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Peace process deadlocked 3 years after ETA’s farewell to arms

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Three years ago, Basque separatist group ETA declared it was ending a more than four-decade secessionist campaign in Spain, but lasting peace is not exactly around the corner.

The Spanish government wants the group dissolved as a precursor to peace talks. But ETA still exists and the logjam has prevented western Europe's last major armed secessionist movement from ending in letter and spirit.

ETA is blamed for the killing of 829 people in a long campaign of bombings and shootings for an independent homeland in parts of northern Spain and southern France.

On October 20, 2011, it declared a "definitive end" to armed activity, and in February this year, international monitors released a video of weapons they said ETA was putting out of use.

But the group, which has been greatly weakened by the arrest of its top leaders, has not formally disbanded as the Spanish and French governments demand.

Meanwhile, arrests of ETA members continue.

On Sunday, Spain announced the arrest of suspected ETA member Alicante Nagore Mugica, who was detained while visiting her jailed partner Juan Carlos Iglesias Chouzas.

Iglesias Chouzas had been sentenced to six years prison in France in 1998 and then transferred to Spain, where he was wanted in connection with 24 different cases.

Juan Carlos Iglesias Chouzas  a suspected member of separatist group ETA  looks on during his trial ...
Juan Carlos Iglesias Chouzas, a suspected member of separatist group ETA, looks on during his trial in Madrid on January 24, 2013
Chema Moya, POOL/AFP/File

"The process is deadlocked," said analyst Mikel Buesa, a Madrid university professor specialising in terrorism.

But "the military defeat of ETA has been confirmed over the past three years," he said.

A French expert who has written several books on ETA echoed him.

"There are only about 15 or 20 active ETA members on the warpath" and not behind bars, said Jean Chalvidant.

In July, ETA said it has dismantled the "logistical and operational structures" of its armed campaign in a step towards full disarmament.

"Their fight has now moved to a political level," he added.

Non-violent leftist Basque nationalist parties have gained political influence and increasing power through regional elections in the region.

- Prisoners a key hurdle -

People hold banners reading
People hold banners reading "Exiles and prisoners back home!" during a call for the release of imprisoned Basque separatist and former ETA military structures chief Ibon Fernandez Iradi on May 10, 2014, in Bayonne, France
Gaizka Iroz, AFP/File

For the moment, the biggest stumbling block in the peace process is the thorny question of prisoners.

According to a count by pro-prisoners group Etxerat, there were about 470 ETA members jailed in 76 prisons, including about 100 incarcerated in France.

Madrid has notably refused to budge on one of ETA's most sensitive demands: the return of imprisoned ETA members to the Basque country.

ETA members have tried to gain concessions from the Spanish government over prison conditions, outraging victims' families.

Buesa said a possible way out of the deadlock could be a law like the one Italy enacted trimming jail sentences for Red Brigade members who wreaked havoc in the 1970s.

The head of the Basque government Inigo Urkullu recently told Spanish daily El Pais that the situation had changed in the Basque region over the past three years, with the nationalist left having accepted Madrid's "legality."

ETA was formed in 1959 during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco by a group of Basque nationalist students.

It carried out its last known deadly attack in 2009, when it killed two police officers by placing a bomb under their car on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca.

Three years ago, Basque separatist group ETA declared it was ending a more than four-decade secessionist campaign in Spain, but lasting peace is not exactly around the corner.

The Spanish government wants the group dissolved as a precursor to peace talks. But ETA still exists and the logjam has prevented western Europe’s last major armed secessionist movement from ending in letter and spirit.

ETA is blamed for the killing of 829 people in a long campaign of bombings and shootings for an independent homeland in parts of northern Spain and southern France.

On October 20, 2011, it declared a “definitive end” to armed activity, and in February this year, international monitors released a video of weapons they said ETA was putting out of use.

But the group, which has been greatly weakened by the arrest of its top leaders, has not formally disbanded as the Spanish and French governments demand.

Meanwhile, arrests of ETA members continue.

On Sunday, Spain announced the arrest of suspected ETA member Alicante Nagore Mugica, who was detained while visiting her jailed partner Juan Carlos Iglesias Chouzas.

Iglesias Chouzas had been sentenced to six years prison in France in 1998 and then transferred to Spain, where he was wanted in connection with 24 different cases.

Juan Carlos Iglesias Chouzas  a suspected member of separatist group ETA  looks on during his trial ...

Juan Carlos Iglesias Chouzas, a suspected member of separatist group ETA, looks on during his trial in Madrid on January 24, 2013
Chema Moya, POOL/AFP/File

“The process is deadlocked,” said analyst Mikel Buesa, a Madrid university professor specialising in terrorism.

But “the military defeat of ETA has been confirmed over the past three years,” he said.

A French expert who has written several books on ETA echoed him.

“There are only about 15 or 20 active ETA members on the warpath” and not behind bars, said Jean Chalvidant.

In July, ETA said it has dismantled the “logistical and operational structures” of its armed campaign in a step towards full disarmament.

“Their fight has now moved to a political level,” he added.

Non-violent leftist Basque nationalist parties have gained political influence and increasing power through regional elections in the region.

– Prisoners a key hurdle –

People hold banners reading

People hold banners reading “Exiles and prisoners back home!” during a call for the release of imprisoned Basque separatist and former ETA military structures chief Ibon Fernandez Iradi on May 10, 2014, in Bayonne, France
Gaizka Iroz, AFP/File

For the moment, the biggest stumbling block in the peace process is the thorny question of prisoners.

According to a count by pro-prisoners group Etxerat, there were about 470 ETA members jailed in 76 prisons, including about 100 incarcerated in France.

Madrid has notably refused to budge on one of ETA’s most sensitive demands: the return of imprisoned ETA members to the Basque country.

ETA members have tried to gain concessions from the Spanish government over prison conditions, outraging victims’ families.

Buesa said a possible way out of the deadlock could be a law like the one Italy enacted trimming jail sentences for Red Brigade members who wreaked havoc in the 1970s.

The head of the Basque government Inigo Urkullu recently told Spanish daily El Pais that the situation had changed in the Basque region over the past three years, with the nationalist left having accepted Madrid’s “legality.”

ETA was formed in 1959 during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco by a group of Basque nationalist students.

It carried out its last known deadly attack in 2009, when it killed two police officers by placing a bomb under their car on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca.

AFP
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