Spain Bans EHAK

Another day, another Basque political party banned thanks to a law that reminds us that Francisco Franco's ideology is alive and kicking in Spain.

The main stream media, as usual, has been repeating the same header: "Spain bans another party for ties with ETA".

Therein lies the problem, when they say another they point to the fact that there has been other bans, which takes us to the first Basque political party banned in "democratic" Spain: Batasuna.

Yes, Batasuna was banned back in 2003 accused of being ETA's political wing. Five years later and the Spanish government has been unable to produced one single piece of evidence to support the accusation, despite having seized documents and computers the night that their para-military forces raided Batasuna's headquarters and offices all over Euskal Herria.

The case ended up in Strasbourg and a verdict regarding if Batasuna is or is not ETA's political wing has not been reached, yet, Spain bans EHAK stating that they took over Batasuna.

Here you have The International Herald Tribune's article regarding the most recent case of Apartheid like repression by Spain against the Basque people:

Spain: another Basque party banned

MADRID, Spain: The Spanish Supreme Court has banned a Basque nationalist party on grounds that it is linked to the armed group ETA, the third ruling this week against pro-independence groups in the troubled region.

The court outlawed the Communist Party of the Basque Lands on grounds it is a tool of Batasuna, the banned political wing of ETA.

The move announced Thursday night means the government will shut down the party's offices and seize its assets. The nine party members who hold seats in the Basque regional parliament will retain them but will be stripped of party affiliation.

Earlier this week the court outlawed another pro-independence party, Basque Nationalist Action, and Gestoras Pro Amnistia, an advocacy group for jailed ETA members. In both cases the court cited links to ETA.

The Communist Party of the Basque Lands won its seats in the 75-member Basque Parliament in 2005. Prior to that election, Spain's opposition conservative Popular Party had pressed the Socialist government to file suit and have the party banned under a law devised specifically to go after Batasuna, which was outlawed in 2003.

The Spanish attorney general refused, however, saying there was insufficient evidence. Conservatives complained that this allowed ETA to retain a voice in the parliament.

In 2006, the government negotiated with ETA after the group declared a cease-fire. The peace talks failed and ETA resumed violence in a matter of months.

In January of this year the government did move against the Communist Party of the Basque Lands and Basque Nationalist Action, asking the Supreme Court to declare them illegal.

The Popular Party welcomed the latest Supreme Court ruling, but said it came too late.

The party's spokesman on judicial affairs, Federico Trillo, said the conservatives will ask Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido to appear in Parliament and explain why the government now felt the two parties had to be banned, but did not think so in 2005.

"Those who have had an unexplainable and unexplained change of criteria must assume their political responsibilities," Trillo said Thursday night.

Notice how Spain's politicians haggle about the issue of timing when in reality they work together when it comes to removing the political options for the Basque society to excercize its right to have political representation.

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Another Day, Another Trial

Once again the Spanish government flexes its muscle and puts on trial members of a Basque human rights' organization. Knowing that the entire world is distracted by the Olympic torch and the Tibetan massive demonstrations of support Rodriguez Zapatero continues the oppressive offensive against Basque society in ways that would make Francisco Franco proud.

Here you have this note appeared at EITb:

Politics

Basque left-wing organizations

Trial against pro-amnesty Basque organization starts in Spain

04/21/2008

Twenty-seven members of pro-amnesty Basque organizations are suspected of aiding the armed Basque group ETA through a network of social and political organizations.

A trial against 27 members of pro-amnesty Basque organizations started on Monday in Spain's High Court.

The 27 people, members of the Basque left-wing organizations Gestoras Pro Amnistía, Askatasuna, Behatokia and Senideak, are suspected of aiding the armed Basque group ETA through a network of social and political organizations.

On Monday, all of them refused to answer questions by the Spanish public prosecutor.

The case stemmed from an eight-year inquiry by Baltasar Garzon, Spain's leading anti-terror investigator. Garzon alleged that ETA was not just made up of armed commandos but also had support through political, financial and media organizations. The defendants were accused of belonging to these groups, some of which have been outlawed.

The organizations engaged in activities ranging from giving support to ETA members in prison and helping ETA find new targets to recruiting new members and gathering worthy data from the summaries, Garzon has charged.

And as we all know, for Garzon all Basques are guilty from the start, so the last thing we can expect is a fair trial.

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Report by EHW

This report comes to us thanks to Euskal Herria Watch:

33/01 Case against Gestoras Pro-Amnistia-Askatasuna

Description of the case

Repression against the Basque People, conducted by the Spanish State and - to a lesser degree- by the French State has been constant in recent years. It is easy to trace a continuous line throughout the last decades that can show us the persistence of torture, massive and arbitrary detentions, a penitentiary policy with terrible consequences, banned associations and organizations, closure of media, outlawing of political parties and total discrimination from public life against a section of the population. To sum up, an exceptional situation that has generated a dangerous scenario of suppression of the most basic political and civil rights, a scenario that can now be seen in all its brutality.

These circumstances have forced hundreds of Basque citizens to create a retaining wall, to confront repression and participate in different civic organisations, human rights organisations, and activist organisations in what has become known as the Amnesty Movement. Without such a movement, the lack of activation of the people and, therefore, of social opposition would have resulted in a total acceptance of the impunity of the structures of the Spanish State. That is why many and varied activities have been channelled through this Movement -conferences, demonstrations, public appeals, contacts with all kinds of political and social agents…- in order to demand a scenario of respect for basic democratic conditions, of enjoyment of basic civil and political rights.

In this context, the organisation Gestoras Pro Amnistía was born three decades ago as the main platform for solidarity with the people that suffered political repression and to campaign against the situation. This association carried out a process in 2002 to converge with the association Koordinaketa, made up of the committees that worked in solidarity with political prisoners in the North of the Basque Country, under French administration. Askatasuna emerged as a result of this process, to carry out these activities in the whole of the Basque Country. In other words: an organization that focuses its activity on the promotion and protection of the human rights of the victims of repression, that fights for the eradication of torture, for the rights of arrested or imprisoned Basque citizens and the overcoming of the causes that are at the origin of State violence.

This task has always been carried out completely within the law and with a continuous public expression of its activities –press conferences, peaceful demonstrations, organisation of debates, conferences, compilation of information and figures of repression, the diffusion of these through reports, publications, public exchange with other social agencies, political parties, trade unions…-. That is why Gestoras Pro Amnistía–Askatasuna have become a reference for the grassroots movement, with a reputation and social recognition and an important capacity for activating Basque society. We could say that this organisation is present in all cities and neighbourhoods throughout the Basque Country, with the participation in its activities of thousands of people.

Police operations

This task and goals mentioned were criminalized and, in fact, suspended after the police operation carried out by the judge at Central Investigation Court nº 5, Baltasar Garzón. On October 31st, 2001, 12 organizers or spokespeople of this organisation were arrested under the accusation of belonging to a terrorist organisation. Juan Mari Olano, its national coordinator was arrested some weeks later in Bayonne –North Basque Country, under French administration- and after a long process, extradited to the Spanish state. All those people were been in pre-trial imprisonment –remand in custody- for the maximum limit allowed by Spanish law in these cases, of four years awaiting trial. The right to be presumed innocent has disappeared; convictions are now served in advance, before any hearing at a trial. They were released under astronomical amounts of money as bail in May and June 2004.

In the context of this operation, a virulent campaign by the media and politicians was implemented against the professional activity of the lawyers that work on cases that can be labelled “political”, under the argument that these lawyers belong to the “prison front” of the armed organisation. Thus, on the morning of October 31st, as the premises and offices of the Gestoras Pro Amnistía were searched, the police entered the offices of lawyers which are registered in the Bar Association of Lawyers in Gipuzkoa and Pamplona respectively. It must be remarked that the judge Baltasar Garzón, who was leading the operation in Bilbao was personally warned of this situation. Nevertheless, the judge took no notice of that information and carried on with the search, with both offices being sealed off and computers and documents belonging to the twelve lawyers that worked there being seized.

The investigation judge later ordered the lifting of the sealing of both offices and the restitution of the confiscated material, after duplicating and copying all the content of the computers and the documents seized during the searches. This is a flagrant violation of the rights of the lawyers to professional secrecy, as well as other guaranties that must be observed in these cases. Lawyer Julen Arzuaga will be subjected to these proceedings because of this illegal action.

On February 5th 2003, in a new raid, five people that worked as spokespersons in the new association Askatasuna were arrested, their homes searched as well as the premises of the association of relatives of political prisoners Etxerat in Bilbao, Hernani and Gasteiz. On February 6th Central Court of Investigation nº 5 took the decision to merge the proceedings into Case 33/01.

These operations have a continuity in the present, as on September 11th 2007 Juan Maria Olano and on October 3rd 2007 Ohiana Agirre, also spokespersons of Askatasuna were been arrested and jailed for “reiteration in their public activity as representatives of Askatasuna”. Olano will be released in early March 2008. Meanwhile, Ohiana Agirre is in prison, under new proceedings opened by judge Baltasar Garzón against Askatasuna.

Charges

With these proceedings, the investigation judge Baltasar Garzón suspended the activity of Gestoras Pro Amnistía and Askatasuna, considering its public activity illegal from the point of view of the criminal law and accused the 17 that were in prison and other 10 of a crime of “belonging to an armed organisation”.

The judge reverts the process of the investigation, contrary to law and logic, as first, a conclusion is given out –that Gestoras belongs to the structure of ETA- and later, through interpretations and speculations they look for the evidence, the factual arguments to support that theory.

The alleged criminal actions of Gestoras would be:

1.- Exercising control over the collective of ETA prisoners, connecting and communicating with the members and representatives through their lawyers.

2. - Guaranteeing internal cohesion and obedience to the discipline imposed by this organization on the collective, avoiding any individual initiative in the course of their prison sentence and cancelling any possibility of dissent or breaking from the collective.

3.-Co-operating with and financing the maintenance of ETA prisoners and refugees.

4.- Co-ordinating and driving forms of struggle that complement those of ETA and support for the demonstrations of the prisoners’ collective.

5. - Gathering important information for ETA’s internal security, taking this from the penal processes that members are involved in, and passed on by some of their lawyers, greatly exceeding the right to defence.

6. - Pointing out who they believe are responsible for the situation and condition of ETA prisoners, turning them into possible targets for that organization; or against persons or institutions that don’t back the demonstrations called in support for and solidarity with ETA prisoners.

7.- Taking advantage of the sensitivity caused by the supposed violation of the rights of ETA prisoners to induce volunteers and regenerate the operational structure of ETA.

8.- The setting up and development of the project named Alde Hemendik .

9.- Co-ordinating and directing the so-called “X and Y struggles” Kale borroka (urban struggle) and “days of struggle” that are carried out in support of ETA members or due the death of a member, or other contingent circumstances.

10. - The initiative and decision on when the ETA prisoners collective begin a hunger strike or cell lock- in and other actions.

11.- Publishing the magazine ZOHARDIA, directed by Mikel Korta Carrión, who was included in the Indictment 18/98 for his membership of ETA-Ekin.

All these activities are carried out by Gestoras, under the control and direction of ETA-KAS and ETA-Ekin, through the corresponding instruments developed by those detained and others accused”.

In the following points of the indictment he goes over each one of the detainees and assigns them greater responsibility in one or another of the activities above, in an attempt to justify their supposed “criminal” activity. Amongst the elements of accusation in the indictment is the fact of having belonged in the past to other student, youth or social organizations, to be connected emotionally with a prisoner or a political refugee, participation in acts of homage to prisoners, campaigning, calling demonstrations, attending meetings, developing projects...

These activities, in any case, were publicly carried out by this organisation and in no way could be understood to constitute a crime, as is proven by the fact that they have never been accused of other minor crimes such as “glorifying terrorism”.

In the case of other activities that have are criminal and are may lead to the charge of belonging to a terrorist organisation, they is no way to prove these charges, as no rational evidence of criminality has been presented, no reference to damage against any juridical good protected by the criminal legislation. Again, the charges are generic, brought against groups of people, collectively, in a clear breach of the individuality and precision that must be the basis of any criminal charges.

Conclusions

In the face of these charges and in these circumstances, the trial against these 27 colleagues from the Amnesty Movement will begin on April 21st, 2008, with a petition from the public prosecutor of 10 years in prison.

In view of all the above, we wwould like to make the point that the participation of these people in different areas and organizations of the broad Amnesty Movement has always been open and transparent and has always been known to the public. The connection of this social activity and the actions committed by ETA is absolutely unacceptable and is based on arguments and interpretations lacking any kind of factual or rational basis.

We are aware, nevertheless, that this extensive application of anti-terrorist definitions to public and transparent actions has a long history in the Spanish justice system, hence the Supreme Court in the case of Haika-Segi and the subsequent Audiencia Nacional verdict in reference to Case 18/98, which only makes the position of our colleagues facing this trial worse.

This process is simply a smoke curtain that attempts to discredit a social organization and tries to criminalize the work of denouncing the vulnerability of the rights of Basque prisoners, refugees and deportees and also tries to avoid the social expressions of solidarity with this collective. The r3emand in custody for four years of 13 of these colleagues, released on millionaire bails, the suspension of the activities of these organizations, have generated a total block of freedom of expression and of the right of association and peaceful petition, because the mobilizations and demonstrations organized by this movement have been consistently forbidden by court, suspended administratively and violently attacked by the State Security Forces.

This trial is a further landmark on the road to criminalize, with no legal basis, solidarity with political prisoners, opposition to repression and to state violence and mobilization in defence of human rights. The states, convinced of their strategy of maintaining the repression against increasingly broader sections of the population, require higher levels of impunity.

The way of doing things of the Audiencia Nacional as an instrument for the application of special antiterrorist laws, a vivid example of the “law for an enemy” shows us the impossibility of receiving a fair trial in front of this exceptional tribunal. Furthermore, keeping in mind the events mentioned above, we believe that the trial will be a mere masquerade designed without content to administer a previously written political verdict. We are not expecting, hence, justice from this court. Nevertheless, we are expecting an opportunity to explain to Basque and international society who we are and what we are seeking.

This type of political-judicial trials moves us further away from the aims we share with Basque society: ending the repression and seeking the definitive resolution of the Basque conflict.

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HWR On Spain

Here you have the most recent report by Human Rights Watch on Spain:

Spain

In the aftermath of September 11, Spain applied its existing strict counter-terrorism regime to the investigation, apprehension, and detention of suspected al-Qaeda operatives. The climate created by the international campaign against terrorism provided the Spanish authorities with a further pretext to crackdown on Basque separatists and supporters of the pro-independence movement.

Spanish authorities were also quick to issue public statements equating stricter controls on immigration with the war against terrorism, contributing to a climate of fear and suspicion toward migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.

Spain's anti-terror laws permit the use of incommunicado detention, secret legal proceedings, and pre-trial detention for up to four years. The proceedings governing the detentions of suspected al-Qaeda operatives apprehended in Spain in November 2001, July 2002, and January 2003, among others, have been declared secret (causa secreta). The investigating magistrate of the Audiencia Nacional, a special court that oversees terrorist cases, can request causa secreta for thirty days, consecutively renewable for the duration of the four-year pre-trial detention period. Secret proceedings bar the defense access to the prosecutor's evidence, except for information contained in the initial detention order. Without access to this evidence, detainees are severely hampered in mounting an adequate defense.

In November 2002, the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) expressed serious concern about incommunicado detention under Spain's criminal laws. A suspect can be held incommunicado for up to five days, without access to an attorney, family notification, services such as access to health care, or contact with the outside world. The CAT concluded that incommunicado detention under these circumstances can facilitate acts of torture and ill-treatment. In Spain, most suspected terrorist detainees are held incommunicado for at least the first forty-eight hours in custody.

The global anti-terror climate hardened the Spanish government's resolve in the ongoing conflict with armed Basque separatists, Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) and the non-violent pro-independence movement. ETA uses violent means to seek the creation of an independent Basque state in parts of northern Spain and southern France. The group has been responsible for over 800 deaths since the 1960s. In recent years, it has targeted civilians, including academics and journalists.

Since September 11, over fifty suspected ETA members have been detained and held under Spain's anti-terror laws. Casualties of the government's hard-line approach, however, have included Gestoras pro Amnistía, an organization that provided support to families of ETA detainees, which was banned in December 2001. In August 2002, the Batasuna Party, widely regarded as the political arm of ETA, was banned for three years. In February 2003, Euskaldunon Egunkaria-the sole remaining newspaper written entirely in the Basque language-was closed down, and ten people associated with the paper were arrested and held incommunicado. These actions give rise to serious concerns that Spain's counter-terrorism measures breach the rights to freedom of association and expression. Human rights organizations have also documented instances of alleged torture and ill-treatment of ETA members and pro-independence supporters detained by Spanish authorities.

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Back To Franco's Times

In this article published by The Guardian you will learn about the authoritarian measures that the Spanish government is implementing in its attempt to suffocate the Basque right to self determination. Counting with the complicity of the PSOE (after all, they are grateful Felipe Gonzalez was spared from facing a court of law for creating and deploying the state sponsored terrorist group GAL) the ruling party PP has been able to pass a new "Law of Political Parties", a law that allows the Spanish government to ban any political party that goes against their designs.

Here you have it:

Spanish MPs vote to ban pro-Eta party

Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Guardian

Thursday June 6, 2002

The radical Basque political party Batasuna, which is seen as the Basque equivalent of Sinn Fein and wins up to 200,000 votes, was on the road to being banned yesterday after the Spanish lower house overwhelmingly backed a controversial bill controlling political parties.

The bill, tailor-made to ban Batasuna, was the personal project of the conservative Popular party prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, who won the backing of the Socialist opposition. It is expected to get final approval by the senate later this month.

Both parties accused Batasuna, whose representation in the 75-seat Basque regional parliament fell from 14 to seven last year, of acting as a front for the armed separatist group Eta.

The party historically takes 10-20% of the Basque vote. It boycotted the last general election to the Spanish parliament, where it had two deputies. It also has one euro MP.

The law, carried by 304 to 16, was criticised by moderate Basque nationalists and by the Basque bishops council. The bishops of Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vitoria said at the weekend that it would bring increased confrontation.

Mr Aznar accused them of "serious moral and intellectual perversion". The Papal Nuncio in Madrid was called in by the foreign minister, Josep Pique, yesterday to be told of the government's "disgust and unease".

Mr Aznar congratulated parliament on backing the law. "It was a properly democratic expression of support and something indispensable in the fight against terrorism," he said.

But Basque nationalists and the hard left accused him of further dividing the Basques and said the law would help push radicals into clandestine activity. "This just adds fuel to the fire," Luis Carlos Rejon of the communist-led United Left party said.

Josu Erkoreka, of the moderate Basque Nationalist party, said: "A democracy that distinguishes between first-class, second-class and third- class democrats has a one-way ticket to nowhere."

Batasuna denies that it is part of Eta, and that it takes orders from the group, fighting for an independent state made up of four Spanish provinces and part of south-west France.

"Batasuna will keep on working because it has good proposals that will bring solutions," one of its regional deputies, Jone Goirzelaia, said.

Batasuna's leaders routinely refuse to condemn Eta killings and, occasionally, openly express sympathy for the organisation: for example, Eta prisoners receive homage at the party's rallies.

"The armed fight of Eta is not an attempt to impose ideas but to defend the legitimate rights of the Basque people," another deputy, Jon Salaberria, told the regional assembly in Vitoria recently.

An attempt to prosecute its leader, Arnaldo Otegi, in Madrid for allegedly shouting his support for Eta during a rally in France failed this week.

But Mr Otegi has been banned from France, where Batasuna and a number of other Basque groups have bases.

In recent years the Basque radicals' daily newspaper, Egin, has been closed and its youth wing, Segi, and prisoners support group, Gestoras Pro Amnistia, declared illegal.

The bill will enable parliament to ask a special court of 16 senior supreme court judges to ban the party for giving "tacit" support to terrorism, "fomenting civil confrontation", "paying homage" to terrorists or having too many ex-terrorists on its electoral lists.

The Basque regional parliament, of which Mr Aznar's Popular party failed to win control in last year's elections, says it will refuse to kick out the Batasuna deputies, who have already changed their official name to Socialist Nationalists.

"It would take tanks," its president, Juan Mari Atutxa of the Basque Nationalists, said.

Another bill is being prepared to withdraw public funds from parties which refuse to back municipal council or regional assembly motions condemning terrorism.

Now, the author Giles Tremlett needs to learn about a principle in law called "presumption of innocence". Aznar and his underlings are accusing Batasuna of being ETA's political wing, therefore, it is the Spanish government the one that has to prove it, until then, Batasuna is innocent of any charges.

The measures taken by Spain against the Basques amount to what can be compared to the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

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