Tortured people ask institutions for “firm initiatives” for recognition and reparation
- More than four hundred Basques tortured by the police warn in Intxaurrondo that "there are many responsible for impunity and too many silences". At the hearing of the Egia Foundation they demanded that the “whole dimension” of torture be revealed.
As part of the Day against Torture, more than 400 citizens have met this Saturday in Intxaurrondo convened by the Egia Zor Foundation. “We are a living testimony to those of us who have been subjected to torture at some points in the recent history of Euskal Herria,” they explain, blue folders in their hands.
They report that there are “obvious gaps” in the recognition and reparation of the tortured and ask the responsible governments of Navarre and the CAV to take the necessary steps to get the reality of torture out of the shadow. “We demand firm commitments and initiatives to deepen the path of recognition and social, political and institutional redress for the tortured,” they said.
They refer to the reports submitted by the Basque Institute of Criminology, recalling that since 1960 there have been at least 4,311 cases of torture in Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, and 1,068 in Navarre, with a minimum of 5,379. “We are talking about a huge amount for a people as small as ours, which means that the Basque people have been tortured massively and systematically.”
Impunity and silence
They stress that the deepest consequences of torture are still to be clarified and that impunity is the “use by the Spanish State of the Civil Guard, the National Police and the Ertzaintza in various political contexts of torture of political activists in Euskal Herria, which has responsibility, many responsible for impunity and even too much silence”. They denounce that the CAPV’s tortured report has been “in a drawer” without developing, “invisible”, and that Navarra’s report has also been “hampered” in making it public.
Ahotsa.infok picks up Intxaurrondo's appearance in the following video:
Blue folders to show torture
A political project has also been announced: from February 13 the documentary “Blue Folders” will be projected in different locations, understanding that it is a good tool to socialize the reality of torture. The website has also been launched Karpetaurdinak.eus.
Read the interview with Ander Iriarte, director of the documentary Blue Folders: "The Government has 300 reasons for continuing the issue of torture: 300 cases of torture in the Ertzaintza"
Xabier Letona has deepened the issue of torture in this report: The tortured ask for truth, recognition and reparation to be maintained
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