"Humiliation Never Works"

As simple as that.

Lets get the record straight, I am no fan of England, that I can tell you here and now.

But to be honest, their approach to delicate issues is a lot more sensitive and intelligent that the approach that Spain takes to similar issues.

Prime example is their commitment to negotiate with Sinn Fein, even with the knowledge that the group is the political arm of the IRA. And not only Ireland is an independent country today, seems like the IRA is considering to give up their violent campaign in the portion of Ireland still under English rule.

Now lets see, no part of the Basque Country is independent today, count that one against Spain and France.

But the worst part is, Spain refuses to negotiate with the broad spectrum of pro self-determination Basque groups using ETA's violence as an all encompassing excuse not to negotiate with people working peacefully and within the frame of the law, people that denounces and reviles ETA's ways.

Spain goes a step further, their now infamous former Prime Ministe José María Aznar shoved a Law of Political Parties designed to ban Batasuna, the leftist Basque political party. Why was Anzar so obsessed with banning a political party that represents 11% of the Basque electorate? After all, the Basque population is but 2% of Spain. Is not like Batasuna was taking away votes from Aznar or any other Franco like Spanish politico.

He did so because he and his puppets like Baltasar Garzón insist that Batasuna is the political arm of ETA. Batasuna never made such a claim, but an accusation was enough to get them banned and of course, there was no negotiating with them.

That is where England and Spain go different ways, England negotiates with Sinn Fein, the IRA's political side, Spain bans Batasuna on grounds of a possible link to ETA. The ghosts of Fascism rear their ugly heads in Spain even today.

Obviously, the difference is that England wants peace.

There is one more difference, as exposed yesterday by a couple of Irish visitors in Barcelona, here is the note that appeared today at Berria:

Gadd: “Keeping the prisoners together facilitated the Irish process”

Irish experts pointed out in Barcelona that having most of the members of the Republican and Loyalist organisations in one prison and close to home contributed towards strengthening the peace commitment

Imanol Murua-Uria, Special Correspondent, BARCELONA

Irish political prisoners were, on the whole, in prisons close to home during the years leading up to the peace process; most of them were in the same prison –the Maze, close to Belfast–, they organised their own way of life inside and they appointed interlocutors to speak to the Government. Having the Loyalists in the same conditions as the Republican prisoners greatly facilitated the peace process, to the extent that the prisoners on both sides became one of the main players in the process. A seminar, which began in Barcelona yesterday and which is due to finish today, examined the prisons policy and the peace proposal in Ireland and in the Basque Country. Breidge Gadd, a probation officer, and Christine Bell, a lecturer, spoke during the seminar about how the prisons policy and the issue of prisoners affected the Irish peace process.

The two round-table discussions held in the Parliament of Catalonia yesterday morning could not have been more different from each other. The two Irish representatives, Bell and Gadd, first explained the extent to which the Northern Irish political process was facilitated by having all the prisoners together during the period leading up to the peace process, and by releasing the prisoners once the process had started; the discussion that followed was on the dispersion of prisoners and the absence of any peace process and it was attended by Antoni Asuncion, a former Spanish Interior Minister and former head of the Prison Service, Ruth Alonso, a judge in the Provincial Court of Bizkaia, and Gorka Espiau, a representative of Elkarri.

After the two round-table discussions, all the participants sat down at the same table and opened up the debate. The Irish representatives were asked first of all what they thought about what they had heard about the dispersion of Basque prisoners. Breidge Gadd said: “Humiliation never works.”

She stressed that she did not have enough information to give a complete view, but she highlighted this fact three times: “Every country is different, every struggle is different, but I can say on the basis of my experience with prisoners: humiliation does not work, full stop.” And she went on to refer to what she had heard about the dispersion a few minutes before: “If you hamper their contacts with their families, if you make visits difficult, you are creating the conditions for more terrorists to emerge, you are creating the prisoners of the future.” Gadd has been working with prisoners on parole as head of the Probation Service for many years.

Gadd Bell

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