RESOLUTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE BASQUE
TERRITORY
WHEREAS
the Basque territory is a geographic area, historically
defined by its unique language, Euskera, to include
four provinces in northern Spain and three in
southern France with approximately 3.5 million
people in a landmass the size of New Jersey; and
WHEREAS the adoption of the Spanish Constitution
of 1978 was rejected by the overwhelming majority
of the Basque people because of its failure to
allow for their self-determination, and there
are now more than 700 Basque political prisoners
held in Spanish prisons, many expressing belief
in an independent Euskal Herria (the Basque Country);
and
WHEREAS there exists credible evidence of the
use of torture by Spanish authorities as evidenced
by the “Report to the Spanish government
from the European Committee for the Prevention
of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment” and “The UN Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights on the Question of
Torture Report E/CN.4/2002/76/add.1or”;
and
WHEREAS the organization, Torturaren Aurkako Taldea,
has documented that 90% of Basque political prisoners
are convicted based on information obtained under
torture; and
WHEREAS the Spanish government’s practice
of five-day period of incommunicado detention
has been condemned by such groups as Amnesty International
and United Nations Committee Against Torture for
creating conditions that permit the use of torture
while depriving detainees the right to access
to a solicitor and doctor of their choice; and
WHEREAS the Spanish government’s policy
of detention of prisoners for as long as four
years without trial, often in isolation, is contrary
to the right of the accused to trial within a
reasonable period of time; and
WHEREAS the Spanish government has forcibly closed
the newspapers Egin, Egunkaria, and Berria, and
the radio station, Egin Irratia, as well as arrested
their editorial and reporting staff without a
trial on the criminal charges in over five years
in one case; and
WHEREAS Spain has banned the political party Batasuna
and barred its leadership from participation in
other political groups again without a trial on
the criminal charges in a reasonable time; and
WHEREAS the Spanish government justifies these
restrictive measures as necessary to combat terrorism.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That the National Lawyers Guild calls on the United
States to demand that the Spanish government respect
the rights of the Basque people as guaranteed
by the United Nations Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, which includes the right not to
be subject to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, or to arbitrary arrests
and detention; and to respect the presumption
of innocence and the right to a public trial within
a reasonable period of time; and
Further, the National Lawyers Guild calls on the
United States to demand that the Spanish government
respect the rights of the Basque people to freedom
of opinion and expression, including the right
to impart information and ideas through the media,
the right to peacefully assemble and the right
to take part in government through their chosen
representatives; and
Further, the National Lawyers Guild recognizes
that while the Spanish judicial authorities justify
the severe security measures to eliminate terrorism;
they fail to realize that those who would profess
to sacrifice fundamental rights in the name of
security may ensure neither security nor justice;
and
Finally, the National Lawyers Guild calls on the
U.S. State Department, in its next annual country
report on Spain, to call on the Spanish government
to cease its abuses of the Basque people.
Adopted this the 25th day of October 2003 by the
National Lawyers Guild.
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