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Spanish chauvinist alliance ousts nationalists from Basque parliament
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April 16 2009
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THE banning of left-wing Basque nationalist parties, and an alliance betwee=
n rival Spanish chauvinist parties, has meant that for the first time since=
 limited autonomy was granted to the south-west Basque region (Bascongadas)=
 under Spanish rule in 1979, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) has lost co=
ntrol of the regional Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community.
The Bascongadas regional elections (comprising the Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Ar=
aba regions) held on 1 March effectively disenfranchised 15-20 per cent of =
citizens through the Spanish authorities=E2=80=99 banning of political part=
ies they claimed were linked to armed Basque nationalist organisation ETA o=
r Batasuna, the pro-independence political party that was outlawed in 2003.
While the PNV won the highest number of votes, it failed to win an outright=
 majority of seats in the 75-seat parliament and the two main Spanish parti=
es =E2=80=93 PSE, the local section of the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers=
=E2=80=99 Party, and the right-wing Partido Popular (PP), who between them =
took 38 seats, struck a deal on 1 April to form a coalition government on t=
he basis of opposition to self determination for the Basque Country.
In the months leading up to the poll, the Spanish judiciary stepped up its =
repression of the pro-independence movement, with the Supreme Court banning=
 a further two parties =E2=80=93 Democrazia 3 Miloi (Democracy 3 Million) a=
nd Askatasuna (Freedom) =E2=80=93 from standing candidates. As a result of =
the political bannings, the left-nationalists, who generally poll 15-20 per=
 cent or up to 200,000 votes, were entirely excluded and will not have a si=
ngle representative in the new parliament.
Despite this the left-nationalists organised a defiant act of mass civil di=
sobedience, printing and distributing illegal ballots which more than 100,0=
00 people voted with. Overall, a majority of voters, about 640,000, support=
ed pro-self determination parties, with 482,000 voting for the PSE or PP.
The pro-Spanish unionist parties, bitter rivals in Madrid, have united in a=
 pact that will see PSE leader Patxi L=C3=B3pez be the new lehendakari (pre=
sident) of the regional government, with the PP supporting him in exchange =
for getting the position of president of the Basque Parliament.
The new government will be formed in May, with the two parties already indi=
cating they intend to unleash an intensified wave of repression against the=
 pro-independence movement by bolstering the security forces, and to attack=
 Basque language and cultural rights.


Repression
In an especially vindictive move, L=C3=B3pez has said he plans to cut gover=
nment travel aid to the families of hundreds of Basque political prisoners =
to visit their family members in the far-off jails throughout Spain and Fra=
nce which they are being held in.
On March 23, leading Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, who is on a personal cr=
usade against Basque aspirations towards self-determination, filed =E2=80=
=98terrorism=E2=80=99 charges against 44 pro-independence activists, allege=
dly members of banned nationalist parties including Batasuna, the Communist=
 Party of the Basque Lands (PCTV) and Basque Nationalist Action (ANV). Amon=
g those charged is the mayor of Mondragon, Maria Inocencia Galparsoro.
In a 16 December report based on a mission to the Spanish state in May last=
 year, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human r=
ights Martin Scheinin said he was =E2=80=9Ctroubled=E2=80=9D that Spain=E2=
=80=99s Law of Political Parties, which provides the legislative basis to b=
an political organisations, defined =E2=80=98terrorism=E2=80=99 so vaguely =
that it =E2=80=9Cmight be interpreted to include any political party which =
through peaceful political means seeks similar political objectives=E2=80=
=9D as those pursued by armed organisations.
Clearly it is not the tactics but the political goals of the pro-independen=
ce political parties that the Spanish state is intent on crushing.
Similarly, the Special Rapporteur stated that the law against =E2=80=9Cglor=
ifying terrorism=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9Cshould include the requirements of an in=
tent to incite the commission of a terrorist offence, as well as the existe=
nce of an actual risk that such an offence will be committed as a consequen=
ce=E2=80=9D. The Spanish authorities are currently using this law to try to=
 extradite former ETA prisoner I=C3=B1aki de Juana Chaos, who served 21 yea=
rs in Spanish jails, from Belfast where he moved after his release in Augus=
t last year.
The Spanish court is basing its effort to extradite de Juana Chaos on the f=
limsiest grounds of a single media report saying somebody at a rally in Don=
ostia in August, which Juana Chaos was not present at, saying =E2=80=9CKick=
 the ball forward=E2=80=9D, without any evidence that the comment was de Ju=
ana Chaos=E2=80=99s or that it somehow constitutes a terrorist offence.
A Belfast judge last month accepted the advice of the Spanish authorities t=
hat the phrase =E2=80=9CKick the ball forward=E2=80=9D constitutes =E2=80=
=9Cpraising terrorism=E2=80=9D and that this offence has a legal equivalent=
 under the British Terrorism Act 2006. De Juana Chaos is appealing the ruli=
ng in May.
The UN Special Rapportuer report also criticised the interpretation of kale=
 borroka, or street fighting between young people and the security forces, =
as =E2=80=9Curban terrorism=E2=80=9D, subjecting young people to the anti-t=
error legislation including incommunicado detention.
The report slammed the fact that all political cases are judged in the Audi=
encia National, (National Bench, descended from fascist dictator General Fr=
anco=E2=80=99s Public Order Tribunal) whose judgements can only be reviewed=
 in a limited way in the Supreme Court.


Prisoners
The UN also reported the abuse of human rights, in particular the rights of=
 =E2=80=98terror suspect=E2=80=99 detainees, who may be held incommunicado =
for up to 13 days without charge. Not only does the UN report note the freq=
uent allegations of torture by detainees who have been held incommunicado, =
it also notes the failure of the Spanish authorities to effectively investi=
gate these claims.
The Basque human rights NGO Torturaren Aurkako Taldea (Group Against Tortur=
e =E2=80=93 TAT) listed testimonies of serious torture from 62 people, most=
 of whom had been held incommunicado, in 2008, including beatings, sexual a=
ssault, asphyxiation with plastic bags, food and sleep deprivation, stress =
positions, and threats to rape or kill victims or their partners or family =
members, among other abuses. Being forced to sing the Spanish national anth=
em or fascist anthems was another common abuse listed by detainees.
Today there are 765 Basque political prisoners, the highest number since th=
e Franco dictatorship, and they have been =E2=80=98dispersed=E2=80=99 or re=
moved as far from home as possible, spread out in more than 80 prisons in S=
pain and France, on average about 600km from the Basque Country. Their retu=
rn to the Basque Country has long been a central demand of the Basque peopl=
e.


Response
Against this background of already severe repression, the Spanish chauvinis=
ts will now control the central institution that Basque nationalists have h=
istorically used to exercise a degree of autonomy, the Parliament of the Ba=
sque Autonomous Community.
For the section of Basque population who supported the PSE, the party=E2=80=
=99s opportunist alliance with the right-wing, neo-Francoist PP brings into=
 sharp relief the fact that the question of self-determination remains the =
primary defining issue in politics in the Basque Country.
The conservative nationalist PNV must also realise that the Spanish state=
=E2=80=99s strategy of fostering division and attempting to isolate the rad=
ical nationalists not only hurts the left but the PNV as well =E2=80=93 it =
has lost its grip on the limited form of power it had and demonstrated its =
dependence on support from the left-nationalists. The left-nationalists hav=
e argued that the PNV in power failed to oppose the persecution of the left=
 effectively, essentially collaborating with Madrid=E2=80=99s anti-democrat=
ic policies out of narrow self-interest, which has now backfired badly.
A new nationalist united front with a strategy of extra-parliamentary mass =
mobilisation will be vital to defend the political, cultural and economic r=
ights of Basque people against the chauvinist coalition=E2=80=99s looming o=
ffensive.
In response to the election result, left-nationalists have held a series of=
 meetings to discuss a new way forward. Basque nationalist trade unions are=
 calling for a general strike on May 21, days after the new government is i=
naugurated.
International support for building a meaningful, inclusive peace process =
=E2=80=93 in which the Spanish and French states are pressured to acknowled=
ge the democratic and national rights of the Basque people =E2=80=93 will b=
e more important than ever in the coming period.=20
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