Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

Law on Police Violence, Lights and Shadows

Permitting is one of the pillars of politics and life. Another thing is where the limits of what is possible and depending on what. On 28 July the Basque Parliament will adopt the Spanish State officials' Victims' Act with the support, according to the forecasts of the PNV and PSE-EE. Both parties have recognised that this is "the best law among the possible". So what is not possible and why?

The law is a further step in the recognition of the victims of the State, which would affect some 300-400 people. Violations of their rights will be recognized and monitored in part. The shortcomings, however, are broad, both from the point of view of the general conflict we have experienced and from the point of view of recognition in Madrid. Its biggest problem is that it is not done in the context of a peace process. The Basque society has not had the strength, or did not want?, to set in motion a comprehensive peace process and now, the scheme of truth, justice and reparation that should be addressed in this process is being built with patches in different areas, to the extent that “it is possible”.

The main Basque parties, with the exception of EH Bildu, did not want a peace process to be put in place; and, because of the delay and lack of success in recent years, the Abertzale left has not been able to do so. The decades of political conflict woven a web of strong yarns, and a peace process wrapped in solid yarns could lead as effectively as possible to a new coexistence. It is not, then, that the future will become more complicated. In the meantime, in an area of Basque society, especially within this broad Basque left, there could be a puddle of frustration that we are not yet able to guess what consequences it may have.

The Law is based on the principles of truth, recognition and economic reparation. What about justice?

One of the main shortcomings of this law is that only part of the State accepts these abuses, the Basque Parliament. The Spanish Government does not share this view, despite the fact that the police forces that depend on it are the ones that have most violated the rights; it even resorted to a decree of the Basque Government of 2012 that regulates police violence that precedes this law, and the Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country repealed several aspects of the decree. At the end of June, the Ministry of the Interior has already announced that several aspects of the current law could be considered unconstitutional and that, if accepted, it would invoke the judgment. The will of the PP, therefore, is clear: with a scheme of winners and defeated until the end, to the point of leaving Basque coexistence subject to the Madrid standards. How long will the Basque society accept this scheme of domestication? Where are the limits of the “possible” to overcome this scheme of revenge and control?

The Law is based on the principles of truth, recognition and economic reparation. What about justice? It is not subject to this law. Rather than in human and ethical rights, the law does not aim to equate the victims of ETA with those of the state, for political reasons, and it does so from its own base: an ETA can spend 40 years in prison for killing a citizen; the civil guard who killed a citizen will not even be tried. The law covers violations of rights between 1976 and 1999, but most of those prior to 1999 have prescribed, and the former ethnic groups continue to be prosecuted for the 1981 attacks. How do we believe that the law is the same for everyone? It is not possible.

In addition, this law is not responsible for the violations of rights that have been committed since 1999, as it could clash with investigations by the Spanish justice system. Given the will of the main powers of the State, everything is said. It will have to be left for another occasion. Like those 4,000 tortured from the State to which the Basque Government has made known the investigations ordered. And yet this law will appease the pain of many State victims.

I will take advantage of these last lines to announce the end of this section, which is entitled Gazteluko Plazatik. We leave on vacation and from September it will no longer be in this magazine. I will continue on the blog of the same name of ARGIA.eus with the analyses and reflections here. Or otherwise in the magazine. Sometimes getting right and sometimes getting completely right, this page has taught me how important it is to write from the independence of each one in the work of the journalist, and to write to the reader. Independence is not a myth. Thank you very much to all those who have followed these lines and to the next column, report or interview.


You are interested in the channel: Polizia
Zupiriak ukatu egin du ertzainek “indarra modu desegokian” erabili zutenik Ágredoren aurka

31 urteko emakume kolonbiarra osasun zentrora eraman ordez ertzain etxera eramatean agenteek "akatsa" egin zutela aitortu du Segurtasun sailburuak, baina azpimarratu du ez zuela "jipoirik" jaso.


M3moria Auzolana ekimena sortu dute, Martxoak 3ko grebekin loturiko objektuak eta testigantzak biltzeko

Martxoaren 3ko Memoriala hornitzeko erabiliko dira bildutako objektuak. Ekimena ahalik eta jende gehienarengana iristeko asmoz, jardunaldiak antolatuko ditu Martxoak 3 elkarteak Gasteizko auzoetan.


Ágredok epailearen aurrean deklaratu du astelehenean, eta Zupiriak asteazkenean egingo du agerraldia legebiltzarrean

Karen Daniela Ágredok dioenez, zortzi bat ordu eman zituen ziegako zoruan etzanda Ertzaintzak ospitalera eraman aurretik. Segurtasun sailburu Bingen Zupiriak berak eskatu du Eusko Legebiltzarrean agerraldia egitea.


Ágredok dioenez, zortzi bat ordu eman zituen ziegako zoruan etzanda Ertzaintzak ospitalera eraman aurretik

Karen Daniela Ágredok dioenez, atxilotu zutenean berak ez zuen ertzainik zauritu, haiek lurrera bota zuten eta konortea galdu zuen. Ondoren, Ertzaintzaren komisariaren zoruan iratzartu zen eta handik ospitalera eraman zuten.


The Government has not taken a decision in the case of the woman from San Sebastián who was hospitalized in the ICU after the assault of the Ercion
Security Counselor Bingen Zupiria said that as long as they have “no security or certainty about whether things have been done right or wrong,” they will not take action. Her aunt explains that the woman who was attacked by police officers is "helpless" after two or three days... [+]

Zumaia, Getaria and Azpeitia will make a joint job offer to promote the "close" model of local police
The municipalities of Zumaia, Getaria and Azpeitia want a local police model based on "trust and proximity". To do this, they will hire together five local police officers who will know these municipalities well and will also ask the candidates for the B2 level of Basque.

A woman in San Sebastián complains that after the assault on her, she ended up in the ICU unconscious
Members of the woman’s family have filed a complaint with the Colombian consulate in Bilbao. He was assaulted on 1 February at the gates of a nightclub on Manterola Street in San Sebastián. According to various testimonies, even though he was unconscious, he continued to be... [+]

2025-02-17 | Axier Lopez
The son of the Itzians?

For almost a century, there has been no generation in the Basque Country that has not known torture. There are 5,379 people officially since 1960, but there are many more, because appearing publicly as tortured still hurts. And probably because nothing has changed at the base... [+]


Call for public accountability at the presentation of the...
900 victims of torture have gathered in San Sebastian to present the Network of Tortured People of the Basque Country on February 15. The initiative aims to be a loudspeaker for the tortured, and citizens who have not yet reported torture are encouraged to join the network. The... [+]

2025-02-14 | Euskal Irratiak
David Gramond
“Gizartea beldurrarazteko baliatu zuten tortura, militantziari uko egiteko”

Otsailaren 13a Torturaren Kontrako eguna izanki, Euskal Herriko Torturaren Sareak gutun publiko bat igorri du. Poliziek torturatu euskal jendeen lekukotasunak bildu, eta aitortza egiteko xedea du sare berri horrek Euskal Herri osoan. Torturatuak izan diren 5.000 pertsonei... [+]


A man arrested by the Civil Guard in Amurrio for laughing on social media at the expense of two dead agents
"Dead police, the best fertilizer for the garden," the detainee wrote on social media, and his profile has more than four million followers, the Civil Guard said.

The police will prepare the bus drivers for the attacks
Azahara Domínguez, deputy of the Department of Mobility, Tourism and Planning of Gipuzkoa, announced it after meeting with the head of the Basque Government, Jabier Zabaleta. Among other things, they will be provided with resources to combat sexual assaults in order to have the... [+]

Lawyer sentenced to six years in prison for helping a prisoner in exchange for drugs
The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Gipuzkoa wants to sentence the head of patrols of the Citizen Protection of Donostia-San Sebastian to six years in prison. The gunman offered benefits in the court process in exchange for cocaine to a man arrested on charges of drug... [+]

State victims ask President Chivite to be present at their confession ceremony on February 13
125 applications to the Government of Navarre for recognition as victims of state violence in 2023 and 2024. Of these, 41 have been approved. The Association of Truth Indebted and Tortured has valued well the path it is taking.

Eguneraketa berriak daude