Spanish State repression against Basque People

(This article was published by Gara(Basque newspaper) in a special about the repression against the Basque Left, until the recent ilegallization of Batasuna by the Spanish "Parties Law". Translated by Euskalinfo from GARA's 'Ilegalización@ document)

Basque Independentism has never enjoyed ordinary participation in mainstream politics. It has been always affected by the legal and illegal obstacles set up by the Spanish government. In 1977 the fascist dictator Francisco Franco died. While all other political parties were legally recognised, the Home Office made it clear to the Basque separatist parties that they were illegal. In October EIA, LAIA and HASI were denied formal recognition; Herri Batasuna (HB) was formed as a coalition of these parties. It achieved official status in 1980, but ever since HB has been involved in an obstacle race.

HB was formed in April 1978 as a coalition including all the parties from the Altsasu Platform: ANV, ESB, HASI and LAIA. It was only an electoral coalition but with the aim of achieving other goals. The name was proposed by historian Joseba Agirreazkuenaga. Soon, in each municipality there were assemblies in support of HB, because everywhere there were people belonging to one or another of the above groups.

Since HB was formed it has experienced the State's hostility and that of those the Basque nationalists who prefered to compete for some space in the Spanish political arena. For example, the repeated call for demonstrations in Bilbo for 28th October 1978; PNV called for a demo against ETA in what was to be known as the 'Doves Demo'. HB called for another demo under the slogan 'On behalf of yesterday's and today's Gudaris (Basque fighters)'. PNV's supporters were protected by the Spanish police forces while HB's weren´t even allowed to unfold the banner. The police charge produced severe injuries of five people.

To this day the banning of demonstrations has been common practice, and the Guardia Civil, the National Police and the Hertzantza (Basque Police) have all taken part in the repression; the badge of persecutors has been interchangeable.

*Prison, check-points and `uncontrolled´ attackers

The attacks on HB have not been limited to chases and rubber bullets from the greys (colour of Franco's National Police uniform). In February 1979, as a consequence of various protests in Gasteiz highlighting the situation of Basque prisoners, more than 40 people were arrested, including members of HB and LKI (Communist League). When around half of those arrested tried to testify in Basque, Judge Siro García ordered their imprisonment in Langraitz. Most of the leadership of Herri Batasuna were among those detained.

After a general strike that brought the province of Gipuzkoa almost entirely to a halt, all the detainees apart from Telesforo Monzon - charged with 'incitement to terrorism'- were released. Telesforo (74 years old at the time) started a hunger strike which deteriorated his health in such a way that friends and family were afraid for his life. On 1st March, the elections for the Senate were due to take place but HB's main candidate for Gipuzkoa was in Langraitz's prison. The Basque separatist organisation gained 172,110 votes, which Telesforo became aware of while still under police custody in hospital, severally ill. He wasn't released till 10th March. Later on, the State´s general attorney José Manuel Fanjul ordered a new charge against Telesforo Monzon for declarations to foreign correspondents during an HB press conference. In November, the Congress agreed to try both Monzon and Ortzi, another key member of the HB leadership.

Repression followed Telesforo Monzon his whole life and even after his death in 1981; when his body was transported to Bergara for his burial, it was kidnapped by the FSE (State Security Forces) and arrived in his home town surrounded by police tanks.

Nowadays, when the security of elected politicians has the main focus in political agendas, it's possible that many have forgotten the persecution that abertzale mayors and councillors have suffered.

In September 1979, Hernani's mayor and HB member Juanjo Uria managed to escape an attempt on his life - fortunately without injury. That same year, HB councillor of Donostia (San Sebastian) Tomas Alba Irazusta (aged 42) wasn't that lucky. On the morning of 30th September at 2.10 am, he was shot twice by para-military gunmen in the town of Astigarraga as he appoached his car after having dinner. Etxarri Aranaz's (Navarre) HB mayor Mikel Arregi was killed by the Guardia Civil at check-point on 11th November 1979. On 23th July 1980 a bomb was aimed at the nursery where Zeberio's HB councillor Antton Artiñano's partner worked; it killed three people, among them a heavily pregnant young woman. In Omdarru on 30th August 1980 another para-military attack killed HB Angel Etxaniz.

On 4th November 1988 a paramilitary group kidnapped HB Hondarrabia councillor Fermin Urtizberea and held him for three days. On 15th May 1989 HB Navarre MP Patxi Erdozain survived a letter-bomb. An Orereta postman, JA Cardoso, wasn't that lucky and was killed on 20th September 1989 by a letter addressed to HB member Ildelfonso Salazar. In 1991 five HB members suffered similar attacks. HB spokesperson Jon Idigoras received a letter-bomb that didn't explode. Meanwhile cars belonging to HB members were burnt in Orereta, Gaztelu and Lizarra. The most recent car burning was that of Patxi Lage, the 35th car burnt up until 1991. A bomb exploded in the factory of Ziordia's HB member José Ignacio Flores.

On two occasions the para-military attacks have targeted very prominent HB members. On 20th November 1984 HB National Directionship member and HASI president Santi Brouard was killed by mercenary bullets in his paediatric surgery in Bilbo. Five years later Josu Muguruza was killed in the Alcalá Hotel and Iñaki Esnaolaresulted severely injured. Both had gone to Madrid together with other HB elected MP's in their capacity as parlamentarians to collect their credentials.

*'Eusko Gudariak' in front of the Spanish King

On 4th February 1981, the king of Spain was visiting Euskal Herria and speaking before the newly fomed Autonomous Basque Community (Basque Regional Government) in Gernika's Assembly House. As soon as he started the HB and LAIA MPs began to sing 'Eusko Gudariak' (Basque freedom-fighters anthem). They were immediately evicted by the 'Berrozi men' -embryo of the as yet unformed Hertzaintza - and by the PNV security, a rather dubious body to do security at such an event.

That action had a major repressive response. In May the home minister Juan José Rosón ordered the detention of all Herri Batasuna's elected members. On the night of 8th May, 25 elected MPs for Nafarroa, 18 for Gipuzkoa, 9 for Bizkaia and 11 for Araba were arrested. The next day the repressive forces went to the press conference where HB was publicly reporting the events. Francisco Letamendia, Periko Solabarria, Jon Idigoras, Mikel Arizaleta, Joselu Cereceda and Karmele Etxeberria were then also arrested after informing the media of the state´s activities. The chain of judicial activities and arrests of Herri Batasuna members was not to stop until 1994, when they were released from prison and their names cleared.

The Spanish State has never accepted the politics of self-determination of the Basque people. This non-acceptance has ranged from simply denying funding due to the party and media, to using violence including repression and the use of paramilitaries (read: thugs).

*The killings of Brouad and Muguruza

In 1984 and 1989 Herri Batasuna suffered two major hits in the form of murder of two men who were important references for the Basque separatist left. The killings of Santi Brouard in 1984 and Josu Muguruza in 1989 were both carried out on 20th November - the anniversary of the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. They were two direct attacks against the Basque people on both political and social levels. The homages paid to the two men attracted an incredible amount of people, and after both killings huge protests took place all over the country - including a general strike - receiving massive support. HB considered both murders as 'state crimes'.

Santi Brouard was HASI's president and a member of HB's national direction. In the the paediatric nursery that he run in 12 Rekalde Street, his killers turned up as a young patient was leaving. Nurse Begoña Marínez opened the door to the mercenaries. Here she explains the events:

"At first I thought they were gipsy beggars. When they didn't want to give me any names I became suspicious, and then I realized that one of them was wearing a wig. Suddenly he dropped something that made noise - it was a pistol. I started to scream, saying that Santi wasn't in the surgery. I thought that in that way Santi would realise what was going on and that he wouldn't come out- But he did - exactly the opposite of what I wanted him to do."

According to the political interpretation that Herri Batasuna gave to the attack, the murder of Brouard was the "tip of repression dynamics" and the whole abertzale left was in the aim of the Spanish State. Because Santi was mayor in opposition of Bilbo, the funeral chapel was placed in the council house. During the days following the funeral the Basque capital experienced expressions of condolence never before seen. The abertzale leader Jokin Gorostidi spoke as follows about his murdered close friend:

"Santi's role at the outset of HB was to be crucial because of how easily he was able to reach to others. Without people like him it's impossible to understand that unity process (that HB experienced)."

Meanwhile Periko Solabarria expressed that the man from Lekeitio was "the kind of person you canonise".

*The assassination at the Alcalá Hotel

On the same day five years later, Josu Muguruza, member of the National Directorship, newly elected MP of the Spanish Parliament and journalist of Egin newspaper, was killed by two people in Madrid's Alcalá Hotel's 'Basque Restaurant'. Another MP, Iñaki Esnaola was also severely injured.

Jose Luis Alvarez 'Txilllardegi' a then newly elected HB MP said:

"It was a very hard day for us. We knew what kind of day (Franco's anniversary) was, and in Madrid the attitude against us was very hostile. We all remembered Santi."

Txillardegi was at the hotel together with four other newly elected MPs - Iñigo Iruin, Itziar Aizpurua, Jose Luis Elkoro and Jon Idigoras, plus three journalists from Egin, the representative of the editorial team Ramon Uranga, Madrid's correspondant Teresa Toda and journalist Xabier Oleaga. HB's members had gone to Madrid to receive their credentials. Just after 11:00 pm two men in balaclavas entered the restaurant and started shooting at the table.

Teresa Toda reported this in Egin:

"It was three quarters of an hour since we had started eating. We were relaxed, there weren´t many people in the restaurant. Suddenly we heard some loud noises; they were shots. Everything happened very fast and those in front hadn´t even noticed the gunmen. There wasn´t even time to scream. By the time I was able to get up from the floor, Iñaki was laying on the other side of me and Josu next to him. Josu had taken a shot behind his ear. They had shot at him from very very close range."

The next morning a press conference was held in Madrid and HB confirmed that the killing was related to the message of negotiation brought by the elected MP's. Jon Idigoras also stated that the aim of participating in the Congress was 'to create an environment of dialogue to try and recreate the previously failed Process of Alger and political negotiation". He added that "those who don't want a solution" were responsible for the murder, as was the case five years before with Santi Brouard; "once again they've killed the well-intentioned messenger". A large section of the Basque population identified with that message too, and over the following days the mobilisations were massively well attended. In response to Muguruza's murder, HB declared that there "was no better reply than to carry on working".

These murders were not the last time that attempts have been made to decapitate the Basque separatist leftist organization. Between February 1996 and July 1999 Herri Batasuna's National Directorship experienced endless threats of detentions, a major political process against them and more than 22 months in prison. The individuals were released when the Constitutional Tribunal appealed to the High Court and it was decided that in this case an error had been committed against the penal legality right, as it was understood that the directionship had been sentenced out of proportion to the crime they were charged with.

The release of the Directorship wasn't at all welcomed by the main body of the Spanish media. Even years after, they would criticize the courts for being influenced by ETA's ceasefire at the time. However, during the case political interventions against the national Directionship were continuous, starting with the banning of a video showing ETA's peace proposal. This case produced some comical incidents, such as the raids by dozens of coppers of meeting rooms looking for the 'criminal tapes'. But it also led to some very painful situations; it must never be forgotten that HB leadership member Eugenio Aranburu 'Txo' was found dead in his house in Mallabia some hours before he was due to be imprisoned by the High Court.

However, the withdrawal of HB's National Directorship's sentence didn't surprise those who in October 1997 had to follow the court case in the High Court's Second Court. By then the defence - whose arguments were even applauded by Madrid's media - realised that a short sentence never be ratified by Constitutional Tribunal or by the European Tribunal.

arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)