\r\n\r\nWHEREAS the Basque territory is a geographic area, historically defined by its unique\r\nlanguage, Euskera, to include four provinces in northern Spain and three in southern\r\nFrance with approximately 3.5 million people in a landmass the size of New Jersey; and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nWHEREAS the adoption of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 was rejected by the\r\noverwhelming majority of the Basque people because of its failure to allow for their selfdetermination,\r\nand there are now more than 700 Basque political prisoners held in\r\nSpanish prisons, many expressing belief in an independent Euskal Herria (the Basque\r\nCountry); and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nWHEREAS there exists credible evidence of the use of torture by Spanish authorities as\r\nevidenced by the Report to the Spanish government from the European Committee for\r\nthe Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishmentand The\r\nUN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights on the Question of Torture Report\r\nE\/CN.4\/2002\/76\/add.1or; and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nWHEREAS the organization, Torturaren Aurkako Taldea, has documented that 90% of\r\nBasque political prisoners are convicted based on information obtained under torture; and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nWHEREAS the Spanish governments practice of five-day period of incommunicado\r\ndetention has been condemned by such groups as Amnesty International and United\r\nNations Committee Against Torture for creating conditions that permit the use of torture\r\nwhile depriving detainees the ,right to access to a solicitor and doctor of their choice; and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nWHEREAS the Spanish governments policy of detention of prisoners for as long as four\r\nyears without trial, often in isolation, is contrary to the right of the accused to trial within\r\na reasonable period of time; and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nWHEREAS the Spanish government has forcibly closed the newspapers Egin, Egunkaria,\r\nand Berria, and the radio station, Egin Irratia, as well as arrested their editorial and\r\nreporting staff without a trial on the criminal charges in over five years in one case; and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nWHEREAS Spain has banned the political party Batasuna and barred its leadership from\r\nparticipation in other political groups again without a trial on the criminal charges in a\r\nreasonable time; and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nWHEREAS the Spanish government justifies these restrictive measures as necessary to\r\ncombat terrorism.<\/p>
\r\n\r\nTHEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:<\/p>
\r\n\r\nThat the National Lawyers Guild calls on the United States to demand that the Spanish\r\ngovernment respect the rights of the Basque people as guaranteed by the United Nations\r\nUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the right not to be subject to\r\ntorture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or to arbitrary arrests and\r\ndetention; and to respect the presumption of innocence and the right to a public trial\r\nwithin a reasonable period of time; and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nFurther, the National Lawyers Guild calls on the United States to demand that the\r\nSpanish government respect the rights of the Basque people to freedom of opinion and\r\nexpression, including the right to impart information and ideas through the media, the\r\nright to peacefully assemble and the right to take part in government through their chosen\r\nrepresentatives; and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nFurther, the National Lawyers Guild recognizes that while the Spanish judicial authorities\r\njustify the severe security measures to eliminate terrorism; they fail to realize that those\r\nwho would profess to sacrifice fundamental rights in the name of security may ensure\r\nneither security nor justice; and<\/p>
\r\n\r\nFinally, the National Lawyers Guild calls on the U.S. State Department, in its next annual\r\ncountry report on Spain, to call on the Spanish government to cease its abuses of the\r\nBasque people.<\/p>
\r\n\r\nAdopted this the 25th day of October 2003 by the National Lawyers Guild.<\/p>
\r\n\r\n* footnote, on October 16, 2003, officials of the Spanish Civil Guard raided the offices of\r\nBerria and arrested 8 members of their staff. Berria has resumed publication.\r\nThe undersigned individuals \/ organizations join the National Lawyers Guild in endorsing\r\nthe \"Resolution on Human Rights Abuses in the Basque Territory.\"\r\nAlliance for Philippine Concerns & International Solidarity (Los Angeles, California);\r\nLydia Bartholow, Break the Chains Collective (Eugene, Oregon); BAYAN International-\r\nUSA (Bay Area, California); BAYAN Int'l-USA (Los Angeles, California); Yolanda\r\nBirdwell, member of the National Council of LaRaza and Latinos Por La Paz (Houston,\r\nTexas); Break the Chains Collective (Eugene, Oregon); Diana Buttu, legal advisor for\r\nthe Palestinian Liberation Organization (Ramallah, Palestine); Robert Buzzanco,\r\nProfessor of History, University of Houston (Houston, Texas); Noam Chomsky ,\r\nProfessor of Linguistics at MIT (Boston, Massachusetts); Ward Churchill, Professor of\r\nEthnic Studies, University of Colorado and member of American Indian Movement\r\n(Boulder Colorado); Freedom Socialist Party (Seattle, Washington); Brenton Gicker,\r\nBreak the Chains Collective (Eugene, Oregon); Global Exchange, international human\r\nrights organization (San Francisco, California); Maria C. Gonzalez, Professor of English,\r\nUniversity of Houston (Houston, Texas); Jennifer Harbury, human rights attorney and\r\nactivist for indigenous people of Guatemala; Houston Act Now to Stop War and End\r\nRacism (ANSWER); Houston Global Awareness Collective (Houston, Texas); Nozomi\r\nIkuta, member of Interfaith Prisoners of Conscience Project (Cleveland, Ohio);\r\nInternational Action Center (New York City, New York); International Basque\r\nOrganization For Human Rights (California); International League of Peoples' Struggle\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.nlg.org\/members\/2003resolutions\/Basque_Human_Rights_Abuses.pdf<\/p>\n","contact":"admin@conflicto-vasco.com","link":"http:\/\/www.conflicto-vasco.com\/","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"application\/pdf","summary":"","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2005\/03\/basque_human_rights_abuses.pdf","filesize":"66.2 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2005\/03\/123375.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":123576,"heading":"Xenophobia in Spain","article":"Elsemanaldigital.com<\/b><\/big><\/tt>
Julio de Espa\u00f1a volvi\u00f3 a ser "protagonista" al anunciar durante un Pleno de la C\u00e1mara valenciana que adjudicaba una contrata a una firma vasca "con todo el dolor" de su coraz\u00f3n.<\/big><\/tt><\/a>","author":"Uno","parent_id":123375,"mime_type":"text\/html","created":"2005-03-11 11:43:09","modified":"2013-11-11 00:32:17","fileurl":""}]}