Basque Country: Protest Against Basque Arrests
Following the arrest of 35 young people on 24th November, a mass rally took place on the 28th November in the Basque city of Bilbo/Bilbao.
Those at the rally were protesting against the arrest and imprisonment of young people and included a number of politicians from the pro independence political parties Eusko Alkartasuna and Aralar. The arrests were part of the largest operation of its kind in recent years in the Basque Country against the pro independent left and involved over 950 police officers. The young people arrested were alleged to have been members of the youth group Segi, which was banned by the Spanish courts in 2007. The Spanish courts said that the decision to make the arrests stemmed from the seizure of documents following the arrest of an alleged member of ETA in Paris, France earlier this year.
Whatever the reason for the arrests, it is clear that the new right wing pro Spanish government in the Basque Country will continue to tighten its own grip on the human and democratic rights of the Basque people to express themselves politically. On 26th November 2009, a resolution was passed at the Basque Parliament in Vitoria-Gasteiz to openly support the Spanish Government's prison policy of dispersal of political prisoners throughout Spanish territory.
It was the first time in its democratic history that the Basque Parliament has decided in favour of supporting the Spanish government's prison policy and runs contrary to other resolutions that have been put forward over the last 14 years. The resolution followed a request by political party Eusko Alkartasuna in the Parliament, to stop prisoner dispersal, which runs contrary to international human rights law.
Link:
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
07/12/09
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