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Rights, Freedoms and Repression
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Protests in Ireland in solidarity with banned Basque Youth movement international |
rights, freedoms and repression |
feature
 Sunday March 13, 2005 00:33 by sally - Irish Basque Committees irishbasques at hotmail dot com
 From the newswire:
(Ireland, 12th March 2005) Forty people in Dublin, sixty in Belfast, fifteen in Galway and twenty in Derry gathered to express their solidarity with 42 Basque Youth activists of the Basque pro-independence left youth organizations Jarrai, Haika and Segi and who have been brought to courts in Madrid for a show trial and who are facing a total of 654 years in prison for their political work defending Basque youth rights and Basque Country's right to self-determination. The judge and the state prosecution allege that "these organizations are all ETA". Trials against the political party Batasuna, two anti-repression organizations, two newspapers, one magazine, a publishing house, etc. are to follow. All these organizations and media have been banned in the last 7 years. Judge Garzon became famous worldwide for his attempt to extradite Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet from London to Spain a few years ago, but he looks elsewhere when Basque detainees are brought in front of him covered in bruises or with signs of deep psychological shock after the customary five day incommunicado period of interrogation (4 Basque detainees have died in police custody since Spanish "democracy" began). In the last 7 years Judge Garzon has been dismantling various nationalist left organizations and Basque media, arguing that at the end of the day they are all ETA. He has arrested and put in jail some 200 people. No matter how little evidence he has to support his comprehensive theories, the trial had to begin last month, since under Spanish law the authorities can hold a prisoner on remand for up to four years. In fact, nine of the accused youths had to be released from jail last Friday, for they completed their remand period without being tried. They are now awaiting the result of this show trial together with another 33 youths. They are all accused of belonging to their respective youth organizations, which the judge argues are part of ETA. They could get up to 654 years in total. Since freedom of association was finally recognized by the Spanish state in the late seventies after dictatorship, the Basque nationalist left youth organization Jarrai and its successors Haika and Segi have been working for better conditions for the youth, for promoting alternative ways of life like the Gaztetxes (self-managed centres for the youth), against conscription, etc. This is not a criminal case but a political one where the accusations are collective, not based on individual acts. By Judge Garzon's standards tens of thousands of Basque people could be imprisoned any time. So far he has got some of the more determined and committed to achieve a free Basque Country. Ironically, some of those 200 people to be tried in the near future have publicly criticized ETA through the years. In Belfast, the spokeswoman for the campaign asked for international support to stop the Spanish ad French States ferocious repression against Basque civil and political rights activists and Basque left wing pro-independence movement. At the same time she denounced the silence of the Irish government and the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern during the time that Ireland held the European Union Presidency last year. The EU should not support such illegal and antidemocratic policies within the union but it should rather help to initiate a peace process in the Basque Country aimed to bring justice and freedom. These protests were coordinated by the Irish Basque Committees-Coistí na mBascach-Éireannach and Ógra Shinn Féin and supported by numerous people and groups like ex-republican political prisoners, Belfast Socialist Youth and Irish Republican Socialist Party. We want to thank everybody for coming along. The solidarity campaign will keep going strong for the next few weeks with more events. These issues are of concern to anyone who stands for human rights such as freedom of organization and expression. Anybody who wants to join the campaign can contact us through: irishbasques@hotmail.com |
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10"members of a radical basque youth group yesterday hung an independence banner which read "basque youth in defence of their civil and political rights" from Buckingham palace in London."-
mainstream press today in the rightwing heartland of Spain, the communidad of Valencia.
It has been a year since the reaction to the terrorist attack on Madrid, her people and immigrants, Spain and Europe was followed by the death of other innocents killed in reaction to the events of M11 in the Basque region and Catalonia.
The next generation must move forward to nourishing the seeds of democracy, freedom and liberty, wherever they are seen to sprout. The true conflict with terror is one fought with love and understanding, compassion and the need to seek dialogue. It must be based in wisdom which in the diversity of humanity sees hope rather than despair.
peer response unit
less than 200 people protested, thats hardly what you would call nation wide support.
When you compare these tiny numbers to the numbers of people who were at Bobby Sands' funeral or the hundreds of thousands that are on the streets on the twelth it kindof pails in comparison?
Nobody said the protests got a “nation wide support”. Left wing activists and internationalists we know where we live. We know the difficulties we face in all Ireland to take the people to the streets for any good cause. We know the lack of information around the political conflict in the Basque Country here in Ireland. If sometimes is difficult to make understand people in the 6 counties even where the Basque Country geographically is imagine in the Republic.
We don’t have massive resources. We just count on our believes for justice and freedom for the Basque Country and in this way we know we’ll find many more Irsihmen and women who arein the same side of the barricade fighting for another world.
We are really happy and proud about these protests and we think is just the very start. More than the quantity we apreciate the quality. Protest actions took part in four of the most important cities in Ireland, in the four corners.
I’m afraid you don’t know the hard political reality we suffer in Ireland and your comparison with the Bobby Sands’ funeral and the twelth is really ridicoulous.
What I can tell you is that just two weeks ago more than 30.000 people (less than 3 million of inhabitants) protest against this show trial and hundreds are protesting every day in all the cities and towns in the Basque Country.
Just yesterday the whole Basque Political Prisoners Group, 720 Basque men and women, began hunger strike for political status and demanding a negotiated settlement to the conflict.
You are wellcome to help to spread the message so next protests will be even more succesfull.
By the way, do you remember when and how were the last internationalist protests in all Ireland related to a political conflict within the EU?
Anyway you don’t seem to be an indymedia comrade but a provocative.
Constitutional rigths as free informaton, free assambly and reunion, free expresion of idiology or the right of free vote are no longer existing in spanish pseudodemocracy. Political partys, worker unions, jouth associations or even ONGs in the Vasc country have been made ilegal and their volunters persecuted in a massive campaing that start against ETA but have been extended to a extense left sector all over the apanish territory.
Under this circunstances the sttragle against capitalism and imperialism must continuate in any possible way of fighting!!!
Fair play to those who organised and took part in this protest.
Its not trendy in many left wing organisations in this country to show any solidarity with the Basque and their legitimate right to self determination and independence.
Then again that i snot surprising since Labour are buddies with the governing PSOE who ran a state sanctioned capaign of murder, kidnapping and terror aginst the Basque people for many years. The current clampdown against Basque activists is no surprise nor is the silence from the Irish Government against such blatant breaches of human rights.
Why would they? They are introducing their own repressive measures here while supporting the British Govt in introducing their repressive legislation which wil affect Irish citizens living in the six counties.
The Basque people and their struggle should be supported by all.
Do these youth organisations have any links to Batasuna. If so, they should be shut down, if these people have been fundraising for basque terrorists they should be locked up. Let's see what the allegations are.
Remember, fundraising for anything that will put money the way of Basque terrorism must be stopped.
I think we need to find out what these 'youth' organisations really are.
Remember, ETA and Batasuna are not separatists. They are pure and simple terrorists.
Numbers this low supporting this highly contentious cause hardly represents nationwide support.
Wake up.
http://www.plus.es/codigo/noticias/ficha_noticia.asp?id=458937
the highly emotive lead up to the parliamentary elections continues which will set the scene for the democratic mandate within the Basque country as defined under the current constitution for the Lehandakari's proposals.
Earlier in the week, the leader of the PP travelled to Navarra which though a seperate "community" of the 17 that make up the Spanish state, is claimed by some basque nationalists as a part of the basque "nation without state" which stradles both French and Spanish states. Rajoy asked that the Navarra "community" be blocked from "joining" the Basque community in the future.
At the same time, the ZP government signed cross-border deals with the French government aiming at "reducing" the frontier and harmonising both sides in terms of €U development.
Current indications are a return to power for the ruling tripartite, and continuing trouble and strife on the question of political representation for the armed faction.
Meanwhile, cultural identity and politics are often mixed, some think a basque name and surname carried to Europe on a passport means a petty bourgois nationalist philosophy, some don't.
Some think tweed means Neil Blaney, others think underlay check and darned elbows, gardening & perhaps a spot of occasionaly sonnet writing.
after Easter there will be more articles on "normal" life in the Basque with pictures of graffitis and stuff for you to ponder. As in the past many pondered Ireland and the Irish. And it was not uncommon to be asked if you wore tweed or voiced gaelic-
"and which part of Ireland do you come from, what does your daddy do in the war?"
= The basques and the spanish and french who live in their country, as the basques who live in spain and france need to get their big table together.
Do make sure you remember to offer them all a cushion.
These youth organizations are the more and more well known by left wing youth organizations in all around Europe and this is why they got ttheir support in a signed petition last year (organizations from Ireland, Sweden, Danemark, Germany, Greece, Catalonia, Galice, Britanny, Norway...) and have been defined as an example for revolutionary youth in Europe.
Those who speak about fundraising terrorism and smelly stuff like that seem very similar to Bush's speechs and I don't think people in indymedia Ireland is gonna lost their time with them. Not me at least...
Keep the internationalism flags up!!!
Fair play to all who were involved in organising these protests. Hopefully it is the beginning of increasing recognition in Ireland of the situation in the basque country
An Irish/Basque night of Solidarity and Music will be held in the Conway Mill, Falls Road Belfast, this coming Good Friday, 25th March.
admission is £5.
Featuring:
Tin Pot Operation
Caoimhín (Bréag) Agus Cairdé
Pól Mc Adam.
bring your own food and drink. Doors open at 7.30pm.
Up the Revolution!