WHEREAS the Basque territory is a geographic area, historically defined by its unique language, Euskera, to include four provinces in northern Spain and three in southern France with approximately 3.5 million people in a landmass the size of New Jersey; and

WHEREAS the adoption of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 was rejected by the overwhelming majority of the Basque people because of its failure to allow for their self-determination, and there are now more than 700 Basque political prisoners held in Spanish prisons, many expressing belief in an independent Euskal Herria (the Basque Country); and

WHEREAS there exists credible evidence of the use of torture by Spanish authorities as evidenced by the “Report to the Spanish government from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” and “The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights on the Question of Torture Report E/CN.4/2002/76/add.1or”; and

WHEREAS the organization, Torturaren Aurkako Taldea, has documented that 90% of Basque political prisoners are convicted based on information obtained under torture; and

WHEREAS the Spanish government’s practice of five-day period of incommunicado detention has been condemned by such groups as Amnesty International and United Nations Committee Against Torture for creating conditions that permit the use of torture while depriving detainees the right to access to a solicitor and doctor of their choice; and

WHEREAS the Spanish government’s policy of detention of prisoners for as long as four years without trial, often in isolation, is contrary to the right of the accused to trial within a reasonable period of time; and

WHEREAS the Spanish government has forcibly closed the newspapers Egin, Egunkaria, and Berria, and the radio station, Egin Irratia, as well as arrested their editorial and reporting staff without a trial on the criminal charges in over five years in one case; and

WHEREAS Spain has banned the political party Batasuna and barred its leadership from participation in other political groups again without a trial on the criminal charges in a reasonable time; and

WHEREAS the Spanish government justifies these restrictive measures as necessary to combat terrorism.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That the National Lawyers Guild calls on the United States to demand that the Spanish government respect the rights of the Basque people as guaranteed by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the right not to be subject to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or to arbitrary arrests and detention; and to respect the presumption of innocence and the right to a public trial within a reasonable period of time; and

Further, the National Lawyers Guild calls on the United States to demand that the Spanish government respect the rights of the Basque people to freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to impart information and ideas through the media, the right to peacefully assemble and the right to take part in government through their chosen representatives; and Further, the National Lawyers Guild recognizes that while the Spanish judicial authorities justify the severe security measures to eliminate terrorism; they fail to realize that those who would profess to sacrifice fundamental rights in the name of security may ensure neither security nor justice; and

Finally, the National Lawyers Guild calls on the U.S. State Department, in its next annual country report on Spain, to call on the Spanish government to cease its abuses of the Basque people.

Adopted this the 25th day of October 2003 by the National Lawyers Guild.