2 July 2012 Edition
Basque victims launch ‘Glencree’ reconciliation initiative
The realtives of more than 30 victims of the Basque Conflict help launch the Glencree reconciliation initiative
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams TD has called on the governments of Spain and France to agree to talks “exclusively to deal with the consequences of the conflict”.
PEOPLE who lost loved ones to pro-Spanish death squads, Spanish state forces and the armed separatist group ETA came together for the first time to launch a peace and reconciliation initiative in Donostia in the Basque Country on 18 June.
The initiative is named after the Wicklow town of Glencree where the first such meetings between victims from all sides of the conflict in the Basque Country took place in 2007. These meetings were supported by the Basque Government and were not publicised to avoid political or media interference.
In a statement signed by the relatives of more than 30 people killed during the conflict, the group said that the suffering endured by those on all sides was “unjustifiable” and called for peace “based on truth, justice and acknowledgement for all in a fair way”.
The group also said that it is necessary for those on all sides to make gestures which recognise the hurt and damage caused by their actions.
Basque nationalist group Abertzale Left has welcomed the initiative, saying it is “a constructive contribution and a step towards the recognition of all victims as a consequence of the political conflict in our country”.
Almost 1,200 people, including 500 members of the Spanish military and police and a similar number of civilians, were killed in the four-decade long conflict for an independent Basque Country. In October 2011, the armed Basque separatist group ETA declared a formal end to its military campaign and announced that it would pursue its objectives through purely peaceful means.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams TD has called on the governments of Spain and France to agree to talks “exclusively to deal with the consequences of the conflict”.
In a statement which preceded the announcement by the Glencree initiative, nearly 800 ETA prisoners expressed their full support for the ending of ETA’s armed struggle. The statement also said the group is “fully aware of the pain caused” by its four-decade armed campaign.
