Spanish victims' five-point manifesto

The President of a Spanish association for victims of terror says a manifesto signed by thousands of people demonstrates the need for an end to ETA without sacrificing normal requirements of justice.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Apr 2017, 10:34 BST
Updated 9th May 2017, 18:41 BST
Consuelo Ordóñez, whose brother was a politician shot dead by ETA, and who is president of the terrorism victims group COVITE. She is pictured here after speaking at a victims conference in Fermanagh in 2016.Consuelo Ordóñez, whose brother was a politician shot dead by ETA, and who is president of the terrorism victims group COVITE. She is pictured here after speaking at a victims conference in Fermanagh in 2016.
Consuelo Ordóñez, whose brother was a politician shot dead by ETA, and who is president of the terrorism victims group COVITE. She is pictured here after speaking at a victims conference in Fermanagh in 2016.

Consuelo Ordóñez, president of COVITE, was referring to a manifesto which calls for the ending of ETA’s campaign “without impunity”, which was unveiled by victims associations in November 2010 (and recently signed by a wave of people as a sign of endorsement). The five point manifesto said:

• No to the political project of ETA:

ETA fanatics have long tried to destroy the plurality of the many Basque cultures through intimidation and propaganda.

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The Basque society cannot be decided based on the fear generated by ETA, or this would remove all dignity and justice for its victims.

• Yes to justice, no to impunity:

In some parts of Spanish public opinion, the temptation is to ask for ‘generosity’ towards the victims of terrorism. But this implies the renunciation of normal justice and compensation and amounts to moral blackmail and is extremely harmful.

• Yes to the truth, no to the falsification of history:

The first thing that we should demand from ETA is the condemnation of its terrorism.

Otherwise it will use propaganda to establish that terrorism has been a legitimate history and sacrifice – a slander against so many broken families.

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• The prison policy should not transform into a grace policy:

The anticipated release of judged and condemned prisoners – a soft application of the prison law – would imply a form of impunity.

ETA must help unravel of thousands of unresolved crimes, as the law obliges.

• An end of ETA based on dignity:

Citizens and governments need not to lose their moral and political compass, neither on ETA, nor on the rule of law.

An end to ETA built on the dignity of the victims is the debt acquired by the rule of law, and the one that the government must defend.