Batasuna still banned despite political progress

Two months after ETA's historic ceasefire announcement, the emerging conflict resolution process in the Basque Cou...ntry is approaching a crucial moment. The ETA cessation has created an unprecedented opportunity for a lasting and democratic resolution to a conflict that has affected the region for decades. For this opportunity to be realised, all sides must take risks.

The last time this column dealt with this issue I had not long returned from a round of meetings in Bilbao, Madrid and Barcelona. I had been greatly encouraged by the positive approach of Basque and Spanish political leaders. I expressed my own personal sense of optimism at that time. This was before the ETA announcement.

However, in the weeks that followed ETA's announcement, there have been some very mixed signals from the emerging conflict resolution process. On the one hand there have been some very positive developments. The leaders of the Basque section of the Spanish Socialist Party have indicated their openness to moves on political prisoners and participation in all-party talks. Significantly, women members of the Basque Autonomous Parliament co-signed a declaration in support for the emerging process, including elected representatives from the Socialist Party, the Basque Nationalist Party and Batasuna. There have also been important joint declarations from Spanish and Basque trade unions. Such an alignment of political forces in favour of conflict resolution would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Last weekend, at the Socialist Party conference in the Basque Country, prime minister Zapatero indicated his intention to request permission from the Spanish parliament to open direct talks with ETA.

But the last two months have also witnessed very contradictory moves from the Spanish government, police and judicial system. The leader of Batasuna, Arnaldo Otegi, and a number of other senior party figures have been accused of a number of offences by the Spanish National Court. They have been released on bail of over €600,000. Batasuna leaders have been denied permission to leave the country and Arnaldo Otegi has been forced to cancel a visit to Ireland.

He has also been sentenced to 14 months imprisonment, pending appeal to the Spanish Supreme Court. These legal proceedings are a small part of a broader process in which more than 90 individuals from left-wing Basque nationalist political and social organisations are currently being prosecuted in Madrid.

Just as troubling have been the ongoing, politically-motivated arrests, alleged maltreatment and torture of detainees and political prisoners, and claims of low-level political harassment by both the Basque and Spanish police. Such actions are taking place despite the Madrid government's own assessment that ETA has kept its promise of a permanent end to armed activities.

However, the two most worrying aspects of the past two months have been the apparent unwillingness thus far of the government in Madrid to unban Batasuna and the ongoing delay in the commencement of multi-party talks.

Batasuna is illegal; is unable to contest elections, hold public meetings, produce posters or documents and crucially is unable to legally participate in any formal talks process. Such a situation is untenable and runs contrary to the logic of conflict resolution.

Equally, the delay in starting the multi-party talks process also defies logic. If prime minister Zapatero gets permission from parliament to open negotiations with ETA, you could have the rather bizarre situation of Madrid negotiating with ETA on what are called the “technical” issues of prisoners, victims and demilitarisation, but political parties in the Basque Country not engaging on the more fundamental political issues, including the Basque Country's relationship with the Spanish state. On the credit side it is obvious that all these matters can and presumably will be corrected. I certainly hope so.

There are four key lessons from the Irish peace process which can be applied to the Basque peace process. Dialogue is the key to any successful conflict resolution process. There should be no delay in the commencement of all-party talks in the Basque Country. The fundamental causes of the conflict must be addressed by all parties in an open and inclusive manner. Delays serve no positive interest.

For such dialogue to succeed, all forms of violence must cease. Police repression, maltreatment of political prisoners, and other such acts should cease. Likewise ETA must live up to its commitments outlined in its March statement. Confidence-building measures, such as the repatriation of political prisoners to jails in the Basque Country, would also have a positive effect on the political climate.
Exclusion, criminalisation, and banning are all recipes for disaster. The banning of Batasuna should be reversed, the legal proceedings against left nationalist political activists should end and the travel restrictions on Arnaldo Otegi and his colleagues should be lifted.

There is also an obligation on all sides to the conflict to state clearly that they will respect the outcome of the all-party talks. The Basques must have the right to decide their own future, peacefully, democratically and free from outside interference.

The coming weeks will indicate whether all sides to the conflict are willing to take the risks that are required. I am confident that with political will the people of the Basque country and the Spanish state will find a way to resolve all these issues.