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