Faced with the situation of Patxi Ruiz, Bake Bidea and Bakegile call for an end to violations of rights
- In a joint communiqué, Bake Bidea and Bakegile expressed their concern about the situation of the Basque political prisoner Patxi Ruiz. Ruiz has been on hunger and thirst strike since May 11 in Murcia prison.
According to Bake Bidea and Bakegile, “the situation of Patxi Ruiz is a direct consequence of the emergency measures being carried out by Basque prisoners in France and Spain in recent decades. It is the consequence of being remote, dispersed, isolated for some and in the hardest living conditions.” They have therefore called for an end to the dispersal, alienation and violation of women’s rights.
The document stresses that the emergency situation caused by COVID-19 has left the consequences of the exceptional policy applied to Basque political prisoners to the world’s attention. “The Basque prisoners have again been excluded from their right to apply to any prisoner, except in exceptional situations. We wish once again to express our regret that the French and Spanish States have not committed themselves to ending emergency measures in this health emergency, and that the elderly, sick or sentenced at the end of the sentence should be kept in prison.”
According to Bake Bidea and Bakegile, the situation requires a change of perspective: they say it is time to open the way for the release of prisoners.
Since we were transferred to Euskal Herria from the prisons of the Spanish State, in the prison of Zaballa we have found many deficiencies in the field of communication. We have fewer and shorter face-to-face contacts, we have had to make visits to the speaker in poor technical... [+]
In prisons dependent on the Basque Government, Basque political prisoners have lost a great deal in terms of communication with our family and friends. The number of monthly prefixes is lower and their duration is shorter. So, even if we get closer, we devote less time to the... [+]