On the day of the 43 year anniversary of the assassination of José Arrangi, several torturers have presented to the Promoter Group of the Network of Torturados of Euskal Herria. Ainara Gorostiaga and Ixone Fernández spoke on behalf of all. They say that the tortured are many and varied, one thing unites them all: “There is an invisible thread: the thread of suffering, the suffering we have within and in silence for years and decades, as it happens to many people like us.”

“We believe it is time to publish the full account of what has happened, to recognize and to repair what we have lived,” explains Gorostiaga and Fernández. For years, steps have been taken towards recognition, but they have claimed that more is needed: “The reality of torture as a whole needs to be taken up. We must analyse the political, social, cultural and human consequences and open avenues for recognition and reparation as a society. In this regard, we Basques who have suffered torture have to say.”

Call to all tortured

The members of the Promoter Group undertake to meet and dialogue with tortured people from towns and regions of the Basque Country. Torture has been treated in the most direct way: “Maybe you’ve told many times what they did to you, or maybe you’ve never been able to tell anyone.” They have all been invited to join the network and informed them that they will find “refuge, strength and even recognition they deserve.” They announce a meeting within a year.

In the recognition of torture they have claimed that the tortured are active subjects, “for what is important is not what they did to us, but what we do with what they did to us.”