Chirac Sides with Aznar

Today at Berria:

Chirac shares Aznar’s opinion of the proposal

Aznar declares in the Carcassonne summit that Juan Jose Ibarretxe’s proposal has no possibility whatsoever of going ahead “in Spain and even less so in the European Union”

Agencies – CARCASSONNE

The statute proposal of the Government of the BAC (Basque Autonomous Community of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) was touched on during the Franco-Spanish summit yesterday, and President Chirac of France spoke about the matter for the first time. In Chirac’s view the proposal of the BAC President, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, was not a matter for the French State, but in a reply to a reporter’s question he backed what Aznar had said previously. “I have no answer for the question you have put, because it is an internal matter for Spain. Nevertheless, I share the view put forward by President Aznar and I give it my wholehearted support.”

The summit of the Governments of France and Spain took place in Carcassonne (France) yesterday. A number of ministers also met together apart from the two presidents. While Chirac and Aznar were having their own meeting, the ministers of the two states were holding parallel departmental meetings. The Foreign Affairs, Interior, Justice, Public Works and Transport ministers also attended the summit along with those responsible for European Affairs, Industry and Energy. The only thing Chirac said about Juan Jose Ibarretxe’s proposal is what is mentioned above, but Jose Maria Aznar, the Spanish President, spoke longer on the subject. Aznar had in fact brought up the topic during the previous press conference before Chirac spoke.

Aznar felt that the proposal of the BAC Government had no chance of going ahead “in Spain, and even less so in Europe.” He said that the possibilities were reduced even further due to the references made in the proposal to the Northern Basque Country (under French jurisdiction). “It is logical for the Spanish State not to accept proposals that lead to the secession of part of its territory. Neither is there any possibility of accepting this proposal which entails secession from one of the European Union’s member states; this is precisely because in Europe we are going in the opposite direction. So if this proposal means making demands about the territories belonging to another state, it has no chance of success, and moreover it is not worth even taking about it.”

Angel Acebes, the Spanish Interior Minister, had said before the summit that he would be discussing the BAC Government’s proposal with Nicolas Sarkozy, his French counterpart. Acebes said, “I will explain to him that it is detrimental to the struggle against terrorism”.

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IBO : Basque Refugees in Mexico

I take this opportunity to present to you a statement made by the International Basque Organization for Human Rights regarding the situation of the six Basque political refugees being held captive in Mexico over some peregrine accusations by the Spanish government:

STATEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL BASQUE ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ON THE MEXICAN POLICIES REGARDING BASQUE POLITICAL REFUGEES

In a general context of ideological persecution in the Basque Country, alarming irregularities have been occurring during several years on the part of the Mexican government, regarding the Basque political refugees who live there.

IBO is an organization created by Basques of the diaspora, in reaction to the constant violations of human rights of the Basques. We have decided to make an analysis of the specific situation in Mexico, using four different examples. (See http://www.euskojustice.org/Articulos.htm)

We ask for the worldwide support of all the Basque Diaspora for our Basque-Mexican collegues. As in Euskal Herria, the irrational persecution against nationalism ideology is having such an effect that even people without involvement in politics are suffering the retaliations. During the last years, dozens of Basque political refugees have been handed to the Spanish government without the established procedures being followed, and avoiding the respect for their rights. If interested, please refer to dossier in www.euskojustice.org

We are also extremely worried about the safety of the Mexican citizens who are in solidarity with the attacked collective. The charges of "collaboration with terrorism" are being applied arbitrarily to the general group of refugees and its acquaintances. Even the programs of assistance to immigrants, whether refugees or not, given by Centros Vascos (Basque Centers) have suffered damage to their reputation, by media campaigns, and the presence of members of the Spanish police who unlawfully participate in harassment actions like detentions, interrogations executed by the Mexican police. The concern other human rights organizations have expressed about the situation of such rights in Mexico make us express in even in a stronger manner our plea for the help of the entire world to protect and to actively survey the Basque refugees in Mexico and the Mexicans who support them.

We must pinpoint the cases of Arronategi, Artola, Gorrotxategi, Garcia, Urkijo and Alberdi. All of them are imprisoned under different excuses, waiting for a decision about their extradition. The arbitrariness of the measures taken against them and the record of similar cases lead us to suspect that their extradition can be used by the Mexican government to obtain political or economical favors from Spain. They were arrested without warrant, with ridiculous accusations (manufacture of chemical weapons, laughable bank transactions...), and their houses were raided and inspected without proper authorization. Their cases are loaded with irregularities that are being argued with complete attention by the Mexican society, affected before an attitude of the Mexican judiciary that is causing an enormous damage to their own legal rights. We can not forget the ludicrous case of Lorenzo Llona, who after being "strongly requested" to act as an informant of the Spanish police in Mexico, and refusing to do so, was incarcerated under the charge of participation in a violent killing in the Basque Country in 1981 (which occurred exactly the same day he was in Mexico City, working on his papers to obtain his resident visa). In despite of having real and valid proof of that, Llona has been withheld in jail for the last five months waiting for a possible extradition to Spain. Fortunately, he was freed a few days ago, in part due to the social and political pressure of certain Mexican politicians, and also after completing a hunger strike which damaged his health permanently.

In the case that the detained Basque refugees are extradited, they could end up in the hands of the Spanish Security Forces, who are well known (by Amnesty International, among others) of practicing torture on Basque prisoners. On March 6th, 1986, Mexico signed the Convention Against Torture, which states in article 3: "No one State will proceed in the extradition, returning or ejection of persons when there are solid reasons to believe they are in jeopardy of being tortured". In such a case, of Mexico giving in to the pressures of the Spanish government, our countrymen and countrywomen will suffer most probably the same fate of Begonia Sanchez, Vicente Sagredo, Koldo Dominguez, Jesus Mari Gonzalez, Josu Larrea, Santiago Izpura... and others who have denounced being tortured by the police before being submitted to the judiciary authorities.

There is also the probability of facing what is call "penas de banquillo" (bench punishment) which is an immoral practice used quite often by the Security Forces and the Spanish Exception Tribunals (in charge of political offenses and whose partiality and fairness have been questioned by several law experts), as well as the Basque Autonomous Police. This paralegal punishment consists of building cases without any existing basis, in such a way that when they arrive in court, the accused is absolved or the case is dismissed. This process (temporary imprisonment, sometimes for years, payment of astronomical bails, police booking, damage to personal reputation...)becomes a very compelling tool of pressure to threaten anybody who does not want to "collaborate with the police", therefore, the Security Forces do not hesitate to apply such punishment against citizens.

The intention of IBO is to keep an eye on Mexico, permanently. We will proceed to spread this situation among the international media and also among organizations focused on the defense of human rights. We request to the Mexican government to honor its historical, long standing tradition to receive people who are being pursued because of their political beliefs, without yielding to the pressures of the Spanish government. We want to encourage the mobilization of over four million Basque descendants worldwide to demand the end of injustice being applied to Arronategi, Artola, Gorrotxategi, Garcia, Urkijo and Alberdi.

For more information contact:

International Basque Organization For Human Rights
PO Box 225
Corte Madera, CA 94976
www.euskojustice.org

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Xabier Oleaga, Release Uria!

Today at Berria:

Xabier Oleaga: “Let this event turn into the clamour for Inaki Uria’s release”

During his welcome home Xabier Oleaga remembered Xabier Alegria and Inaki Uria, who remain in prison

Gurutze Izagirre – ANDOAIN

Xabier Oleaga’s welcome home began with a warm hug and “Three cheers for my cellmate,” from Joan Mari Torrealdai on the steps of the Martin Ugalde Kultur Parkea in Andoain. “It’s great to see you here,” replied the beaming Oleaga. Then they went down the steps to greet the people who were gathering in the Kultur Parkea before the start of the official welcome.

The event began at 19.00 hours and when Oleaga spoke he wanted to stress the following: “I would like this welcome to turn into the clamour for Inaki Uria’s release.” When he said this he also remembered Xabier Alegria and added, “The skids have been put under his situation in prison …but we remember him, too.” Oleaga was full of emotion, but there were two main messages he wanted to convey yesterday. Apart from the call for Uria’s release, he wanted to express his gratitude: on the one hand he remembered the friends he had made inside saying, “in prison each person stood out for one reason or another, most of them stood out with their own light, and if I shone out, it was because of the merit of my mates”; and on the other hand, he wanted to thank the people outside who had given him strength while he was inside, but he stressed that the work had to go on.

Oleaga was arrested in connection with the Egunkaria case and, after spending eight and a half months in custody, was released on Tuesday after posting bail amounting to 30,000 euros. The welcome took place in Andoain yesterday. When Oleaga was arrested he handled communications for the “Partaide” Association of Ikastolas or Basque-medium schools, and so Koldo Tellitu, the “Partaide” chairman, spoke at the start of the welcoming event on behalf of the association.

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The Proposal Proceeds

Today at Berria:

Statute Proposal to proceed in the form of a bill

The Basque Autonomous Community Parliament will treat the proposal, which it has classified as the reform of the Statute of Gernika, as a bill. The PP and PSE-EE assert that this reform goes against the Spanish Constitution and the very Statute of Gernika

Anakoz Amenabar – GASTEIZ (Vitoria)

Yesterday the Presiding Committee of the Parliament of the BAC [Basque Autonomous Community of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa] classified the Statute Proposal approved by the BAC Government as the “Reform of the Statute” and agreed to treat it as a normal bill. They classified the proposal as a reform with the votes of the EAJ, the EB-IU and EA. The PP and PSE-EE voted against. However, as far as the procedure is concerned, the Socialists voted in favour of treating the Reform as a bill, thus agreeing with the three Government parties.

Yesterday’s decision is expected to be published in the Official Parliamentary Gazette on Friday, and once this has been done a period of 15 days will commence for the parliamentary groups to table amendments to the proposal. The debate on the amendments will be conducted in the Institutional Committee of the BAC Parliament, and a special committee will produce a report for this purpose. The procedure will culminate in a plenary session of the BAC Parliament, where the final proposal will be put to the vote. The proposal will need an absolute majority to be passed. Juan Maria Atutxa, the President of the Parliamentary Presiding Committee, explained the reason for not presenting the Statute Proposal strictly in the form a bill: “The Statute is a constitutional law so, in our opinion, this Reform of the Statute has to be passed by the Spanish Parliament and after that it will have to be approved by referendum in order for it to have the level of constitutional law.” In the same vein Gorka Knörr, the Vice-President of the Parliamentary Presiding Committee, said, “It is clear for us that the decisions taken are based on current regulations, and five years ago when there was a bid to change the regulation, the interpretation of the majority of this parliament was made very clear.” Knörr said they would respond “resolutely against those who want to impede the debate. There is a strategy to stop the debate, but we have sufficient social and political backing to stand up to this.”

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National Lawyers Guild on Basque Issue

BINGO!

We are not alone, read this document by the National Lawyers Guild:

RESOLUTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE BASQUE TERRITORY

WHEREAS the Basque territory is a geographic area, historically defined by its unique language, Euskera, to include four provinces in northern Spain and three in southern France with approximately 3.5 million people in a landmass the size of New Jersey; and

WHEREAS the adoption of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 was rejected by the overwhelming majority of the Basque people because of its failure to allow for their self-determination, and there are now more than 700 Basque political prisoners held in Spanish prisons, many expressing belief in an independent Euskal Herria (the Basque Country); and

WHEREAS there exists credible evidence of the use of torture by Spanish authorities as evidenced by the “Report to the Spanish government from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” and “The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights on the Question of Torture Report E/CN.4/2002/76/add.1or”; and

WHEREAS the organization, Torturaren Aurkako Taldea, has documented that 90% of Basque political prisoners are convicted based on information obtained under torture; and

WHEREAS the Spanish government’s practice of five-day period of incommunicado detention has been condemned by such groups as Amnesty International and United Nations Committee Against Torture for creating conditions that permit the use of torture while depriving detainees the right to access to a solicitor and doctor of their choice; and

WHEREAS the Spanish government’s policy of detention of prisoners for as long as four years without trial, often in isolation, is contrary to the right of the accused to trial within a reasonable period of time; and

WHEREAS the Spanish government has forcibly closed the newspapers Egin, Egunkaria, and Berria, and the radio station, Egin Irratia, as well as arrested their editorial and reporting staff without a trial on the criminal charges in over five years in one case; and

WHEREAS Spain has banned the political party Batasuna and barred its leadership from participation in other political groups again without a trial on the criminal charges in a reasonable time; and

WHEREAS the Spanish government justifies these restrictive measures as necessary to combat terrorism.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That the National Lawyers Guild calls on the United States to demand that the Spanish government respect the rights of the Basque people as guaranteed by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the right not to be subject to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or to arbitrary arrests and detention; and to respect the presumption of innocence and the right to a public trial within a reasonable period of time; and

Further, the National Lawyers Guild calls on the United States to demand that the Spanish government respect the rights of the Basque people to freedom of opinion and _expression, including the right to impart information and ideas through the media, the right to peacefully assemble and the right to take part in government through their chosen representatives; and

Further, the National Lawyers Guild recognizes that while the Spanish judicial authorities justify the severe security measures to eliminate terrorism; they fail to realize that those who would profess to sacrifice fundamental rights in the name of security may ensure neither security nor justice; and

Finally, the National Lawyers Guild calls on the U.S. State Department, in its next annual country report on Spain, to call on the Spanish government to cease its abuses of the Basque people.

Adopted this the 25th day of October 2003 by the National Lawyers Guild.

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Oleaga is Free

Today at Berria:

Oleaga free after eight and a half months behind bars

Judge Del Olmo also ordered Xabier Alegria’s release on bail, but the latter will have to remain in custody in connection with the ‘Udalbiltza’ case; Inaki Uria will also have to stay in prison as the judge has taken no decision with respect to him

Imanol Murua Uria – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian)

After being behind bars for eight and a half months in connection with the Egunkaria case Xabier Oleaga was released from prison last night after posting bail of 30,000 euros. Juan Del Olmo, the Spanish National High Court Judge, also ordered the release of Xabier Alegria on bail of 50,000 euros, but the latter will have to remain in the prison of Soto del Real [near Madrid], because he is in unconditional custody in connection with the Udalbiltza case. Judge Del Olmo did not announce any decision regarding Inaki Uria, so the unconditional custody of Egunkaria’s Managing Director in the prison of Aranjuez will remain unchanged for the time being.

According to the writ issued yesterday, the Public Prosecutor had requested the release of Oleaga and Alegria on bail arguing that the “change in the personal situation of these two among the three accused” will not impede the case proceedings. The writ made no mention of Uria’s situation.

Oleaga, Alegria and Uria were arrested by the Spanish Civil Guard in the police operation to close down Egunkaria on February 20 along with another seven people, who were later released on bail. Like Martxelo Otamendi [Egunkaria’s Chief Editor], the three reported that they had been tortured during the five days held incommunicado in the hands of the Spanish Civil Guard and were later taken to the prison of Soto del Real. Alegria is still there, Uria was taken to Aranjuez [Madrid] and Oleaga was in the prison of Navalcarnero, [Madrid], until last night. Xabier Oleaga is from Errenteria (Gipuzkoa) and worked for Egunkaria from 1994 to 1996 as Deputy Chairman of the Board. From 1997 onwards he worked for the “Partaide” association of Ikastolas [Basque-medium schools].

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Ibarretxe's Yes to Political Debate

Today at Berria:

Ibarretxe tells the Spanish Popular Party that the political debate will take place

With the Basque Autonomous Community premier away in Mexico the Spanish Government has announced it will be filing an appeal of unconstitutionality against the new Statute, but Ibarretxe has confirmed he will be defending the plan tooth and nail

Edurne Begiristain, Special Correspondent – MEXICO

The very day that the Spanish Government announced it would be filing an appeal against the Statute Proposal of the Government of the BAC [Basque Autonomous Community of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa], Juan Jose Ibarretxe, the Lehendakari or President of the BAC Government, said he would defend the “legitimacy” of his plan. In a speech during a visit to Mexico’s Basque Centre on Friday night Ibarretxe said that “the political debate will take place despite the appeals.”

In the speech given before about a hundred people who had congregated at the Basque Centre the BAC President vigorously defended his proposal “against the attacks” from Madrid, and fiercely denounced the criticisms and insults directed at him. He added that the aim of the appeal brought by the Aznar administration was to prevent any political debate, but he made it quite clear that he would be staunchly defending the legitimacy of debating the proposal in the BAC Parliament. “It is perfectly legitimate for us to debate this proposal in the BAC Parliament, and I call on anyone who does not agree with it to present his or her own,” said Ibarretxe.

The BAC Government president said he was convinced that the political debate on the proposal would, moreover, “bring an end to the violence” and “usher in a new era of peace and freedom.”

Ibarretxe said he was ready to debate the ideas and contributions of all the parliamentary groups and recalled that the ideas put forward by his government were “open” and “open to debate”. Ibarretxe was of the opinion that the proposal was “democratic” and said that the time for responding with insults was over: “Trying to replace the democratic debate with lies and insults won’t get us anywhere”.

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Appeal To Constitutional Court

Today at Berria:

Spanish Government to file appeal with the Constitutional Court

The Spanish Government’s aim is for the Constitutional Court to stop the BAC Government’s proposal going ahead

Editorial Staff – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian)

The Spanish Government has announced that it will be filing an appeal against the proposal for a political statute of the Government of the BAC (Basque Autonomous Community of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) with the Spanish Constitutional Court. The Justice Minister, Jose Maria Michavila, pointed out yesterday that, according to the State Legal Services, the text approved by the BAC Government breaches five sections of the Constitution in over one hundred counts.

The aim of the Spanish Government is for the Constitutional Court to suspend the BAC Government’s proposal for a political statute and prevent any debate on it. Michavila was of the opinion that the Constitutional Court “might” as a precautionary measure suspend the proceedings of the proposal. In this respect, he said that apart from bringing an appeal against the proposal, if the Presiding Committee of the BAC Parliament decides to allow the proposal to proceed, the Spanish Government will also take action against this decision. Michavila did not indicate when they would be filing the appeal, but it could be understood from what he said that they will be waiting until the Presiding Committee takes that decision. In any case, there will be a period of two months to file the appeal starting from the moment when the BAC Government took the proposal to the BAC Parliament, and even if the decision of the Presiding Committee is delayed, the Spanish Government will still have a two-month deadline. Michavila said the Spanish Government would have recourse to the Constitutional Court “when it was deemed appropriate.”

The Spanish Government believes it has “sufficient juridical power” to appeal against the BAC Government’s proposal. In fact the way the BAC Government presented the proposal to reform the Statute was a “camouflaged” reform of the Spanish Constitution; and as Article 46 of the BAC Statute has to be used for reforming it (which is what the BAC Government has done) another means has to be used to reform the Constitution. “Article 168 of the Spanish Constitution sets out how the Constitution has to be modified, and the BAC Government knows this and has deliberately decided to commit legal fraud”.

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No Comments, Guilty Silence

I fully understand when people decide not to comment on my posts related to the Basque struggle for self-determitation. It irritates me because years from now when the Spanish regime finally decides to launch an ethnic cleansing campaign in Euskal Herria it is going to be only then when the "righteous" people of the world are going to cry foul play, just like what they did when it came to the Bosnians and the Kurds (Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar just issued a threat stating that he will expell the Basques from Spain and from Europe, pretty much what Slobodan Milosevic said about Croats, Bosnians and Albanians).

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Denouncing Violation of Rights

Today at Berria:

American Lawyers Guild denounces violation of rights

It has called on the United States Government to ask Spain to “respect the rights of Basque citizens”

Imanol Murua Uria – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian)

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) has asked the State Department of the United States to request the Spanish Government “to respect the rights of Basque citizens.” The forum of 4,000 progressive lawyers of America has just held its yearly National Convention in Minneapolis, and has adopted a resolution denouncing the violation of certain basic rights in the Basque Country by the Spanish Government. The resolution will be forwarded to the United States State Department. The text approved in Minneapolis draws attention to the closing down of the newspapers Egin and Egunkaria, the outlawing of the political party Batasuna, and the complaints of torture, and calls on the United States Government directly “to ask the Spanish Government to respect the rights of Basque citizens as guaranteed in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.” This resolution points out that the UN Charter establishes the right “not to be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and not to be arbitrarily arrested” and the right to the presumption of innocence. It likewise calls on the United States Government to request the Spanish Government to uphold “the freedom of opinion and expression of Basque citizens, including the right to disseminate information and ideas through the media.”

The resolution adopted last weekend has its origins in the work conducted by a group of delegates that was in the Basque Country and Spain from September 26 to October 1. In fact, a working group made up of members of the NLG and the European Association of Democratic Lawyers conducted interviews in Madrid and in the Basque Country to investigate the breach of international agreements on human rights that has taken place. In Madrid they saw Baltasar Garzon, the Spanish National High Court judge, and Maria Garcia, the deputy secretary of the Ministry of Justice, among others, and in the Basque Country they met with Martxelo Otamendi, chief editor of BERRIA, Mertxe Aizpurua, Gara’s editor, representatives of the Lawyers Guild of Bizkaia and the “Eskubideak” (Rights) Lawyers Association.

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