In mid-March Basque cititzens organize an action at Buckingham Palace to pin point the unjust processes against the leftwing Basque youth organisations Jarrai, Haika and SEGI. They chained themselves to the fences of the palace. Sounds of protest as well in Derry; Irish take the street to protest against the occupation of the Basque country and demand a dialog with Basque political prisonners. In the weekend of 19 March Basques organise various activities like pressconferences, infodays and a hungerstrike to bring attention to the case of Inigo Makazaga. The 26-year old is in isolation detention since 24 April in the Belmarsh prison and awaits his extradition to Spain, even though there is no proof for the accusation (Breaching public peace in 1996 in the Basque country).

The Collectiv of Basque Political Prisoners (EPPK) calls out a hungerstrike of all prisoners. It is the first time in history that all Basque political prisoners (719) take part in a hungerstrike at the same time. The EPPK joined the Basic Democratic Agreement that is signed by 6 political parties, 7 trade unions and 17 social organisations and is set up to work on a political solution for the political conflict.

On 20 March 21 busses full with Basques arrive at the prison on Fleury-Mergois in France to demonstrate for the rights of the Basque political prisoners that are locked up there.

On 29 March the Basque political prisoners stop their hungerstrike, but not their struggle for recognition as prisoners and citizens. In many different ways the prisoners are being threatened and punished by their guards.

As expected Batasuna was not allowed to join the elections; their legal representatives were refused already at the first obstacle, the electoral commission of the Basque Autonomous Community. The reason given was that Batasuna was not registered in the election register. Batasuna decides to present her peace proposal to the voters by other ways.

Directly after delivering their list of candidates, Aukera Guztiak ('All options') is attacked. The Spanish public prosecutor Candido Conde-Pumpido calls up to AG to condemn the violence of ETA. By this argument Batasuna was illegalised. They deplore the attacks of ETA and feels sorry for innocent victims. For Pumpido it was already clear that AG was a front of ETA during their presentation. On 18 March Pumpido announces that his office will investigate more than 32.000 signatures, to decide if Batasunas network or infrastructure was used to gather those signatures. The public prosecutor uses documents that were found by alleged ETA members and former candidate-lists of forbidden lists.

But the hardest proof (that AG is an initiative of Batasuna) is according to Pumpido in the form of a tapped phone call between a prisoner which is 'a member of ETA-leadership' and 'someone of the Batasuna-leadership'. During this call was said that 2 lists would be presented: a clear Batasuna-list and one with people not directly linked to Batasuna. The identity of the persons involved in the phone call was not made public (later it seemed to be a call between Jorge Garcia Sertutxa and Elixabete Zubiaga),but the evidence was gathered fully according to the law, sais Pumpido. Further he mentioned that Batasuna spokesman Joseba Permach said that the AG-initiative is very positive and that there was searched for people that had no political connections but shared similar backgrounds. But despite of all these according to Pumpido hard evidences, it is easy for AG to join the elections, sais last one. All they have to do is reject violence as a political tool. On the other hand he said that if there would be a juridical prosecution against AG, a rejection of violence would be taken into account in the decision of allowing AG to take part in the elections. Depending of course how clear this rejection is in the eyes of Pumpido. AG said that it is against the violation of all laws.

The state lawyer that is prosecuting Aukera Guztiak on behalf of the Spanish government,states on 24 March that the evidence of the public prosecutor consists mainly of reports and information of the Spanish secret service, but those have to be seen as 'absolutely trustworthy and impartial'. AG has time until next day 15.00h to appeal against the objections of the state lawyer and the public prosecutor concerning the matter of AG taking part in the coming elections of 17 April. On 79 pages evidence is listed to proof contact between AG and the ETA-Batasuna-network (Consisting for an example of the membership of AHT Gelditu against the highspeed train, someone that joined a demonstration that demanded the return of Basque political prisoners to the Basque country,some member of the left-nationalist trade union LAB(or someone of LAB that called with AG), people that signed a petition against the closure of the left Basque paper Egin in 1988, or the appearance of someones name in a phone book of someone being in prison at the moment. AHT and LAB are legal organisations by the way, as were the mentioned protests.

Of the 32.000 persons that signed for AG and therefore were screened by the Justice Department,'1000 are of the ETA-scene' and 'about 6000 are in contact with the left independence movement' according to the Justice Department. This is not about convictions or people that lost their right to vote, but it is about the ideology they follow. Within the governing Spanish PSOE are former ETA-members on the election list and the party never rejected the state terrorism of the GAL (Death Squads against the Basque left) that took place during their reign. The PP, that is founded by Franco follow-ups and that is still populated by his descendants, never condemned the atrocities and crimes of the Franco dictatorship. No one is demanding a ban of their parties.

As known more than enough, people 'from the ETA-scene' are systematically prosecuted and locked since 1998, offices, newspapers and other media of the left independence movement are shut-down without any form of process. The higher appeal of AG at the Constitutional court led to nothing. The 6 judges anonymously agreed that the violation of civil and political rights is not as important as condemning terrorism. By doing this they not only shut AG out of the elections but as well deny 20% of the Basque population their political choice. AG is taking their case to the European court of Human rights, but an eventual verdict will be of principal matter as it takes years until it is made.

In an interview conducted on 28 March, AG-candidate Koldo Navascues denies the accusations that AG is 'an instrument of the ETA-Batasuna-network'. The struggle of ETA does not only damage the Basques, but conflicts with all my principles. I demand that they put their weapons down. All the evidence delivered originate of the secret service en police sources and are thereby uncontrollable. We were not heard in these cases. So is the accusation,that is fundamentally absurd,that Aukera Guztiak has a member who is also a member of the platform against the highspeed train that the police is connecting to ETA, ridiculous. To gather evidence, they eavesdrop on everyone. On people against which there is no investigation at all.

A surprise on 1 April during the start of the electioncampain. The Communist Party of the Basque Territories (Euskal Lurraldeetake Alderi Komunista) EHAK declares to drop their program to make space for Aukera Guztiak, because they believe that 'peace and democracy have priority now'. The Spanish minister of Justice, Lopez-Aquilar, said that it would have no effect to prosecute EHAK, even if Batasuna would call their voters to vote for EHAK. EHAK is registered since March 2002 in the Basque Autonomous Community and since 2002 in the Spanish election register, but never joined the elections. EHAK was founded by some left Basques, which belived that left wing issues were not of high enough priority within the left independence movement; workers right, the consequences of globalisation, destruction of nature, basic democracy, self organisation in the neighbourhoods, villages and cities ect. Spanish Justice never took action against them because they found no single evidence with the known 'ETA-scene'. Important people within the PP declare furious that EHAK are ETA-terrorists and that they do not belong to elections. PP-chairman Rajo stated that he saw evidence the last days that would proof that. What kind of evidence he did not mention. The PP is angry of course, that a party that was founded during their reign, is taking over the role of Batasua. Meanwhile the Spanish police and Guardia Civil finished their rapports on EHAK on 4 April. It seems that their is no contact between EHAK and Batasuna.

Batasuna pulls back and states clearly that a vote on EHAK is a vote for the Anoeta proposal of Batasuna and that with a vote for EHAK a counterweight is given to the plan-Ibarretxe,that in the eyes of Batasuna won't solve the conflict. The necessity of political representation of the Anoeta-proposal in the parliament after 17 April is there. In case the followers of Batasuna won't vote than the Spanish nationalist parties PSE (the Basque wing of the PSOE) and the PP threaten to gain majority, which means that there won't be any negotiations at all in the Basque parliament; no plan-Ibarretxe, no Anoeta-proposal. In the polls EHAK is on 5 seats.

Trying to win more votes,the main candidate of the PSOE and would-like-to-be Basque president Patxi Lopez announced that he would hold a referendum about the new Autonomy statute of the Basque country. If he would become president, that is.

4 Basque young persons between 22 and 25 years are arrested on 15 March in Irunea, Lizarra and Forua. Their names are Eder Ariz, Mikel Ziaurriz, Zaine Rekondo and Gorka Diez de Ultzurrun; according to the Spanish minister of Inner affairs they are connected to ETA, their names appeared on a list. The 4 were transfered to the headquarters of the Guardia Civil in Madrid. On 29 March their families organise a press conference because of the torture the 4 suffered during the notorious incommunicado-detention. They put a plastic bag 16 times over Gorkas head, because he was not answering the questions of the Guardia Civil. That was a consequence because he is near deaf and did not have his hearing aid with him during the interrogation. He was beaten repeatingly like all the others that suffered the treatment with the bag as well until they nearly suffocated.

17 March the Basque anti-torture group TAT presents her report of 2005. Of the 57 complaints that TAT is investigating, 30 are included in the report. The mother of Amaia Urizar (she was raped with a loaded gun by Guardia Civil agents) said the the book could not reproduce the feelings of the ones that were tortured. On the DVD all 57 complaints are included. A new chapter in the book is the story of family members of torture victims.

The High Court in Naffaroa forbids a demonstration by Batasuna on 23 March. The demo was planned in Irunea around the Aberri Eguna, the national celebration day of the Basque country. Given reason was that Batasuna tried to go around the law. This is the first time since the death of Franco that the celebration of the Aberri Eguna by some group was forbidden. Batasuna calls up to go to Irunea anyway. The police of Naffaroa interacts violently on 27 March and dissolves the demonstration of thousand of people by firing rubber bullets. On 24 March 2 alleged members of ETA are arrested. A day earlier already another alleged member was arrested by the Spanish police.

On 4th of April the UN-reporter in torture cases, Theo van Boven, makes a report public in which he accuses the Spanish state of not implementing any of his advices to banish torture. Van Bovens successor, the Austrian Manfred Nowak, wrote a follow up of Van Bovens report, in which complaints of 17 Basque citizens, and for the first time 4 complaints of Basques in France, are included. The 4 are Lander Hernandez, Garazi Aldana, Ibon Fernandez-Iradi and Patxi Abad. The cases in which Spain is accused concern following persons: Mikel Alensa, Jon Otegi en Harkaitz Melchor, who were arrested by the Guardia Civil. Jose Miguel Etxeberria who was handed over to the Guardia Civil by the Mexican authorities.The case of Aingeru Cardaņo who was arrested by the Basque police Ertzaintza and the cases of Jesoba and Eneko Compains, Jordi Puti and Garikoitz Arruarte who were arrested by Spanish police. Nowak, who declared to follow the same line as Van Boven, and the UN-reporter about violence against women sent a report to the Spanish government to ask for clarification about what happened to Aiala Manrike, who was arrested by Spanish police and Naiara Mallabia, Ana Lopez and Roberto Saiz, who were arrested by the Ertzaintza.

Despite the banning of their demonstration, Batasuna calls up to come to Bilbo on 9 April to demonstrate for civil and political rights. Some days before the Ertzaintza and the Basque Autonomous government forbid that Batasuna appears on tv, young people are arrested because of putting up posters of the demo and all sorts of meetings and public manifestations of Batasuna are banned. Batasuna cancels the demonstration on the last moment to prevent a massacre, that would take place with the agreement of the Lehendakari (the Basque president). There were signals from within the Basque police that they would try to provoke a riot that would dominate the Basque media for days and would place Batasunas peace proposal in the wrong picture.

Beginning of April ETA is giving a long interview in the Basque paper Berria, the successor of the closed paper Egunkaria. ETA declared to cooperate with the Anoeta-agreement. In the interview Euskadi Ta Askatasuna goes a step further. ETA literally sais to be willing to start a process to come to a solution by negotiating with the Spanish state. In fact the first step to come to a solution is already made: the National Debate Forum. But the problem of demilitarisation is still there. A solution has to be found in case of the prisoners, deported activists, refugees and victims of terrorism. The whole interview can be found on the homepage of our website.