Some thoughts on amnesty
In Euskal Herria, in recent decades, we have made various movements to demand amnesty from the states that impose oppression, both national and social, for those who have suffered repression for independence and socialism, without making differences between the forms of struggle we have used.
But there is a clear shift in paradigms, ideas and principles, as well as the backbone of the opportunists who dominate left-wing nationalism. They have resigned from claiming amnesty for Basque political prisoners and have reinforced the scheme of “winners and losers” that have repeatedly imposed on us from Spain.
In this way, this elite has wanted to impose on us, without shame, to follow the legal, criminal and political path imposed by the states that keep us captive and end our political status.
In this context, an amnesty is applied in Catalonia, accompanied by defenses and detractors. On the one hand, we are not surprised to see the most reactionary actors taking the streets, showing their fascist character. And on the other hand, we see Bando as a "progressive", formed by several leftists and independentists who symbolize amnesty. That is surprising, because they do not intend to resolve a political conflict or overcome the repressive and precarious situation that the working class of the Spanish State and the oppressed nations are experiencing, no. Today they take the sign of amnesty, but some do so to stay in power and others to gain legitimacy in the world of reformism and independence and appear to be the only defender of the rights of the people.
Through popular struggle we will achieve amnesty, together with the indispensable right of self-determination, to open the way for a democratic and just future.
Clearly, this amnesty has nothing to do with the historic demands of the revolutionary line. We must remember that in Spain during the last decades there has not been a single day without political reprisals in prisons. Today there are hundreds who keep us prisoners for defending the working class and the historical rights of oppressed nations. And, political militants of PCE(r), GRAPO, Gallegos independentists and other movements, we will continue in jail the day after this amnesty.
With this amnesty, the laws that this Government uses to exploit and tread the people will not cease. The undemocratic state will therefore remain in force. In other words, the list of reprisals will be extended.
This amnesty will not cover all the people who have retaliated in Catalonia for their participation in demonstrations in favour of the referendum, because many of them are out of this list. On the other hand, the uniformed slaves of the State, who used violence against the people, will use this measure to make their actions go unpunished. A project with serious or effective purposes would take these two data into account in order not to do so.
The Catalan political parties that assume this cunning of the Spanish State stand as the only defenders of the rights that are violated in Catalonia and establish an alliance with the Basque counterparts. They have already opted in Euskal Herria for unilaterality, in the opposite direction to independence, through the liquidation and conciliation of the revolutionary routes. Aligned with these parties in the service of capital and with their interests, they further limit our status and our political character, but we believe that this is a good time to claim our political rights out loud through organization and mobilization.
Therefore, in this context of interested moves, false amnesties and attacks on oppressed working classes and peoples, we claim all amnesty as a strategic objective of the revolutionary line. Through popular struggle we will achieve amnesty, together with the indispensable right of self-determination, to open the way for a democratic and fair future.
Finally, to all the institutions and people who have been cruelly persecuted in recent decades for proclaiming in Euskal Herria all the amnesty, a lot of encouragement and strength, to follow the road marked. You are right, amnesty is possible! We will do so with resistance and struggle!
Prisoners on the street, all amnesty!
Jesús Mari Etxeberria Garaikoetxea “Goierri”, Jon Kepa Preciado Izarra, Patxi Ruiz Romero and Mikel Sansebastian Gaztelumendi, Basque political prisoners.
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