One of the biggest talking points in the post-conflict years is the situation behind prisoners. Many Basque separatists believe that ETA prisoners are treated too harshly whereas ETA victims have come out and said they don't think they are treated harshly enough – it's a situation that really doesn't lend itself to an open and fair dialogue between both sides.

 

Since the 1980s, the Spanish government has had a policy of keeping ETA prisoners in prisons as far away from the Basque region as possible and to also completely separate them from each other. Tactically, this move is somewhat rational, as many militant groups around the world are given their own prison wings that they often control. This has led to prisons often being a place where militants are further trained and radicalised. ETA prisoners are not regarded as political prisoners in Spain so are not afforded some of the same privileges many militants receive in other countries. (4)

 

The issue of prisoners being kept far away from the Basque Country is the major one that overshadows modern ETA discourse. Many feel that this is a vindictive way of punishing the families of prisoners who often cannot travel to visit their loved-ones due to the distance. Etxerat is an organisation who have worked to campaign against this policy. “It's not a perk, it's a right” to be sent to a prison near your homeland, according to their spokesman Urtzi Errazkin.

 

The policy of prisoners being kept in the far south of Spain has been changing. In 2022 the policy was changed and in the last two years there has been slow progress to transfer ETA prisoners to prisons nearer to their homes. (5) Etxerat sees these transfers as a stepping stone to ultimately gaining an amnesty for all ETA prisoners stating that “We will keep working to let them go free. We haven’t brought them back here to keep them imprisoned”. (5)

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In January 2024, over 20,000 people filled the streets of Bilbao to protest for the rights and release of ETA prisoners. Currently 134 ex-ETA members are in Spanish prisons, eight are in French prisons and 20 are exiled abroad. Almost half of those in prison have not been jailed for violent crimes. (4)

The huge numbers that demonstrated in Bilbao shows that there is widespread support for the prisoners amongst the Basque population. Indeed, in 2021 ETA prisoners had to release a statement in which they asked the Basque public to stop organising public festivals and gatherings to celebrate each time an ETA prisoner was released. (4)

 

A type of homecoming celebration, locally known as “ongi etorri” is held each time an ETA prisoner is released in their home village or city. These include speeches, concerts and public dances to celebrate the person's release. Victims organisations and even actual ETA prisoners have said that these celebrations are insensitive to their victims and that they cause divisiveness which ultimately can damage their movement. The reality is that many ETA members are seen as heroes in their communities.

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The EPPK ETA prisoners organisation has called for these celebrations to be done in private spaces and more discreetly from now on, so as not to cause any upset. (7) The protesters in Bilbao also accused Spain of mistreating ETA prisoners and called for “laws of exception” to be ended. (4)

 

Conditions have improved for ETA prisoners in recent years as a result of Spain's willingness to talk since ETA disbanded. Between 1977 and 2002 there were over 5000 accusations of torture and mistreatment against ETA prisoners by Spanish prison guards and police. These accusations were very hard to prove since the Spanish state refused to investigate most of the claims. (24) ETA has claimed common tactics used by Spanish police were routine beatings, waterboarding and sensory deprivation. The Spanish police have always denied this and claims that these accusations are fabrications used as part of a propaganda tactic by ETA. (6)

 

The situation is complex as the absence of a thorough investigation makes it challenging to establish definitive evidence of systematic torture. Additionally, prisons are private environments where activities unfold away from the public view. The Spanish police have faced global criticism for perceived shortcomings in adhering to their own laws, notably concerning their treatment of Catalan independence protestors, who are frequently subjected to forceful measures by the police. (27)

The truth about the torture that occurred likely falls somewhere in the middle of Spain's and ETA's claims. Human rights groups have criticised Spain for refusing to investigate torture allegations. No officer in Spain has been convicted of torturing ETA members but in 2006 four Spanish officers were jailed for a high profile case in which they kidnapped two ETA members, took them into a forest and brutally beat them – they were acquitted a year later. (24)

 

Iñaki Rekarte, a former ETA prisoner said in an interview “as soon as i was arrested they started to beat me, but that was nothing compared to what happened later. They burst my eardrum with the first punch. They put a bag over my head. I fainted several times, because I couldn’t breathe. You really suffer when they put a bag on your head. You don’t have oxygen. You try to breathe, but you can’t. You faint. They reanimate you – and you faint again. They reanimate you again – and you faint again.” (9)

 

Amnesty International released a report in 1993 in which they detailed their concerns that torture was very prevalent amongst the Spanish police and not exclusively just in The Basque conflict. (22) In 2018 Manuel Pastran, a former Spanish police officer, admitted to being involved in the systematic torture of ETA prisoners. “The war against ETA was harsh, bloody and many times dirty. Somebody had to do it.” He then also claimed that “As soon as you touched them they would sing.” (23)

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However, the issue of torture and mistreatment seems to have died down since ETA disbanded and the conflict is no longer as heated as it was. The main concern now for prisoners rights groups such as Etxerat being returning prisoners to the Basque Country. The return of these prisoners has been welcomed by most but the Association of Victims of Terrorism (AVT) have said that the Spanish government is “siding with the terrorists and not the victims.”  EH Bildus leader, Arnaldo Otegi, welcomed the decision and said “a cycle of prison politics has been closed....the joy must be contained because we cannot forget so much pain and suffering”. (9)