Diverse political parties, trade unions and social organizations wish to convey to public opinion a collective evaluation of the operation developed against the popular movement Herrira, as well as to publicise together the response that we are going to give concerning that act.
To begin we would like to point out that the organizations that are present here have normal relations with Herrira and we are going to continue to do so. We have shared a lot, we have worked together and there are organizational and interpersonal ties among us. The arrest of so many militants and people responsible of this organization fills us with regret and indignation. For that, before anything else, we wish to express our solidarity with those arrested and their families. At the same time we don’t hide our fear for the treatment that they can be receiving in the past hours in custody of the police.
We manifest our strongest rejection to the political decision that inspired this judicial, police and media action. This decision violates the most elemental democratic rights and freedoms. Herrira is a well known organization in our country: it acts openly; it relates with and seeks the collaboration with a vast number of social and political organizations around us; and all of their initiatives have had three characteristics that we wish to underline at this moment: they have been peaceful initiatives, they have sought plurality as a base of understanding, and they have always dealt with the defence of human rights.
With this being so, for us, it becomes evident that this outrage has one or various political objectives. The first, and most evident, is that of criminalizing the defence of the rights of Basque political prisoners. And that on the horizon of the coming sentence about the inhumane lengthening of prison sentences practised by the Spanish state against the prisoners. With this criminalization, the Spanish state covers itself, criticising the European Court of Human Rights if a contrary verdict is produced against the reason of the state.
In the second place, this operation pretends to lengthen sine die the political period of the anti-terrorist pact, plagued with mega-trials and banning. It tries to impede the political work of a wide sector of our people who advocate for solutions, condemning it to an anti-repressive swamp, and impeding its development. This is the object of the so-called “stagnation” of the state, which is an obstinate mobilization of all the repressive, judicial, institutional and media apparatuses as the only agenda for the Basque Country.
In the third place, it seems evident to us that this massive operation pretends to throw a smokescreen over the innumerable problems that the current governing party of Spain is confronting, such as – to name only two – the cases of corruption or the rise of national demands for the right to decide. That this operation also takes place precisely when the government is refusing to arrest torturers reclaimed by justice perfectly exemplifies this idea.
In the fourth place, we consider that the operation such a that which occupies us pretends at the same time for the question of the prisoners to become a problem of only a few. For that we have to remember that the organizations that are present here have an unwavering commitment with the rights of the prisoners and refugees, a commitment that isn’t going to decrease for as hard as the state tries. In this sense, the operation is an operation against ourselves, since we have been collaborating with Herrira in the defence of these rights.
For all of that we believe that we must impulse a wide and decided response against this unjust operation. There are now dozens of local and regional initiatives in response that have been put in march since yesterday morning in our country. Together with them, the organizations present here announce the celebration of a national demonstration in Bilbao for next Saturday, October 5th, which will leave from La Casilla at 5:30pm.
Our objective is to transfer to the Spanish state the feelings of Basque society concerning these outrages, as well as to express our solidarity with those arrested, demanding their immediate release.
The organizations who call for this act are going to work so that this demonstration brings together the widest number of adhesions throughout the week. That means we are going to work like Herrira, “Tantaz tanta, drop by drop”, seeking understanding in the rights and freedoms of everyone.
Deitzaileak / Convocantes Alternatiba Aralar Askapena Bai Euskal Herriari Behatokia Bilgune Feminista CGT Egiari Zor Fundazioa EHNE ELA Eleak mugimendua Elkartzen EPPK bitartekaritza Erabaki Ernai ESAIT ESK Eskubideak Etxerat Euskal Herrian Euskaraz Eusko Alkartasuna Ezker Batua GITE-IPES Gorripide HIRU Ikasle Abertzaleak Joxemi Zumalabe Fundazioa Komite Internazionalistak LAB Sare antifaxista Sortu STEE-EILAS Taupaka, sortzaileon elkartea Torturaren Aurkako Taldea
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