Basque prisoners: so close and yet so far

Gabriel Mouesca. There are currently 34 prisoners, male and female, on French soil and 199 on Spanish soil. The Etxerat website gives all the details on prisoner figures, addresses and a map of their locations in France and Spain. I invite your readers to take a look. Prison conditions are a matter of particular concern for prisoners being held in Spain. Many of them live in conditions identical to those that preceded the peace process, eight or nine years ago. They suffer from isolation. They’re in the roughest blocks in the Spanish prison system, similar to what was once referred to as quartiers de haute sécurité (maximum-security wards) in France. It’s a very sensitive topic as the prisoners, along with their families and a number of Basque Country citizens, do not understand why nothing has changed, more than eight years since the peace process and the collective and personal commitment of the prisoners began. These wards are intended to make daily life extremely difficult.

This is all the more unacceptable since the prisoners collectively got down to brass tacks to advance the peace process and accepted the idea of conflict resolution in the Basque Country. In this phase of assimilation, no one understands how the conditions can still be this rough.

Familial reconciliation operations have taken place in France, in particular by moving inmates to the prison of Mont-de-Marsan (in the Landes) and the high-security prison of Lannemezan, where the majority of male prisoners are located. There are, however, still female prisoners in Rennes and Roanne, far from the Basque Country. The issue of shortening the distance is far from being solved in Spain: for the most part, prisoners are hundreds of kilometres from their families. Progress was made possible for men held in France as a result of discussions between representatives of the French Basque Country and the French Ministry of Justice. It should be noted that the work was done, and done fairly well. It should also be acknowledged that a number of Basque prisoners in France are no longer considered high-security prisoners, which is a significant change.

GM. On that point, unfortunately, there’s a problem. I wouldn’t say there’s a simple solution. For more information, I invite you to visit the Bake Bidea website. This civic association manages the peace process on French soil and promotes its logic. In its recent press conference, it reported that no developments were being made regarding sick prisoners or those who’ve served over 30 years.

There’s no progress due to an issue tied to Spanish victim associations.

These associations put lots of pressure on the government. The prisoners in question were radicals under the Argala Commando Unit, which was very active in the ‘80s. And by “very active”, I mean that a lot of blood was shed. I believe that these people were depersonalised, in a way. They only exist through their past, through their affiliation with this commando unit. They don’t exist anymore and thus can’t take on a human form in the eyes of victim associations, branded for some as far-right.

In France, for example, Josu Urrutikoetxea is a historical activist of the ETA movement. He’s currently being held at La Santé Prison in Paris. Enormous effort has been put into securing his release, primarily for medical reasons. His supporters have put forth another reason. This man was one of the major leaders of the movement within the ETA to encourage a dynamic of peace. He took risks, including with his life. In this type of movement, after 50 years of violent activity, anyone who says “now we need to stop and try something else” is putting their own life in danger. That man, despite this historic responsibility, is now incarcerated. France chose a rationale in which peacemakers are penalised.

Today, when we look at the facts, not much is encouraging optimism in the short term. The political climate isn’t conducive to advancing the peace process. But I believe wholeheartedly that we’ll start thinking in more positive terms about this process, even in Spain.

The “when” obviously brings us back to the question of time, which is vital for many: the prisoners, first and foremost, their families, as part of Basque society, and Spanish society in general. Spaniards shouldn’t all be lumped together: people are in favour of the idea of settling this situation inherited from the past. When we speak of progress, it’s clearly in the sense of a process towards peace.

What’s painful is that we have this pressure from the prisoners and their families who are suffering. This is unbearable. But when the group of Basque prisoners started down the road of the peace process, it was a one-sided effort. This is an extremely moving word. It’s the first time in the history of humanity that a people and a movement have taken such a gamble: they believed in peace so much that they initiated the process, knowing that the other side wasn’t yet ready. Within the group, the Basque prisoners committed to the process as individuals. It’s a crazy gamble: we have to set the conditions for Spain to enter into peace talks and negotiation. We aren’t there yet, but we’re getting closer with each passing day. Those of us who are working on this process have no doubts, not even for a second. We’ve been down this road in France before, except that the consequences in France were far less deadly than in Spain.

GM. Firstly, the attitude of the French anti-terrorist public prosecutor is the only remaining obstacle. And this isn’t a minor problem, as it’s what’s preventing the release of sick prisoners and those who have served 30 years. Therefore, the public prosecutor’s position has very significant consequences. Work is also being carried out to make the public prosecutor part of the peace process: he must understand that, as the representative of the judicial system, he has the power to get the ball rolling.

So obviously, the position of a public prosecutor can change. The former secretary-general of Interpol, the Englishman Raymond Kendall, is one such example. Directly involved in the crackdown of the ‘90s, he’s now a fervent supporter of the peace process. He took part in the international commission that spurred the peace process with other international figures, such as Kofi Annan, former secretary-general of the United Nations. Today, he continues the fight and gets worked up over the attitude of States that are not involved enough in this process. These personal commitments show that no one is hopeless.

For me, the crisis has names.

Some that you mentioned, Josu Urrutikoetxea of course, but also the three “lifers” serving over 30 years in French prisons, or Ibon Fernandez, ill in Lannemezan. We also request the release of another prisoner in Lannemezan, who’s ill and very old. For me, that’s the “symbolic” crisis. We can’t forget that we’re talking about human lives. These are elderly people for whom death is a potential issue. It would be tragic if one of them were to die in a French prison. It has to be said and repeated loud and clear: what began eight years ago with the Donostia-San Sebastián International Peace Conference is irreversible. The problem with this irreversible nature is that it must be accompanied by measures that affect the consequences of the conflict: the matter of prisoners, refugees, the matter of victims, of all victims. They must be addressed as soon as possible.