Independence Left to the victims of ETA: “We do our pain, it should never have happened.”
- The Basque independence left made a declaration on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Aiete Declaration and the end of ETA violence. The reflections have been read by Arkaitz Rodríguez and Arnaldo Otegi. Special mention has also been made of the victims of ETA violence and the need to resolve the issue of political prisoners has been stressed.
In a hearing at the Aiete Palace in Donostia-San Sebastian, the Basque independence left has made "a Eighteenth Declaration of October". Sortu Secretary General Arkaitz Rodríguez and EH Bildu General Coordinator Arnaldo Otegi have read the five-point statement. It is a simple act to share reflections with Basque, Spanish and French society, as well as with international public opinion, the day after the tenth anniversary of the Declaration of Aiete.
Firstly, he referred to the end of ETA’s violence and its process of disarmament and dissolution of eta. Although the success of the process is that of Basque society as a whole, the declaration recognizes the unity of the armed organization in decision-making, stressing that divisions and serious problems have been avoided.
Mention has also been made of the recognition and reparation of all victims and a special mention has been made of the victims of ETA violence: “We do our pain and that sincere feeling we say that that should never have happened, no one can want everything to have happened, nor that it has lasted so long. We had to have arrived at Aiete earlier.”
Although the past has no turning back and the pain is not going to be erased by anything that has been said, the independence left assures that it is convinced that it is possible to alleviate pain from respect, kindness and memory.
The statement also addressed the issue of political prisoners, whom it considered necessary to find a solution. In particular, they recalled the participation of prisoners in overcoming the armed strategy: “Without them it would not be possible.”
On the last point, they affirm that the effective and democratic method of resolving political differences is dialogue, negotiation and consensus and that it is ratified in the commitment to these independence Left. They added that the political problem at the root of the conflict still needs to be solved and that it is "essential" to provide a democratic solution to the national problem: "Respect for our national identity is a necessary and necessary first step in building a different future, in which the decision rests on the society of our people."
Full hearing:
