Basque Militants Killed by Guardia Civil id AAA19838; Tue, 30 Sep 1997 00:33:48 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Sep 27, 1997 by ats@locust.etext.org Civil Guards Kill Two Basque Activists; Police Claim "Gun Battle" 12 Arrests, Many Homes Searched. Police Operation Continues (Please help us spread these terrible news and denounce the Spanish and French policy of extermination against our people. Help us stop the killing by demanding political negotiations in the Basque Country. We need the support of the international community to find peace with justice in our country. - Olatz Arkauz, Euskal Herria Journal, a publication of the Congress for Peace in Euskal Herria, New York City) Bilbo, Bizkaia (Southern Basque Country - September 24, 1997) Members of the Spanish paramilitary Civil Guard shot and killed two young Basques on Wednesday just before dawn in what authorities described as a "shootout" with police in a narrow downtown street. The police operation is still on. According to local news, police have arrested twelve people in the surrounding area after the "shootout" but gave no details. The twelve remain incommunicado arrest in application of "anti-terrorist" legislation. The official report claims a "gun battle" erupted outside an apartment building in Bilbo, the capital city of Bizkaia, one of the four southern Basque provinces under Spanish administration. Bloodstains covering the pavement where the alleged gun battle took place were washed off soon after security forces killed the two Basque activists. So far only the identity of one of the two victims is known. He could be Gaizka Gaztelumendi, 27. Police withdrew identification of the other victim who was initially named Jesus Maria Martin Hernando, 26. Gaizka Gaztelumendi was shot through the ribs, and died on his way to a hospital; the other victim was shot through the heart, and died in situ. Early this year Basque activist Iosu Zabala was found dead with a gunshot wound in the heart after he was kidnapped by security forces. The Civil Guard claim the two Basque activists shot and killed today were members of ETA's Bizkaia commando and had been under surveillance for some time before the soldiers moved in on Wednesday and "demanded to see their identification papers". Another police version states that Gaztelumendi and his companion approached a parked car that police were staking out. Spanish authorities said the car had been identified as the getaway vehicle in the killing of a policeman. Police said that when asked for identification, the two Basque activists pulled out guns and opened fire. But a witness who was near the place where the alleged "gun battle" took place told a Madrid daily she heard no shootout. Another witness also quoted by the newspaper said he only heard three gunshots. Police said a Civil Guard soldier was "slightly" injured by a gunshot in one hand. Immediately after the two young Basques where shot several combat police units from the Civil Guard and regional security forces (Ertzaintza) arrived and surrounded the area where the shooting took place, a signal of a coordinated operation between central and regional police forces. The twelve people arrested so far will not be brought before a judge until Saturday unless the Civil Guard requests an extension of their incommunicado arrest to continue interrogations. Four of the twelve detainees have been identified as Francisco Rodriguez Jaramillo, Ainhoa Gutierrez Torcuato, and Nerea and Eider Olaciregui Martinez. Numerous homes have been subject to violent searches by police who alleged they have seized arms and explosives in a basement located in the neighborhood of Zorroza in Bilbo. The family of Gaizka Gaztelumendi has not been allowed to see the body of the Basque activist. Reactions from political parties in Southern Basque Country: Karmelo Landa, MP and member of the national board of the left-wing Basque party Herri Batasuna (HB), reportedly said that because of the lack of details about the police operation and the testimonies of the witnesses, the alleged shootout was a police ambush. He renewed HB's demand to stop repression and the withdrawal of the security forces from Southern Basque Country and to begin political negotiations. Landa pointed out to the statements of Inaki Anasagasti, spokesman in the Spanish Congress for the conservative Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), who reportedly said an earlier statement from the minister of Interior implied the Ministry was preparing a police ambush in Bizkaia. PNV spokesman in the Basque Country, Joseba Egibar, reportedly said he did not know if in fact, a gun battle had occurred. On the other hand, Spain's Justice counselor in Bascongadas, Ramon Jauregui (of the Spanish Socialist Party, PSOE), said the police operation was "positive" for the "pacification" process in the Basque Country, a Madrid daily said. The minister of Interior Jaime Mayor Oreja praised the performance of the security forces and said the Civil Guard operation represents a "relief" for "many families who were going to be victims of this bloody commando." Shoot to Kill - Source consulted: Luis Nunez Astrain, The Basques, their struggle for independence (page 95). Welsh Academic Press, 1997. The Amnesty International 1993 report on Spain states that "[i]nquiries continued into killings in disputed circumstances of members of an armed Basque group by security forces". The killings to which Amnesty International refers are the unnecessary deaths of Basque militants in the moment of their arrest. In colloquial language this practice is called "shoot to kill". There are numerous allegations that Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA - Basque Homeland and Freedom) militants and sympathizers are captured, tortured, and extrajudicially executed - the killings attributed by the Spanish police to armed "encounters". There are rarely survivors, either wounded or captured, of such alleged clashes. Witnesses may have observed the arrest of the victims, or may have seen them in custody, but are rarely present when the killings occur, making it difficult to challenge the police version. A number of deaths of alleged ETA militants by security forces have been justified by the authorities as an "encounter" with police. In all cases a contradiction exists between the official version given by the authorities responsible for the security forces and the version given by witnesses. The following list does not include all names of alleged ETA activists killed by police (over 150) but those killed by police without an armed confrontation, that is, the persons killed who should have been only arrested. People killed by police in disputed circumstances (1984-1991): Inaki Ojeda, 2/16/1984, Barakaldo, Bizkaia Pedro Mari Isart, 3/22/1984, Pasaia, Gipuzkoa Rafael Delas, 3/22/1984, Pasaia, Gipuzkoa Dionisio Aizpuru, 3/22/1984, Pasaia, Gipuzkoa Juan Luis Lekuona, 6/15/1984, Hernani, Gipuzkoa Agustin Arregi, 6/15/1984, Hernani, Gipuzkoa Eduardo Irizar, 8/7/1984, Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa Pablo Gaude, 8/13/1984, Lasarte, Gipuzkoa Alejandro Auzmendi, 1/15/1986, Donostia, Gipuzkoa Bakartxo Arzelus, 1/15/1986, Donostia, Gipuzkoa Luis Mari Zabaleta, 1/15/1986, Donostia, Gipuzkoa Lutxia Urigoitia, 7/23/1987, Pasaia, Gipuzkoa Mikel Kastresana, 9/23/1988, Donostia, Gipuzkoa Manu Urionabarrenetxea, 9/16/1989, Irun, Gipuzkoa Juan Oiarbide, 9/16/1989, Irun, Gipuzkoa Susana Arregi, 6/25/1990, Lumbier, Gipuzkoa Jon Lizarralde, 6/25/1990, Lumbier Gipuzkoa Mikel Castillo, 9/18/1990, Irunea, Navarre Joan Carles Monteagudo, 5/30/1991, Llica d'Amunt, Catalunya Jon Felix Erezuma, 5/30/1991, Llica d'Amunt, Catalunya Jokin Leunda, 8/17/1991, Donostia, Gipuzkoa Inaki Ormaetxea, 8/17/1991, Donostia, Gipuzkoa Patxi Itziar, 8/17/1991, Donostia, Gipuzkoa Juan Mari Ormazabal, 8/29/1991, Bilbo, Bizkaia For more information on Shoot to Kill you may want to check the following EHJ page: eestk.html Euskal Herria Journal is available temporarily at the following "mirror" sites: Updated news and new material will be available by September 25, 1997. 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