1.-
TERRORISM .
Threat; coercion
: the terrorists and their accomplices threaten
with words and deeds, which make it clear that you either do what they
say or you stop doing what you are doing or, otherwise, you will have
to face the consequences. There are many forms of coercion, such as
graffiti, stickers, rumours, posters, banners, newspaper articles, telephone
calls, notes, letters, Molotov cocktails, throwing stones, burning cars,
demonstrations outside the home and pressure at work, etc.
However, the accomplices to terrorism understand threat as being freedom
of expression which cannot be taken away from them, when in reality
it is a crime. The intimidation and coercion existing in daily life
reinforces nationalism's hegemony, degenerating democracy in Euskadi,
giving rise to a serious worsening of democracy and creating serious
difficulties for the exercise of freedom and political competition.
Blackmail; extortion;
revolutionary tax; the financing of terrorism: the
financing of the MLNV is based either on the torture of a human being
who has been kidnapped or threatened with death in order to extract
money from his or her family, or on the sending of letters periodically
to businessmen for the purpose of extorting money from them. Its financing
is based on crime.
Notwithstanding, on many occasions, it has been said by nationalism
in general that they are not delinquents who act to make profit, and
that they are confused idealists who do not want the money itself, but
rather an "idea."
I'll come and
collect it: this refers to the envelope which is
handed over in shops, small and family businesses (mainly bars) throughout
the Basque Country, and the Mafioso extortioner who is a Batasuna activist,
who nobody dares to report, announces to them that he will return in
a few days to collect it full of wads of notes in order to finance the
terrorists and their accomplices.
Kaleborroka, street violence, low intensity terrorism, street terrorism
: kale borroka is a conscious practice organized
by social control. It is not, as has been said, a type of spontaneous
violence, absurdly justified and practised by desperate people or those
excluded from the benefits of modern society.
Kale borroka is pure fascism, which first focuses on the property of
the person being attacked with a Molotov cocktail so as to infringe
his privacy and single him out socially, intimidating the neighbours,
then threatening him and his family, with the purpose of expelling him
from the community (civil death) and finally murdering him (physical
death).
Kale borroka seeks to create a climate of insecurity which favours the
domestication of society, discredits the state of things and harbours
impunity from violence. It attempts to weaken public opinion, discredit
the public authorities who have the legitimate monopoly of force and
snatch from them the capacity to take charge of public safety.
It is not only sabotage or a commotion, but also isolation, which means
that a large part of the population chooses to remain silent, go unnoticed,
conceal or consign opinions to private circles, this being more horizontal
and extensive than the violence of ETA, because of its closeness to
citizens.
It does not operate the same or with the same intensity everywhere,
but is especially intense in towns governed by Batasuna or where there
exists tolerance towards nationalism among the municipal authorities.
The victims of kale borroka are constitutionalists or symbols considered
enemies, who on occasions have attempted without success to speak to
representatives of EH in towns either directly or through intermediaries.
Kale borroka is identified with nationalism, which it uses as a hideout
and an alibi to maintain its main objective of helping to achieve social
hegemony.
PNV leaders have branded kale borroka as being childish things with
no direction, and thus for Iñaki Zarraoa, the mayor of Getxo,
the perpetrators of these atrocities are young people out of control
to whom he says aloud that that is not the way to build Euskal Herria,
and that their actions do not benefit Euskal Herria. Nationalism has
also criticized kale borroka because, they say, it benefits and strengthens
Mayor Oreja's thesis. He even said before the 99 truce that those taking
part in kale borroka were not from HB, although later during the truce
the PNV said that they would develop joint policies with EH once the
latter had got rid of this type of activity.
Structural violence
: the defenders of this idea consider that a type
of violence which is generated by the current economic and political
system exists, which is the violence deriving from injustice in the
north-south divide, wealth distribution between rich and poor within
a single nation, the existence of pockets of poverty, marginalization,
exclusion, unemployment, the oppression of women, drugs, etc. And in
addition, that true peace shall only be reached when this structural
violence in the current political and economic system is eliminated
- in other words, only when all these problems of coexistence have been
solved may peace be reached, which will never be able to be achieved
because new problems will always emerge. At the same time, they criticize
and describe as "negative peace" that peace which is understood
exclusively as meaning an absence of physical violence, because the
real aim of true pacifism is to achieve peace based on social justice
which would be a "positive peace", which takes the struggle
against structural violence into consideration.
The consequences and interpretation of such an extensive approach towards
peace in Euskadi have served to justify not only that peace without
violence is enough (the defeat of terrorism), as this is not true peace,
but rather that something extra is needed in order to achieve the latter
- an agreement (accepting nationalist considerations) which must come
about through unconditional dialogue.
Impunity :
this means that an act remains exempt from punishment when morally and
legally it deserves it. The first stage is not doing anything against
the threatening graffiti in the name of "freedom of expression"
and ends with an "understanding " as to the murder.
Impunity is possible due to the defective functioning in some areas
of democracy, either because of lack of international judicial niches,
because of collaboration, a slack attitude or fear of governmental and
judicial public authorities, or because of a lack of civil responsibility
as regards terrorist acts, etc.
Likewise, equidistance, political, ethical and religious understanding,
the lack of active defence of democracy, the tolerating of intimidation,
failure to apply the law equally to all, the blaming of everything on
the system, or on the state failing to assume its responsibilities,
always believing oneself to be the victims of something or someone,
etc., constitute the facts and attitudes which give rise to the impunity
required in order for terrorism to continue surviving.
Democracy is built on the struggle against impunity and in favour of
the protection of human rights. Notwithstanding, to avoid the struggle
against impunity, arguments are often heard stating "enough is
enough of this hatred" , "let's turn the page", "we
must reach agreement" and "we must finish with this once and
for all."
Impunity is a determining factor which enables sporadic violations to
continue growing and end up becoming a systematic practice of violations
of human rights.
Against impunity, it is necessary to identify the victims, name them
and providing proof that they have been victims and recognize the facts.
They must also be remembered so as to work against their being forgotten.
Society must recognize the pain, the suffering inflicted on the victim,
and must protect him or her.
Bringing those who threaten before the courts is important not only
in order for them to answer the charges made against them but also to
pass on the message that violations of the human rights of victims shall
not be tolerated when the authors of the crimes may be tried and sentenced.
Effects of terrorism
: firstly, the pain which causing the greatest harm
that may be caused to a person entails - that is, taking the right to
live away from them (a right upon which all others are sustained). Irreparable
damage which extends to the victim's relatives, companions and friends
who will suffer from their unwanted absence.
Secondly, murder is the culmination of a process of spreading terror
and fear among citizens in order to strip them of their rights and civil
liberties. Terrorism threatens a hundred thousand and kills one, in
an attempt to make the other remaining ninety-nine thousand nine hundred
and ninety-nine feel that the threat was not just a show of bravado
but rather is actually carried out. This means that if you don't keep
quiet but instead choose to report and combat such terrorism, you can
become the first on the list.
Rights of prisoners:
they are used as a counterweight against victim's demands. They are
used to be able to maintain a position of equidistance between victims
and executioners. Every prisoner is a person and as such maintains all
rights inherent in being a person, except those which have been specifically
restricted as a result of a judicial sentence.
It is constantly said, even in the media, that they are political prisoners,
prisoners of conscience, etc., although in reality they have not been
either accused or tried for their political ideas, but rather for acts
committed against the rights of persons and private and public property
- that is to say, for ordinary actions.
"Third level"
prison rules allowing certain benefits : when someone
commits a crime and after being tried and sentenced, the criminal system
is based on the restoration of the previous legal situation and, if
this does not prove possible, on suitable redress and liability proportional
to the damage caused. The aim of this is to reinsert the person concerned
in democratic life; the purpose is to return people to democratic coexistence.
When a sentence is passed, depriving one of freedom, it is served by
means of a process which starts with a first level in which the prisoner
lacks permits, a second level and then a third level in which, once
the mandatory reports have been viewed, the prison judges determine
whether the remainder of the sentence is to be served in an open-plan
system or not.
Parole after
serving ¾ of the sentence : some years ago,
in the 1990's, when some prisoners had recourse to steps towards rehabilitation
into society, they were granted the benefit of parole after serving
¾ of their sentence, a product of progressive penitentiary systems.
ETA lawyers then proclaimed the defence of "the right of all prisoners
to the full serving of their sentence."
Years later, however, the same lawyers and relatives of terrorist prisoners
say that politicians "are not even complying with their laws,"
and demand the right of prisoners to gain access to parole once they
have served three quarters of their sentence, their interpreting this
is a prisoners' right according to the law governing parole.
Parole is not a subjective, automatic right; it is not the case that
a prisoner, once having served a specific part of the sentence imposed
(3/4), should have the subjective, automatic right to a change in prison
status, but rather that it is the democratic society itself which has
created the framework to do so which has the right to grant it. It is
the democratic society which, through judges, may grant the possibility
for those persons who at one time fought against it to change and accept
the rules of the game so as to be able to coexist in peace. Said possibility
is based on the aim of reintegration into society, but parole cannot
be applicable to those who, without repenting their crimes, wish to
continue killing and attempt to destroy democratic society - in other
words, those who do not wish to be rehabilitated into society by accepting
the rules and values of democratic coexistence.
Amnesty :
this is an act of legislative or executive power whereby criminal effects
"are forgotten" or annulled. It is a collective process and
in the current climate constitutes an extraordinary, unjust and anti-constitutional
measure. With amnesty, it is the social and political system which change,
but not the attitude of the prisoner. Amnesty is requested nowadays
in order to justify the fact that murder has been committed, meaning
the anti-democratic release of terrorist prisoners.
Terrorists; those
who are violent; brain-damaged : in Basque terrorism,
the terrorists are the socially and economically well-to-do types who
murder their neighbours who they have previously marginalized; they
are the ones who in the name of the majority kill the minority; they
are the totalitarians who murder democrats.
There have been so many ways of describing the murderers and collaborators
of ETA that it proves difficult to use new ones, although it is interesting
to analyse them.
According to ETA itself, they are the ones who "give everything
in favour of the homeland and have chosen to take the step to attack
the enemies of Euskal Herria without compassion."
Batasuna often call them "members of the organization," Etakides.
The PNV: disgusting, violent and childish who, according to Arzalluz
and Egibar, "are making fools of themselves."
Constitutionalists call them terrorists, etarras, brain-damaged, murderers
and totalitarians.
Enemies of the
Basque people : when a group of people or a person
believes that the political, religious or ideological values of their
identity are the only true ones, he or she feels no need to share them,
and the existence of other people and groups with other distinct values
and identities (pluralism) is viewed as a threat to their identity and
values, whereby they blame all evils on the latter, who become dehumanised
and satanised (they transform them into enemies) so that their elimination
and death may be seen as a freedom rather than a murder.
The enemy is a collective, stereotyped and dehumanised image of the
ex-group, of the "other", of another person, entity or group
which is built up and accepted.
In order to produce enemies to be fought and eliminated, the group must
feel threatened in the political, religious or ideological values of
its identity, which is the only true one, given that the group defends
good and is the repository of all the sacred values shaping identity.
The threat may be real or fictitious, invented.
Nationalism feeds the threatened conscience, and so euskera (the Basque
language), our secular culture, what makes us different, our self-Government
and, in short, our identity as Basques are constantly being threatened
by enemies whose mission is to destroy us, which is why our main aim
is to defend ourselves from such attacks, invasions, and be the champions
of keeping such treasures of ours, etc. This is no more than an attempt
to create an identity based on the rejection of supposed enemies. In
other words, in order to be me, I must hate another.
In creating the enemy, the key is to dehumanise him so as to justify
the violence exerted against him. A special language is used, referring
to people as if they were animals, depriving them of their human nature;
police, for instance, are referred to as txakurras (dogs) and cipayos
(sepoys), etc. EH spokesmen said to Jose Luis Geresta, an etarra who
committed suicide, "the Spanish dogs have killed him." Yet
the most common way of dehumanising relations is to blame abstract bodies
such as the State and society, etc. It is reiterated that the apparent
conflict is the war between the State and Euskadi, between two bodies.
It is said that it is the State which kills (when in reality this is
not the case) because it does not grant what the people want; it is
dehumanised, there are no people involved. Dehumanising is the principle
and the basis of the dictatorship. That dehumanisation is warned of
in speeches by those holding public offices in Batasuna who, even though
they claim to feel sorry for the victims, the latter do not exist in
terms of the action of a murder, but rather as an "expression of
the conflict." The citizen is nobody and, on the other hand, collective
identity is over and above that of Basque citizens, who must "respect
the word of the people" (Euskal Herriaren hitza errespetatu).
Likewise, the enemy is the scapegoat over whom all internal disasters
or problems are cast; the enemy is the pole to externalise all fears
and threats, whereby killing enemies means freeing oneself of them -
it is an act of release, a positive act, it destroys evil, it destroys
the threat and the demon. To this end, the terrorist often believes
that he or she acts fairly.
The enemies of the Basque people are all those who in one way or another
prevent or make difficult the aim of Sabino Arana: "Euskadi is
the homeland of Basques;" in other words, there is only room for
nationalists and nationalist ideology in Euskadi, the others are enemies
who must be eliminated. Those who decide who are enemies or not of the
Basque people are the nationalists who are the sole interpreters of
what the Basque people want.
Notwithstanding, there are different categories of enemy among abertzale
terrorists. On the one hand, there are capitalists, who sell the right
to remain alive in return for their money (kidnappings, extortions and
blackmails, etc.) and, on the other, the poor, who have no option and
must die by the arms and munitions deriving from the kidnapping of the
rich (the victims of terrorism).
Victims of terrorism:
with terrorism being an attack on the democratic system, the victims
must be treated as victims of democracy. The need exists to morally
redress the victims of terrorism. The victims embody the suffering and
the pain which Basque society suffers from. They are the crudest expression
of violence for ideological reasons. They are the expression of the
existing political inequality that the criminal action of ETA has incorporated
among Basque citizens.
For the murderer, the victim is not a human being with rights, but rather
an obstacle placed in the way of the path to the independence of his
or her homeland, the expression of a historical conflict with the Spanish
state.
Terrorists have killed officers of the law without distinguishing between
national police, civil guards, municipal police, miñones and
ertzainas. They have murdered civilians, whether employed or unemployed,
businessmen or civil servants. There is also no distinction made in
terms of gender or age, octogenarians, elderly and young people, teenagers
and children.
The work due to be done as regards the victims of terror is that of
perpetuating their memory, giving them back the voice that was taken
away from them by publicly expressing their ideas, opinions and demands,
telling the truth about all these years of terror and slander, and demanding
justice by fighting against the impunity of the murderers.
One cannot ask for forgetfulness because there is nothing to forget,
the memory of what happened must be present, of what is still happening
today, because the memory enables a slanderous past to be reinstated
and the future to be faced cleanly.
Relatives of prisoners sentenced for terrorism are often heard saying
that "there has been pain and suffering on both sides," although
it is not the same to be sentenced by the courts of justice as to be
the involuntary victim of an injustice. Only ethical and political perversion
may consider murderers as also being the victims of violence, which
would imply that murderers and victims should have the same rights.
It is not possible to show solidarity with the victims if, at the same
time as this is said, one fraternizes with the political wing of the
murderers, one understands them and, if the message is conveyed to the
latter that, however much they continue killing councillors from the
competition, they will continue to be treated with familiar deference.
They must have
done something : this is the fruit of a popular
saying: "some of the mud is bound to stick". Egibar has said
on certain occasions with regard to the kidnapping of Ortega Lara that
"it might or might not have been an indiscriminate kidnapping,
as I fear that Ortega Lara had some other duty." Of Jose Luis Lopez
de la Lacalle, a conspicuous nationalist said that "he spoke too
much." In other words, this is blaming the victim himself.
The truth commission
: its task is to assess the global impact for the first time that violence
has had on our country, not only during the democratic era, but also
previous ones.
Renunciation
of the use of violence : classical pacifism based
on the Gandhian school of thought of non-violence, stresses the voluntary
aspects which control our thoughts and actions, given that as well as
violence being used voluntarily, murder is committed because of taking
the decision to kill, in the same way that the much more humane decision
may be taken to renounce the use of violence.
Peace process
: this is nothing more than the nationalist plan and to this end, those
who are not in favour of national construction are branded as enemies
of the peace process and are blamed for putting it in jeopardy.
The senseless conclusion is reached of considering violence as useless
or harmful for peace. This shows that the peace process is something
more than simply achieving peace - it is to gain advantages for the
nationalists, because otherwise, how can it be said that violence is
harmful for peace when in reality it constitutes its denial.
This shows that, for the nationalists, peace is something more than
the absence of war, than the absence of violence; it means political
normalization which is no less than the fulfilling of nationalist objectives.
According to nationalists, and this was expressed in the legislative
agreement between the PNV, EA and EH in 1999, violence not only fails
to contribute towards but also makes the makes the political process
embarked on difficult (peace for sovereignty). However, violence not
only makes the political process embarked on difficult, but that it
is the key to the whole peace process.
End to the violence
: nationalism spreads the idea that Spaniards do not
wish to put an end to ETA violence because it is in their political
interests for the latter to kill.
In Euskadi, several types of ends to the violence have been considered,
which are not exclusive to each other (the famous scenarios):
a) the end through talks or negotiation is based on two premises: that
by talking, people understand each other and that ETA will never be
politically defeated. Notwithstanding, it would seem to be more the
excuse of some nationalists to save the legitimacy of the objectives
put forward by the terrorist group, because they coincide with their
own; there is no room for any type of negotiation because terrorism
is considered in terms of totalitarianism against democracy. Egibar
has reiterated without grounds that we what we have is a historical
dispute of a political nature which must have a political solution,
this needing to be negotiated.
b) the police end
based on the police effectiveness of all police and, with international
collaboration, is based on compliance with the law which demands that
the crime be persecuted and tried. In nationalism, there is a terrible
fear of police solutions; it is always argued that solutions must be
political. When the Statute of Autonomy as being negotiated, the PNV
said that, in creating the Ertzaintza, ETA would disappear in a couple
of months. Notwithstanding, today the nationalists spread the idea that
ETA is not going to be defeated by the police, but there is a going
to be a stalemate, and the ones who are accused of immobilism are those
who believe that the police must act, as is their duty, to stop the
crime and put an end to terrorism, because then the end through talks
might be put in jeopardy.
c) the end to democratic
unity to politically isolate and eliminate terrorism. This starts with
the conviction that the main objective of terrorism is to do away with
pluralism in Basque society in order to establish a totalitarian system.
This means that, to maintain said plurality, it is necessary for democrats
to unite around the defence of democratic principles and institutions
representing this plurality, given that these are the very institutions
in which plural participation must take place. Democratic unity against
terrorism demands an agreement as regards the supreme value of the life
of people and the freedom of citizens. It also demands that it be recognized
that ETA violence does not bury its roots in a political conflict which
the democratic system would have been able to resolve, but rather that
it obeys the totalitarian, exclusive attitude of those who practise
and promote it. ETA terrorism should not only be rejected because it
kills, but also because it attempts to impose a project which is incompatible
with democracy. And lastly, democratic unity demands that parties and
institutions should maintain clear, coherent attitudes towards isolation
with regard to Batasuna.
d) the end to political
change by way of a democratic, autonomist alternative which replaces
the nationalism of those holding political power. It considers that
the so-called democratic nationalism (PNV y EA) established in institutions
has abandoned its policy making, because terrorism has silenced the
opposition an all kind of social response, whereby it does not need
either contrast with the outside or any internal debate. This lack of
policy making has given rise to the acceptance of practically all the
principles and arguments put forward by terrorist abertzalismo (left-wing
radical nationalism). This does not mean that the PNV today is anti-democratic,
but rather that the party has adopted the most anti-democratic theses
of terrorist nationalism as their own. Linked to this is the constant
infiltration of members close to Batasuna in institutions (the media,
education, public bodies, etc.), which explains that ETA constantly
addresses itself to the PNV and EA, telling them what they have to do.
Faced with this situation, the possibility could exist of an internal
regeneration on the part of the PNV and EA which would get rid of ETA
and their milieu. However, this is not possible all the time the latter
continue living off the interest granted to them by institutional power,
which is why a solution to the violence shall only be possible through
a change which would supersede and replace the nationalism of those
holding political power.
e) the end by restoring
democratic authority: this approach starts from the notion of considering
that the aim of terrorist violence is the violent conquest of power,
and that the right of self-determination is not going to result in terrorists
abandoning the use of violence, as neither amnesty, nor democracy, nor
the greatest level of autonomy in Europe has managed to do They are
not going to abandon violence because it has been very profitable, and
because they themselves have stated that, even with full sovereignty,
they would have the mission of "keeping watch over the process."
They will then use violence until such time as they have the power.
ETA terrorism is not a phenomenon which may be assimilated by democracy
because it desires the destruction of the latter, and then the expectations
of power on the part of its followers must be destroyed. Nowadays, thousands
of Basques are not afraid of sovereignty, of being independent, but
rather of the foreseeable totalitarian dictatorship that may exclude
them, that may deprive them of freedom. The absence of authority and
anarchy contributes towards this, as the state has almost disappeared
in the Basque Country, because those who have been transferred these
powers do not use them to defend democracy. The end to the violence
will come about when the state retakes control of the streets and punishes
the violence systematically, proceeding to condemn terrorism when fighting
it, and restoring democratic authority.
f) the end through
the triumph of cosmopolitanism: this starts from the notion of considering
that the problem existing in Euskadi is the struggle between exclusivist
particularism and cosmopolitanism. More specifically, it is the struggle
between liberal ideas and the opposing ideas of Carlism. The Basque
experience shows us that when Carlism (traditionalism) administers peace,
it drives us to civil war and a reduction in freedoms, and only when
liberalism administers democracy is there a period of peace. To this
end, the submission of the control exerted by particularisms may be
overcome by means of social and political protest of a cosmopolitan
nature. Protest must be on both an international and a local level,
so as to start marginalizing those responsible for ethnic cleansing,
and start establishing areas in which citizens may freely express themselves
without fear, and in which liberal, cosmopolitan, integrating policies
may be carried out until they become widespread at the very heart of
the population.
Reconciliation
: reconciliation is not by peace, a hail Mary, but rather must be by
overcoming the contradiction between forgetfulness and memory, by means
of the demand or promise of laying the foundations of a society in which
everyone be recognized, by accepting differences and not allowing more
situations to exist such as those experienced by the victims and their
memory. This makes the victims play an especially active role in a society
in which they have their place, because reconciliation must involve
the definitive delegitimisation of terrorism, otherwise it is not reconciliation.
As there is no war, there are no adversaries, opposing groups who may
have the need for reconciliation. There is only one belligerent party,
the ETA murderers and their accomplices, who try to impose themselves
on all the rest. The victims of terrorism have never confronted anyone;
on the contrary, they make an effort, which is not acknowledged, to
coexist with the aggressors.
Forgiveness :
it is a Christian contribution that on a civic level, we are shown as
representing tolerance offered to he who has been intolerant. Where
the law proposes punishing he who is intolerant, forgiveness "forgives
him."
Only if we forget can we forgive, given that the victims do not deserve
to be forgotten. It is not the case either of the type of avenging,
intolerant memory (herriak ez du barkatuko - the people will not forgive)
belonging to totalitarian nationalism, but rather the memory from which
the rights due the victims are assumed.
Forgiveness is no substitute for justice, but rather may inspire more
humanizing approaches and cause steps to be taken which exceed the perceptions
of justice themselves. Notwithstanding, forgiveness is used very little
in political practice, because it is based on the rule of reciprocity,
and forgiveness conversely acts with another logic.
No Basque political or ecclesiastical request has been seen yet which
asks the murderers to acknowledge their crimes and ask for forgiveness.
However, forgiveness is asked of the victims, but remorse on the part
of the murderers is not demanded. They never do this, they act without
mercy, although they ask for mercy themselves. These are the ones who
must ask for forgiveness in order to be forgiven.
Pacifism
: a moral and political principle which acknowledges human life as being
of supreme social and ethical value and whose supreme ideal is the maintaining
of peace between ethnic, religious and social groups, and between nations
and blocks of states.
It includes respect for the dignity of human being, for groups and peoples,
and for human rights in general.
It contributes towards mutual understanding among peoples of different
cultures and generations. It rejects mistrust, hatred and violence.
Ethical pacifism
: this is characterized by ethical denunciation, a universal denunciation
of violence, a proclamation of solidarity with the victims and a rhetorical
reaffirmation of democratic principles and values. It involves the conscientious
renouncing of providing political responses and solutions in favour
of providing ways, channels and means. It is a type of pacifism which
proclaims ethical commitment, which is against violence because thou
shall not kill, as in all conscience, one does not want to either contribute
towards or remain silent when faced with murder, which is why one publicly
demonstrates by protesting in silence.
Violence is characterized as a curse against humans, and the murderers
(those who practise such violence) must listen to the voice of the people
(of whom there are few exponents) which repeatedly says that they must
put an end to their attitude. It is a gestural pacifism which appeals
for symbolic silence, which protests in silence because it does not
want citizens to express themselves freely with words, only with gestures.
It is based to a large extent on divine justice whereby all men are
equal before God, who is merciful, and to this end one protests against
all death, even if the murderer's own bomb explodes on him. It is a
type of pacifism which, by renouncing solutions, does not mean that
the specific causes or objectives of violence have to be pointed out.
Civic-democratic
pacifism : this is of a political nature, situating
its activity in specific things. It views the person who has been murdered,
threatened or extorted, etc., as a citizen whose rights and freedoms
have been snatched from them by totalitarian murderers. In other words,
that it is not only against physical death, but also against "civil"
death, because in Euskadi, although there are too many physical deaths,
there are many more people whose rights and freedoms have been restricted,
meaning civil death. To this end, it demands a political and civic commitment
to the defence of democracy. It protests because the democratic rights
of people are being violated and it appeals to the word and the claim
of recovering its voice against those who wish to silence it. It proclaims
human justice, meaning compliance with the law, whereby the police must
pursue the crime and the judges should try in accordance with the laws
we have at our disposal. It is expressed both against terrorism and
in favour of the system of freedoms gathered together in the Constitution
and the Statute of Autonomy, without the call for such pacifism needing
to respond to an automatic reaction when faced with a death by terrorist
attack.
Peace
: this is the meeting-point of all people from the point of view of
true acceptance of pluralism - in other words, from the point of view
of the definition of the basic values shared by all, and from that of
recognition of the foundations of a democratic society which must be
laid by all in order for us to be able to essentially acknowledge them
as our own.
Peace means building a society founded on citizens based on mutual respect
towards all democratic sensibilities and in the reciprocal acceptance,
in terms of ideology and experience, of those who uphold it. In short,
peace means achieving democratic coexistence and therefore doing away
with terrorism.
The aim of politics is to organize social coexistence as well as possible,
which at this moment in time of human development here in Euskadi, is
formulated in terms of democratic coexistence.
Yet in order to achieve democratic coexistence, an essential step of
the utmost priority, among others, is to modernize and democratise nationalism,
as the latter has sought refuge in traditional and anti-democratic ideas,
in undemocratic essentialisms which violate the rules of equality in
the democratic game and restrict the possibility of coexistence in a
just peace.
The Estella-Lizarra Agreement, which came about in 1998 based on an
agreement among nationalist parties to obtain sovereignty, has an undemocratic
approach when there is a desire to negotiate peace through sovereignty
- that is to say, to stop killing, stop using anti-democratic means
to obtain political objectives, with political rewards being requested
in return for nationalism as a whole. Notwithstanding, democracy means
precisely using only democratic means and rules to obtain political
objectives.
Therefore, both a condemnation and rejection of that deriving from terrorism
becomes necessary, such as the repudiation of what is put forward in
terms of getting something in exchange for it, as this would mean perpetuating
it and morally erasing the memory of the victims.
Achieving peace means the participation of all, but the Estella Agreement
prevents constitutionalists from taking part in the "peace process"
or defining the "Basque framework of decision," and one has
to feel represented by the central Government. To this end, if this
condition is not overcome, the Estella Agreement shall never be an agreement
for peace, but rather an agreement for division and confrontation.
Peace in Euskadi not only implies recognizing that plurality has always
existed, but also accepting plurality, and above all assuming pluralism;
this means not only recognizing that we are a plural society, but also
that such pluralism of different ideas must be protected and promoted
as a positive value in itself.
True peace :
according to Basque bishops, "true peace doe not consist of victory,
but rather an agreement-" This means that peace would not be authentic
if there were not a greater degree of ideological cohesion than normal,
that authentic peace demands something else, which today in Euskadi
means accepting nationalist proposals.
For democrats, peace means the disappearance of terrorism in all its
forms and the ideologies which support it.
Just peace
: Elkarri and Gestoras por Amnistía have repeatedly asked politicians
to hurry up, as it is time for a "just peace." However, it
is ETA who has to be asked for just peace, not politicians. They ask
politicians because they view peace as being without compensation or
without having to pay that something extra. Yet in democracy, freedom
always comes free of charge, because it constitutes its very essence.
Peace through
sovereignty : this is peace through territories,
it is the sacrificing of freedom in the name of peace. In nationalism,
some say that self-determination has nothing to do with violence, yet
in turn they maintain that self-determination is the key to peace. As
an EH spokesman said on one occasion, "in this land peace has a
surname, which is self-determination."
ELA says that "the path towards sovereignty is radically incompatible
with armed action," but its definitive cessation must be at the
same time as the "death of the Statute of Autonomy and the resulting
sovereignty option."
There is a widespread notion that the cessation of violence must be
compensated for by a prize for nationalist aspirations in general, not
for ETA. This is a situation of blackmail whereby if nationalist advantages
are not negotiated, the violence shall continue.