BY NAOMI CRAINE
NEW YORK - "Our proposal for peace is simple: that our territory be recognized, that occupying forces be removed, and that the Spanish government recognize our right to self- determination," said Iñigo Elkoro, speaking at a Militant Labor Forum here October 25. He and Blanka Kalzakorta were wrapping up a three-week U.S. speaking tour on behalf of Senideak, the Association of Relatives of Basque Political Prisoners, Refugees, and Deportees.

This was their first visit to the United States, said Elkoro, a lawyer who defends Basque political prisoners. The Senideak activists spoke in Boston, Houston, New York, and Washington, D.C., in a tour coordinated by the New York-based Congress for Peace in Euskal Herria. Their itinerary included a number of campus meetings, a conference in Houston commemorating Ernesto Che Guevara, the National Lawyers Guild convention in Washington, and a visit to the United Nations. "We've gotten a very good response, which opens the possibility for more work," Elkoro said.

History of fight for self-determination
Elkoro began his talk with a brief explanation of the Basque struggle for self-determination. Euskal Herria, or the Basque country, has a population of about 3 million. Most of its territory is incorporated in the Spanish state; a portion is in southwestern France. The Basque people face national oppression under both the Spanish and French states. Elkoro noted that the use of the Basque language was banned under the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco, who ruled Spain until 1975. Today about 25 percent of the population in the Basque country speaks Basque, though it is not recognized as an official language by the Spanish and French governments. The unemployment rate there is 21 percent. A majority in the Basque country opposed the Spanish Constitution, which rejects self-determination for Euskal Herria, in a 1978 vote.

During the Spanish civil war in the 1930s, the Republican government in Spain, under bourgeois leadership, granted limited autonomy to the Basque country but not independence. Basques joined in the fight against Franco's fascist forces because they "believed a republic would guarantee the rights of the Basque people," Elkoro said. Among the most infamous slaughters by the fascists during the civil war was the bombing of the Basque city of Guernica, he noted.

With the fascist victory, the brutality against the Basque people increased, with a toll of some 10,000 political prisoners, 40,000 exiles, and 200,000 dead. The Franco dictatorship carried out "attacks on culture, bookstores, and any use of our language," Elkoro said. The armed pro- independence group ETA (Basque Homeland and Liberty) was one of the organizations born out of a resurgence in the national struggle in the 1950s and '60s.

" `Democracy' has not changed the situation," Elkoro continued. "We have some liberties, but there have been more prisoners and more torture than under Franco. The dirty war has worsened." Revelations of the Spanish government's involvement in death squads that killed at least 27 Basque independence fighters in the 1980s were a factor in the defeat of social democratic president Felipe González in 1996 elections.

Today there are about 580 Basque political prisoners in Spanish and French jails, and about 2,000 activists forced into political exile. The Spanish government carries out a systematic policy of dispersing these prisoners throughout Spain, and even in the Canary Islands and Spanish bases in Africa, Elkoro said. This has been a source of outrage among Basques and others.

`Antiterrorist' tribunals
Speaking from his experiences, Elkoro described the treatment Basque prisoners receive from the "national tribunals" set up to try alleged terrorists. Special legislation allows the police to detain individuals as "subversive" and hold them for five days. "During those five days, no one knows where they are," he said. "Detention doesn't follow an investigation; it's the other way around. Electrodes, beatings, drowning, putting a bag over the person's head, sexual assault, and death threats" are among the methods of torture used to extract "confessions" and information. After that, the prisoner is brought before a judge. In a typical case, Elkoro said, "the judge asks questions and the prosecutor speaks first. We can't speak until after that. We can't even speak to the detainee, who doesn't necessarily know who their lawyer is."

After this hearing, the prisoner can be held in "preventive detention" awaiting trial for up to four years. At the trial, self-incrimination from the "investigation" is permissible. Defense attorneys like Elkoro "try to prove the use of torture." He gave the example of a trial two years ago where one of the prisoners had been taken to the hospital with injuries, and the Civil Guard tried to torture him there. "This was one of the few cases where there was proof of torture," Elkoro said. Nevertheless, the defendants were sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.

Kalzakorta described her own experience with this "justice" system. She was arrested in 1987 on returning to the country from abroad. While she was not physically injured, the police subjected her to "psychological torture" including not allowing her to use the toilet or shower. "After six days I went before the judge, and in five minutes was sent to prison." She was jailed for nine months before being acquitted. Her mother had also been arrested, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison; she is still incarcerated. "The antiterror law means you have no rights," Kalzakorta said. If you are acquitted, "they owe you nothing. If you were employed you lose your job."

Kalzakorta joined Senideak when the association was formed in 1991, and ever since has been "working to let people know about the prisoners."

Arrest of Herri Batasuna leaders
Elkoro noted one of the latest acts of repression by Madrid in the arrest of 23 central leaders of the pro-independence political party Herri Batasuna (Popular Unity) for making public the peace initiative of the ETA. The main points in the proposal are that the Spanish state recognize the right to self- determination and territorial integrity of the Basque country; the removal of occupation forces; and a general amnesty for political prisoners and refugees. It then points to issues "to be discussed and agreed among the Basque population," including how to realize self-determination, normalization of the Basque language, demilitarization of the Basque country, educational rights, and democratic liberties.

The Spanish government is demanding eight-year prison sentences for the Herri Batasuna leaders for televising an ETA video explaining these proposals. "This would open the road to a lot more repression," Elkoro said, not just against Basque nationalists but against environmentalists, those fighting for land rights, and others.

He also commented on the reactionary mobilizations by hundreds of thousands protesting the kidnapping and execution of a Popular Party politician by the ETA last July. The actions were orchestrated by the Spanish government, Elkoro said, adding that the incident was rooted in the 10-year fight against the government policy of dispersing political prisoners. After the ETA gave a 48-hour deadline to consolidate the prisoners in the Basque country, "the government made no attempt to meet and negotiate," Elkoro said. "They started preparing a funeral. Within two days all the headlines were on the funeral, with no mention of the prisoners." The demonstrations "put wind in the sails of the fascists," he added. On July 27, some 20,000 people answered the right wing with a march in San Sebastián in support of Basque independence.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home