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Basque Country: Peace process moves forward

01 November 1998

The peace process begun on 17 September with the unilateral ceasefire declaration by the armed Basque grouping ETA has recently been consolidated. Almost three months after the declaration, the Spanish government has come under increasing pressure to respond positively to the new situation. Prime Minister José María Aznar has now publicly called for ETA to open communications.

Meanwhile, on 25 October, elections to the Basque parliament gave a majority of votes to the parties which had signed the Lizarra Accord (see Statewatch, vol 8 no 5), the agreement which paved the way for the ceasefire. Consequently the new autonomous Basque government will be formed by Accord parties and will receive the parliamentary support of Euskal Herritarrok, the nationalist coalition formed around Herri Batasuna. Although the coalition has decided not to join the government, the absence of the Socialist Party (which was in the previous two governments, but rejected the Lizarra Accord) guarantees a significant change of direction. While political discussions continue to aim at securing a consensus on the basis for peace, the Spanish government is facing demands for a radical revision of its penal policy.

In November the Spanish parliament unanimously approved a resolution to that effect. On 28 November a 70,000-strong demonstration in Bilbao called for the immediate repatriation to the Basque Country of prisoners dispersed across the Spanish penal system, and for urgent action to create conditions in which the Basque Country would cease to have political prisoners.

There are at present 586 Basques imprisoned for politically-motivated offences (58 held in the Basque Country, 451 in Spanish prisons, 75 in French prisons, and one each in Mexico and the United States). Around 2,000 Basques live as refugees, and 45 have been subjected to extradition proceedings (37 from France, three from Uruguay, two from Belgium and one each from Germany, Costa Rica and Italy).