Women in Spain, back to the past.

The Spanish government has used its absolute majority at the Spanish parliament to pass a restrictive law on abortion which was only supported by the ruling People's Party. It is a further regulation on this issue that overturns the previous law dated on 2010 which permitted the women to freely terminate their pregnancy before the 14th week of its term, including teenagers aged 16 to 18. Furthermore, it provided a legal framework for those women who wished to abort once the deadline had expired due to a medical reasons (in case of severe fetal malformation or risk of death for the would-be mother), which turned Spain into one of the most advanced coutries in the world on the issue. Moreover, the previous law fulfilled many of the recommendations issued by the Women's Health Organization on this practice.

With this modification, the government of Mariano Rajoy has been the first one to reverse the legalization of abortion in a democratic country: Spain will join Malta, Ireland, the U.K., Poland, Cyprus, Finland and Luxembourg as the few European countries that punish abortion except for some cases. As Rajoy and members of his cabinet have stated, their party carried the promise to abolish "free abortion" and priorize the right to live of the unborn children on their election manifesto. In addition, the new legal framework even leaves abortion under more restrictions than the law of 1985 which legalised it partially for the first time. Unlike that, the last one allows women to end their pregnancy only during the first 12 weeks in case of violation and before the 22th week in case of health risks for the would-be mother, but will not allow the right to abort in case of fetal malformation anymore. So the life of the fetus will prevail over his own health, preventing the eradication of serious malformations which suppose a huge risk for the newborn and a threat for his quality of life.

Although its purpose is to protect the right to live of the fetus, it will not actually be effective way to reduce abortions. Furthermore, the new law will force many women (especially the wealthiest ones) to travel abroad to do it in the same way that before the law of 1985 was approved. For those who cannot afford the trips to another country, the alternative will be more dangerous and will pose their lives under threat. In fact, clandestine abortions were not a strange phenomenon when aborting was illegal but the last resort for those with no more alternatives. Therefore, the dangers that a legal abortion could prevent will reappear and might become one of the main causes of death of pregnant women, as happens in other countries where it is punished. 

Despite the fact that women will not get any punishment for ending their pregnancy, the fact is that doctors from the medical centres where it is practised will risk to face lenghty prison terms because of their involvement in such interventions. Nevertheless, they will not have the right to decide over their own maternity anymore, as in every causes the woman will have to collect favorable reports to her abortion by two different doctors from two different medical institutions and will also have to provide a copy of the lawsuit she has filled in case of violation. 

To sum up, Spain has turned its back to a modern legislation which was an example on regularization of the abortion. By prohibiting it, the government has become women unable to decide over their own maternity whereas the clandestine interruption of pregnancy will increase the death toll amongst would-be mothers. The country, especially women, will be brought back to the past.

Who is manipulating history?

A symposium on the historical conflict between Catalonia and Spain took place in Barcelona some days ago, with the participation of key Catalan historians like Josep Fontana or Josep Maria Solé i Sabate and under the direction of Jaume Sobrequés i Callicó. It was jointly organized and supported by the Centre of Contemporary History of Catalonia, a department that depends on the Counselling of Presidency of the Catalan Government, and the Institute on Catalan Studies, an organization which investigates and promotes the Catalan culture and language. It took place among the events that both institutions have organized to commemorate the tercentennial of the defeat of Barcelona during the War of Succession, on 11 September 1714. The result of the armed confrontation marked the end of the traditional institutions and cultural particularities of Catalonia and the beginning of a period of hardship in the relationship between Catalonia and Spain.
Though it can be hard to believe, this conference was hardly criticized by the Spanish government, right wing parties and some rightist intellectuals who blamed the Generalitat for incitating hatred speech and manipulating history. Furthermore, some far right parties threatened with asking the prosecution to investigate whether the symposium was illegal or not. They claimed that its content insisted in a conflict which had never existed with the single purpose of splitting Catalonia from Spain. On the contrary, they always try to convey an image of unity of Spain and political stability. So, are Catalan authorities manipulating history?
Some examples on conflict either between Catalonia and Spain or within the whole country are shown below.

The Spanish army bombed Barcelona 9 times between 1640 and 1939. 

The capital city of Catalonia has been bombed many times throughout history. The first incidents took place during the armed conflict called Guerra dels Segadors (war of the reapers, in Catalan), which confronted the Catalan institutions with the Spanish monarchy between 1640 and 1652 because of the consequences of the Thirty Years War in Catalonia. The war finished after the Spanish siege of Barcelona and the signature of the Treaty of Pyrenees between Spain and France, which supposed the mutilation of Catalonia by putting the north of the region (Rosselló and Cerdanya) under French sovereignty.

The second, third and forth sieges and bombing incidents (on 1705, 1713 and 1714) took place during the Spanish War of Succession. This war supposed the end of the Austrian Dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the end of the Generalitat of Catalonia, its particular rule of law and its institutions. It also supposed the annihilation of the Catalan language and culture, and a huge repression against those who had not supported Borbonic Dynasty.

Unlike the two examples we have referred above, the episodes which took place in 1842, 1843 and 1909 were not the result of a war but part of the repression against a citizen revolt. The first two bombardments were conducted by the former regent Espartero, who claimed that the city should be bombed every 50 years, to stop two uprising that took place in Barcelona. By its side, the incident of 1909 took place after a week of riots in the city due to the mobilisation of reserve soldiers to the war in Africa, known as the Tragic Week. 

Finally, the last series of bombardments took place during the Spanish civil war in 1938 and were partly led by fascist Italian air forces which aided Franco's troops during their occupation of the country. Dozens of people died because of them and they helped to demoralize the whole Catalonia thus far paving the way for the final invasion on 26 January 1939.

Spain is the European country where there have been more coups since the end of the Napoleonic invasion.
This data can be hard to believe but it is true. Spain had lived coups and pronouncements even during critical periods of war, which often led to civil wars. There were 10 pronouncements only during the first 6 years of reign of Ferdinand VII. The most important of them was the led by Lieutenant Colonel Rafael de Riego on 1 January 1820, who forced the king to obey the Constitution which had been approved by the Courts of Cádiz amidst the Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian peninsula on 1812. This inaugurated the Liberal Triennium, which would end because of the invasion of the "Hundred Thousand Sons of San Luis", a French contingent which imposed the return to the absolutism. Ten years later, on 1833, the death of the king brought a dynastic conflict between his brother, supported by the traditionalist sector, and his daughter, who was still a minor and was supported by the liberals. It would be the first civil war to take place in the 19th century. The war finished in 1839 when absolutist troops were definitively defeated.
However, the liberal victory would not bring any political stability. The nonage of queen Elizabeth was characterized by two regencies, the first one of her mother María Cristina, Ferdinand's wife; the second one, of the General Espartero, who substituted the former queen after a revolt in 1840. That period would witness nine more uprisings, including the attempt to kidnap the minor queen or the bombardments against Barcelona we have mentioned above. The most remarkable pronouncing was the so-called Pronunciamiento de la Granja, a military coup which took place at the town of La Granja de San Ildefonso (Segovia) in 1836 that forced the regent to reenforce the 1812 Constitution and to appoint a progressive government. The regency of Espartero and the nonage of Elizabeth would finish when members of both progressive and moderate would unite in a mutiny led by Generals Narváez, Serrano and O'Donnell which forced the regent into exile.
Nevertheless, the full age of queen Elizabeth would not bring the definitive peace to Spain, as there were many pronouncements during this period too. There were 11 all along her reign, the most important of whom were the assault against the queen in 1852 and the military coup called Vicalvarada on 1854, which ended up a series of moderate governments and inaugurated the Progressive Biennium which would last until 1856. The social tensions that took place during the first months of that year, alongside some popular revolts due to the lack of food in Castille and the strikes in Catalonia, prompted Generals O'Donnell and Serrano to face the then-president Espartero, who had came back from his exile after the mutiny of 1854 and split him from power. After that, some progressive representatives occupied the parlamentary house demanding the return of Espartero, but the governmental forces led by O'Donnell ordered the army to bomb the building. Thus far the tension rose and some cities revolted claiming the new government to be overthrown. However, they would not achieve their goal as the troops surrendered Barcelona and Madrid.
The queen Elizabeth herself would be forced into exile after a revolution called La Gloriosa erupted in 1868, when army generals Serrano, Topete and Prim led a coup d'État which overthrew the monarchy and appointed Amadeus of Savoye as the new Spanish king. However, his reign would not last a lot because a series of pronouncements and popular revolts would led to the proclamation of the Republic five years later. Furthermore, the Carlist war erupted in this period and its result would mark the end of Basque foral regime, which had lasted since the 15th century. In addition, there were two assaults against Prim (who succumbed) and the king before being deposed, as well as cantonal revolts all across the Iberian peninsula. All this is added to the insurrection in Cuba and the political instability during the republican period, which witnessed four different governments in less than four years. The Republican period finished after two new military mutinies, the first one led by Pavía and the second one by Martínez Campos. After them, a new regime would be established in Spain.
From the end of the Republican regime and the restoration of the monarchy in 1874 onwards, the wars and mutinies would take place only at the remains of the colonial empire. For example, the definitive loss of Cuba happened in 1898, causing a huge moral shock to the political and military forces. Furthermore, it would be a problem added to the endemic corruption of the new regime and the consequences that the continuous recruitment of male workers to fight both in Cuba and in the new colonial objective: Northern Africa. Several popular mutinies would take place during this period, the most important of them being the Tragic Week on July 1909, a succession of riots in Barcelona which ended with the bombing of the city, thousands of detentions and the execution of Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, a Catalan pedagogist known for promoting new pedagogic methods at his Escola Moderna (Modern School, in Catalan) who definitively had nothing to do with the protests.
However, the first pronouncing of the 20th century would not take place until 1923, when General Miguel Primo de Rivera took over the power after a military coup that was supported by the king itself. Thus far, the general began a dictatorship that would last for seven years, until he lost the support of the monarchy and was forced to resign. Then, General Berenguer was commissioned to form a government in order to reverse the effects of the previous dictatorship and call for elections next year. Nevertheless, the so-called Dictablanda (soft dictatorship) had to face an attempt of coup by Captains Galán and García Hernández at Jaca, a city in the Aragonese Pyrenees, which would not succeed. Because of that, both militarymen were shot dead in March 1931, only a month before the polls that would force the exile of the monarchy and the proclamation of the 2nd Spanish Republic on 14th April.
From this moment onwards, the political tensions and the popular unrest would rise dramatically in Spain despite the promises a new regime could bring to its citizens. For this reason, there was another coup led by General Sanjurjo in 1932, which failed due to the lack of supports. Sanjurjo conducted his mutiny after a series of deadly clashes between the police and protesters in several Spanish cities and mining strikes, but he did not manage to succeed due to the combination of the police action and a general strike which stopped his troops in Seville. Sanjurjo would also be the leader of the next pronouncing against the Republican govenrment that would take place in Spain on 17 and 18 July 1936.
Unlike the previous one, the coup of 1936 had been largely planned for several months by a series of high officials of the Spanish army and led by Sanjurjo himself. It was due to erupt on 20th July, but the government discovered their plans and they were forced to advance it. However, Sanjurjo could not assume the direction of the coup because an aircraft accident when he was returning to Spain from Portugal. His death and the death of General Mola prompted Francisco Franco to led the coup and the subsequent civil war that would last for three long years.
There would be another pronouncing in the middle of the Spanish civil war. It was one of the latest operations that took place during the Republican faction to end up a conflict which had been too long and dramatic for the whole country. On 5th March 1939, Colonel Casado led a coup against the govenrment of Negrín and the communist forces who controlled the loyalist army, taking over the control of Madrid and establishing a board of defence which would be committed to negotiate the surrender of their troops to General Franco. However, the negotiations would not succeed and Franco finished occupating Madrid on 1st April 1939, thus starting nearly 40 years of dictatorship.
The last coup of the 20th Century took place once the dictator had died and a new constitution had been approved in Spain. It took place on 23rd February 1981, when members of the army and the Civil Guard organised a joint pronouncing against the new constitutional regime that was born as a result of the appointment of the king Juan Carlos by Franco himself. The occupation of the parliament was live broadcast at the Spanish TV so everybody could see the tanks taking the streets and the Civil Guard breaking into the parlamentary house. However, the coup did not succeed due to a public display of disagreement by the king at that night. Even though he denied any involvement, there is the belief that the monarchy had something to do with the coup.

The single democratically elected president to be executed in Europe has been the Catalan Lluís Companys.
It could seem incredible but it is true. Catalan president Lluís Companys was shot dead at Montjuïc castle in Barcelona on 15th October 1940. Companys went into exile after he realized that the defeat of the Republican government was close due to the evolution of the Spanish Civil War, but he was detained by Nazi Gestapo in France, following orders by Franco. After that, he was transferred back to Spain, where he was tortured and sentenced to death in a council of war.
The Spanish authorities have never issued an official statement of condemnation of this execution which has proved illegal, neither to rebuke his death sentence. By now, the only judge who is due to rebuke it is the Argentinian Servini, who is investigating all the crimes which had taking place during the war and the dictatorship.

The delegate of the Spanish government in Catalonia conducted a homage to Francoist soldiers who fought against the USSR
As I wrote on a previous post, María de los Llanos de Luna participated in a homage to veteran members from the División Azul, a group of volunteer soldiers who fought together with Nazis in Soviet territory. Her attitude caused many concerns to be risen on how a democratic country can permit a homage to remarkable figures of a bloody dictatorship which killed more than 500,000 people.

These ones are only a few examples on how Spain manipulates its own history, trying to erase the conflicts that have caracterized the Contemporary History of the country. There is a real hatred towards Catalans and Catalonia (as well as the Basque Country) and this hatred is not new.

What about the Spanish army?

A group of Spanish soldiers stationed at Loiola barracks in the Basque city of Donostia caused serious disturbances to nearby people on Sunday night. According to several witnesses, the male servicemen were drunk at the moment of the incidents and started shouting slogans praising former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and also harassed sexually some women who were passing by the neighborhood next to the military establishment by showing them their genitalia. For this reason, one of them was detained by the Basque police under accusations of disobeying and resisting the authority but was lately released until the date of the trial. It is not known how many soldiers were involved in such disturbances nor whether the military or the police are about to take further actions against them. 

By its side, the mayor and the members of the city hall of Donostia expressed their anger over the behavior of the soldiers who have created a sensation of alarm and concern to the inhabitants of the city. Moreover, the city government has claimed that the attitude of the military men shows that the Spanish army is a threat to the end of the conflict in the Basque country.

Although this case can seem an isolated fact, the reality is that the Spanish army is widely known for this kind of misconduct either inside and outside the boundaries of the country. One of the most terrifying examples of that behaviour was the mistreactment that some soldiers inflicted to some Iraqi prisoners at a jail in Diwaniya in 2004. It was recorded at a video which can be watched here. However, the biggest scandal took place in the Peninsula, where a female army captain was issued a disciplinary record after she claimed that she had been sexually harassed by one of her superiors. Although the record was not apparently related to the case, the fact is that her career started worsening after the Colonel she denounced was sentenced to a prison term. The Ministry of Defence itself started the proceeding to punish the female captain.

Another remarkable fact is that lots of elements from the previous regime subsist within the military at the moment. In fact, the army was not purged after dictator Franco died and the institution still praises some of the values of the former dictatorship. As an example, the museum of the military in Toledo still treats Franco like a hero of war in spite of the crimes he and the soldiers he commanded committed. Other forms of praising the figure of the late dictator are very common among the soldiers as well, like those by the soldiers who protagonized the incidents last Sunday in Donostia.

To sum up, the behaviour of the Spanish military is not what you might expect from a security force of a democratic country. One could find dozens of examples of abuses that have been committed by those soldiers and which are not usually punished. The army would need a radical reform in Spain.

Do not come to Spain, unless you are a millionaire

The Spanish government is tightening its control of the boundary between Spain and Morocco in Ceuta and Melilla, two cities administrated by Madrid but situated actually in Moroccoan territory. The border there is the main gateaway for people who try to enter the Iberian Peninsula, as they can reach Spanish territory without leaving African continent. For this reason, dozens of people a day try to cross the wall which separates Melilla from Beni Enzar, the place which most of them are settled while waiting for their chance to enter Spanish territory, often for several months or even years. Their last stop before crossing the border uses to be Mount Gurugu, a mountain situated close to the boundary between Spain and Morocco where groups of migrants wait for their chance. 

In fact, Melilla and Ceuta are the main access spots for the Western Mediterranean route, one of the most important immigration routes into the EU by land and sea which is only surpassed by the Central Mediterranean route (through Sicily and Lampedusa) and the Eastern Mediterranean route (through Greece). It is estimated that nearly 6,400 people succeed in entering European territory by this route every year, most of them from Northern African countries like Morocco. However, many migrants from other states in conflict like Mali have reached mount Gurugu during the last years, trying to escape from hunger and war.

Map on different routes into the EU by land and sea, by CNN. 

Once there, some groups stay for weeks or maybe months until they have the opportunity to climb the wall and enter Spanish territory, often facing situations of harassment and persecutions by Moroccoan police. Migrants are routinely beaten and dispossessed of their belongings or documentation at the border, threatened with death or even illegally transferred back once they have crossed it or deported to the desert between Morocco and Algeria, according to a migrants' rights advocacy group called Jadaliyya. As if this was not enough, the same organization stated that at least five people were killed and several others were injured on a police raid just opposite the fence into Melilla and burnt the camps where they were settled in at mount Gurugu. However, such actions have not been strongly opposed by neither Spanish nor European authorities who remain silent against the repeated violations of the rights and the integrity of thousands of people who try to climb the wall, not only men but also women.
But the harsh conditions migrants suffer during their journey towards the boundary and also once they have reached it does not prevent thousands of people from trying to enter into Spanish territory every year. In fact, massive assaults take place nearly every month, with dozens of individuals trying to climb the wall barrier simultaneously. Some of those attempts to break into Melilla have been recorded by security cameras all across the fence, as the video footage below.

By its side, Spanish government has reacted by placing razor-sharp barbed wire on several spots of the fence so that nobody would be able to climb it. This initiative has been hardly criticised by human rights activists and also members from green political parties like Equo, who condemn it as inhumane and for being purpoted to cause serious injuries to those who try to make their way towards Melilla. However, European authorities have turned a blind eye on this measure to counter immigration into the EU, ignoring that this is a flatant violation of human rights. In fact, Spain's immigration policies are partly funded by the European Union which destines the funds to keep sub-Saharians from leaving Moroccoan territory. It is estimated that about 20,000 people are trapped there, facing a harsh treatment and all kind of abuses as we have described above.

Everyone could believe that those actions are part of a wider policy aimed to control and reduce migratory fluxes into Spain as part of the European migratory policies. But the reality is very different: the country is encouraging immigration from wealthier countries like China, Russia and the Gulf countries in order to draw foreign investment. So that, residence permits will be issued to any migrant who buys a property worth €160,000 or more so the real estate market can also be revitalised. It will be very worthy from investors interested in making deals across the EU as Spain would be their gateway to the European market. In fact, the Spanish goverment has been encouraging this kind of immigration for many years, regardless of the origin of their money. In fact, some of the wealthiest migrants in Spain have been proved as obtaining their capital through illegal methods. The most striking case has been that of Chinese millionaire Gao Ping, who has been living in the country for many years and has been alleged of leading a vast money laundering plot which could have distorted the whole Spanish economy.

To sum up, it is quite evident that Spain develops a double immigration policy, depending of the origin and wealth of the would-be migrant. Those who try to flee from hunger or war are often sent back to their home countries or face every kind of human rights abuses on their journey towards Europe, whereas the wealthiest ones are encouraged to settle in and granted with residence permits under the single condition of buying a property in the country. The right to be a legal resident is something that can be bought in Spain.

Dark (and Spanish) implications over a mining disaster in Tibet

Another mining disaster has taken place in Kham region of Tibet (Sichuan province, according to China). In this case, a spill of polluted water from a mine in Dartsedo (Ch: Kangding) county, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi), according to a report issued by Radio Free Asia on 18 October. A spill of chemical products from the mine has triggered the death of many fish from nearby rivers and polluted drinking water for many villages as well, causing a huge damage not only to the environment but also to the livestock and living conditions of herders and farmers living there. However, Chinese authorities in Kardze have refused to act against the mining site, threatening Tibetans who issued complaints against the mining site with deploying troops in the area and allegations of conflicting the will of the authorities. In addition, some inhabitants from Balang township brought dead fish from the polluted river towards local government headquarters in order to put pressure on them, but the local authorities answered only stating that it would take time to redress the situation and cut off all communications in the area.

The latest spill has even increased the anger of Tibetans living in the area, many of whom had already complained against the building of the mine when they were noticed. Nevertheless, authorities did not pay any consideration to those claims and carried on the construction of the mining site, although local government firstly stated that the project was only to build a road. But it did not prevent the anger of villagers who saw such plan as a threat to the environment and their traditional way of life. In addition, such infrastructures trigger a massive influx of Han-Chinese migrant workers into the region, who usually get the best paid jobs and marginalize ethnic Tibetans by imposing their language and modern way of life.
Even though the spill in Balang township can be seen like an isolated incident, the true fact is that it has been the last of many mining disasters which have happened in Tibet for the last years. The one which drew the attention from the main international media outlets was a landslide in a mine in Gyama village, near Lhasa, which wiped out the miners' camp and buried 83 workers alive. Although it was blamed on a "natural disaster" by the authorities in the Tibetan Autonomous Regions, nearby villagers and Tibetan rights advocates raised early concerns over the causes of the landslide. In fact, most people thought that the real cause for the incident was the excessive activity of the mine, as said by witnesses living in the area who were quoted by Tibetan poet, blogger and activist Tsering Woeser. In addition, she wrote several articles on this issue on her blog and deeply analyzed the catastrophe, concluding that all the evidences proved that it was entirely man-made. She also stated that mining activities would keep polluting water supply, as happened recently in Kham region.
Another issue to be considered is that nearly all corporations which are carrying on mining activities in Tibet are at least partly owned by Western companies which constitute joint ventures alongside Chinese state-owned companies. This is very likely to be the cause of the mining corporation which caused the spill of chemical products in Kardze, a company called Ganzi FerroAtlántica Silicon Industry Co., Ltd., specialized in the extraction of silicon metal from the earth crust and its further transformation into a material to build solar panels. This enterprise is a joint venture owned in a 75% by Spanish group FerroAtlántica, presided over by Juan Miguel Villar Mir (see picture below), one of the main businessmen from Spain.

Juan Miguel Villar Mir on an undated photo

Furthermore, someone who starts seeking information about FerroAtlántica and its several ramifications would notice that it is only a part of the huge enterprise group controlled by Villar Mir. The key corporation of this group is OHL, a conglomerate of companies with several ramifications but aimed mainly to construction activities and concessions over infrastructures. Moreover, the Spanish businessman is currently one of the directors of Abertis, a set of corporations which controls most of highway concessions and tolls all over Spain and generates a large amount of benefits. In fact, motorway tolls have escalated their prices over a 7,5% only during the last one or two years and mainly in Catalonia, triggering citizens' protests like #novullpagar ("I don't want to pay" movement) aimed not to pay tolls when driving through the main Catalan highways.

As if it were not enough, Juan Miguel Villar Mir can be regarded as one of the key pieces of the complex relationship between the ruling powers in Spain and China. In fact, the other share of Ganzi FerroAtlántica Silicon Industry Co., Ltd is owned by a Chinese state-owned company, so he is likely to be well related to several members within the Chinese Communist Party. Furthermore, he has close ties with Spanish ruling People's Party and was blamed for illegally funding it by a huge amount of donations, according to information recorded on documentation from Bárcenas lawsuit, a court case regarding the illegal funding of the ruling party in Spain.

Finally, this case is an example on how certain businessmen can invest their money in projects which can provide huge benefits through the exploitation of very rare natural resources without considering the needs of the population living in the area or the damage their activity can cause to such a sensitive environment as the Tibetan plateau, while are aiding the occupation of the area and encouraging an influx of migrant people who work on their companies and start the colonization of the region. But it also shows some ties between their corporations and the relations between the ruling parties of their birthplace and the place they are investing it. The relationship between the water spill in Kardze and the company owned by Spanish businessman Villar Mir is quite an evidence supporting the dark scheme of ties between Chinese and Spanish authorities.

Justice has prevailed over revenge

Today has been a historical day for Human Rights defenders in the Basque Country, Catalonia and Spain. The European Court of Human Rights has rejected an appeal issued by Spanish government against the repeal of the so-called Doctrina Parot, a law which aimed to prevent prisoners convicted to large penalties from being released once the maximum possible sentence (30 years) they are supposed to serve has expired. Though the resolution by the ECHR is based only in a single case regarding ETA member Inés del Río, who had been eligible for early release since 2006 and applied the doctrine, nearly 60 members of the organization are likely to be released on the next months. Moreover, the sentence also determines that Del Río has been illegally jailed for nearly 7 years as her imprisonment was not due.

The Spanish High Court started applying the ruling in 2006, in order to prevent ETA member Henri Parot from being released after his maximum prison term was due. He had been convicted for carrying out several terrorist attacks and sentenced to a large penalty which legally expired that year, so the judges decided that prison benefits should apply only to the whole term instead of the maximum according to the law. Therefore, he and others who were given such sentences have remained in prison until today. In addition, the latest resolution was applied to them after once they were convicted, so it was eventually an enlargment of their prison terms.

It is evident that such decision has triggered a quite important controversy between defenders and opposers of it. For the one side, the Spanish Government, ruling party PP and main opposition party PSOE have expressed their disappointment because they think terrorism crimes will not be accuratelly punished. For instance, the government tried to put pressure on the single Spanish judge who had taken part of the resolution and stated that they would do as much as possible to prevent any attempt to "praise terrorism", while advocacy organisations like Herrira (which advocates for the end of dispersion and respect for prisoners' human rights) have been shut down and several of its members detained. Moreover, some of the victims of terrorism feel betrayed because of the sentence of the court, stating that their human rights and right to justice have not been respected. In fact, victims' organizations blame on the government for not having done enough to prevent such resolution and also request institutions and courts not to apply it.
On the other side, members from both Basque separatist left and the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV, in Basque and Spanish), as well as other advocacy groups and Spanish leftist parties, have celebrated the court ruling as they guessed that Parot doctrine supposed a violation of prisoners' human rights. They also have requested Spanish government and authorities to apply it as soon as possible and release all prisoners whose term has expired. In addition, the abolition of the doctrine is seen as a positive contribution to the peace process in the Basque Country after ETA put an end to its armed struggle two years ago.
Regardles of the polarity that such a resolution can trigger, the fact is that Spain has been in evidence again because of the poor human rights record of the country. In fact, it has repeatedly been requested to persecute forced dissaperarances and illegal executions that had been carried out by Franco's dictatorship as well as blamed for having tortured many Basque separatists (the last accounts set that 10,000 people had been tortured since 1960), but the different governments have always turned a blind eye on these claims. However, the same people that turn a blind eye on these questions and rejects resolutions like the one issued by the ECHR claim that the possibility of holding a referendum of autodetermination in Catalonia does not respect the laws. With those reactions, it is even more clear that the Spanish concept of law is full of double standards on human rights and justice. But the fact is that, in this case, justice has prevailed over revenge.

Fascism is knocking at our door... again

Spain celebrated its National Day on 12 October in commemoration the anniversary of Cristopher Columbus' arrival to America and the begining of great-scale imperialism all around the world. However, the date was fixed as a national holiday in 1935, when it was named as "Día de la Raza" (Breed's Day). Since then, and especially during and after Francisco Franco's dictatorship, it has been a day of great celebration and an attempt to show Spaniards' pride for their country amidst great celebrations across the country and the strenght of Spanish army as well.
Thus, a huge military parade was held in Madrid, which was presided over by Spanish prince Felipe in representation of the royal family. Several army cadres took part in it, including members of the Legion, an army body which was founded jointly by Franco and Millán Astray, a general who aided the dictator during the coup d'Etat. However, it counted on less soldiers and resources due to the economic crisis, although the main symbol of the Legión was present at every moment. It should be remarked that this body was led by the participants of the coup which led to the Civil War and caused a huge number of casualties during the conflict. In fact, it was one of the bloodiest regiments of Franco's troops.
Nevertheless, neither the parade nor the institutional meeting witnessed the presence of Spanish king Juan Carlos, who is getting relief from a surgery on his hip.
The National Day has also been an occasion to spread a sense of patriotism among its citizens, which was caracterized by Spanish language and culture. Therefore, the government prepared an advertisement to encourage citizens' participation in the event. It can be seen below (in Spanish).

As everybody can see, the Spanish authorities aimed to mobilize the population in order to get them involved in praising the unity and power of the country in a critical moment marked by a harsh economic crisis, a huge unemployment rate and a ruling party involved in allegations of corruption. Therefore, it is usual for the government to take profit of any event which could divert the attention from the delicated situations. Anyone can remember the stand-off between Spain, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom due to tensions at the boundary between the rock and the Iberian peninsula which took place this summer and has remained unsolved since then (see here). 

Even though it was supposed to be a festive holiday, there were fears around the presence of far right activists across the country, especially in Madrid and Barcelona. In fact, several members of right wing parties like Democracia Nacional and Falange had attacked the delegation of the Catalan government in Madrid and boycotted the events commemorating the Catalan National Day on 11 September. Thus far had raised concerns among Catalan citizens on the celebration of anti-separatist rallies in the capital city of Catalonia, which were to be held to protest against the rise of separatism among many people in the region. In fact, nearly 10 different rallies were to be held in Barcelona during the holiday, and some of the participants had reached the city from different parts of Spain.
A huge demonstration was held at Barcelona's Plaça Catalunya on 12 October noon, which had been convoked by an association called Som Catalunya. Somos España and backed by unionist parties like Ciutadans, the People's Party and Plataforma per Catalunya among others. About 18,000 people took part in the concentration whilst another led by far-right parties like Falange, Democracia Nacional or Alianza Nacional (including some of the people who had participated in the attack against the Catalan delegation in Madrid) took place in Plaça Espanya. As usual, most of the participants at the latter demonstration displayed a high amount of Fascist symbols like Franco-era's flags and chanted slogans against Catalan separatism or immigration. The video below shows the rally protagonized by right wing activists.

Even though those actions should be strongly condemned by both Spanish and European authorities (Catalan government has repeatedly censored such acts), the fact is that they are not illegal according to the Spanish constitution and laws. There is no law which punishes the display of fascist symbols and this kind of demonstrations can be held without any difficulties while the Spanish government turns a blind eye on them. In fact, it is trying to boycott any attempts to praise the memory of those who were murdered by Franco's regime while the supporters of those who killed them still remain unpunished. Moreover, the whole European continent is witnessing a dreadful rise of far-right wing groups due to the economic situation: the most remarkable are Marine Le Pen's Front National in France and Golden Dawn in Greece. So it seems that fascism is knocking at our door... again.

"A més de per aturar els judicis, el compromís és necessari per assolir una solució integral"

Aquesta és la traducció al català d'una entrevista a 3 dels 40 joves el judici contra els quals va començar ahir dilluns a l'Audiència Nacional. Se'ls acusa de pertànyer a Segi, acusació sustentada gairebé en exclusiva en les declaracions que els acusats van fer durant la incomunicació, període en el qual molts d'ells van ser torturats. Va ser publicada al diari Berria el passat 13 d'octubre.

13-10-2013

JUDICI CONTRA QUARANTA JOVES. GARAZI RODRÍGUEZ, MIKEL ESKIROZ I AITZIBER ARRIETA. JOVES IMPUTATS EN EL SUMARI 26/11.

“A més de per aturar els judicis, el compromís és necessari per assolir una solució integral”.

Van ser detinguts, incomunicats i empresonats l’any 2009. Amb tot el que van passar, els joves han destacat que continuen treballant per assolir un altre model, fent un gest a Pamplona: “Nosaltres també hi serem”.

HODEI IRURETAGOIENA, SANT SEBASTIÀ

Garazi Rodríguez Rubio (1987), Aitziber Arrieta Fagoaga (1985) i Mikel Eskiroz Pérez (1988) han rebut BERRIA a l’”Aske Gunea” de Sant Sebastià. Manifesten clarament: “som militants polítics i socials”.

Us acusen de ser membres de Segi. Quin és el vostre delicte?

GARAZI RODRÍGUEZ: Creiem que no n’hi ha cap delicte. Aquí hi ha un conflicte polític, i estàs sota l’amenaça de ser detingut en funció de l’activitat política que duus a terme. Ens van detenir perquè la nostra activitat era contrària als interessos de l’Estat espanyol.

MIKEL ESKIROZ: No detenen militants de Segi sinó joves compromesos. És igual a quina organització pertanys.

Era el novembre del 2009. Quin n’era el context? Què volien aconseguir?

G. R.: Després de la detenció de la cúpula de Haika i Segi els anys 2001 i 2002, i més enllà de les il·legalitzacions, començaren el procés d’anomenar terroristes a tants col·lectius de l’esquerra abertzale com van voler. Després de nomenar terrorista Segi el 2007, van començar a fer batudes poble per poble, fins que el 2009 hi van dur a terme una a nivell de tot Hego Euskal Herria. Durant aquells tres anys van detenir més de dos-cents joves, molts dels quals van ser torturats i empresonats.

AITZIBER ARRIETA: No només van anar en contra de la gent favorable a un canvi de model polític, tenien hom interessat en una transformació social en el punt de mira, ja fos membre de Segi o no.

G. R.: El jovent sol ser el motor de les lluites a tot el món, i el moviment juvenil d’Euskal Herria va dir que, més enllà de respondre, emprendria el camí vers la transformació social. Això és el que volien destruir, el moviment juvenil.

Com vau viure aquell temps?

G. R.: Molts no estàvem tranquils fins i tot mesos abans de les detencions. Hi havia dues batudes al mes, força amples, i la majoria dels detinguts denunciava tortures. Et fiquen la por dins del cos. Em van detenir a mitjanit. T’agafen per sorpresa, mig adormida. Ens van torturar a tots, i també en vaig viure les conseqüències mentre era a la presó. La Garazi d’abans de la detenció i la de després no són la mateixa persona. Moltes coses no les he viscut de la mateixa manera i he necessitat ajut professional per fer-les.

A. A.: També hi són les vivències de les famílies, tant en el moment de la detenció com durant la incomunicació. Potser fa de mal dir, però arriba un moment en què els tranquil·litza que tu estiguis a la presó.

M. E.: Entra a la presó suposa que trenquis amb tota la teva vida. Quan hi surts i ho superes, arriba el judici. Amb tots els costos que suposa: viatges, l’impacte que té a la feina...

Els joves i ciutadans hi van respondre al carrer. Com us ho vau prendre?

A. A.: Sobretot, el ressò o la conseqüència d’aquesta batuda va ser, de cara a la resposta, de dir “ja n’hi ha prou”. Mentre érem a la presó vam veure la mobilització que s’havia dut a terme a Bilbao.

G. R.: Encara tens tots els moments durs que vas viure a flor de pell, però t’emociona que tanta gent surti al carrer i veus que la gent té ganes de continuar endavant.

A. A.: No han complert els seus objectius. El jovent, i també nosaltres mateixos, hem sortit enfortits i, per sort, els joves continuen treballant per assolir un nou model social i polític. No han pogut amb nosaltres.

Aquells dies se celebraven les trobades del moviment juvenil a Zestoa, i es va dur a terme malgrat tot.

G. R.: Penso que van fer la batuda aquella setmana precisament per condicionar la trobada. S’havia dit públicament: les trobades eren per unificar el moviment juvenil i posar en marxa uns objectius comuns, per construir junts un poble dels joves, perquè era palesa la necessitat d’impulsar aquesta cooperació.

M. E.: La decisió va ser important perquè la resposta no es va basar només en la denuncia. Es va seguir amb aquell model d’organització política tot i que hi havia 40 joves incomunicats i en risc de ser empresonats.

Demà començarà el judici. Com el col·loqueu en el context polític?

G. R.: La situació ha canviat molt des que ens van detenir. L’actitud i l’estratègia de l’esquerra abertzale ha canviat, també les d’altres agents polítics, socials i sindicals. ETA va dir que deixava la lluita armada. Això ha obert noves oportunitats, i ni l’Estat ni alguns agents importants s’hi han implicat. Nosaltres ens hem compromès a fer passos ves la resolució. Tots els judicis tenen el conflicte polític com a base. Ens hem de cenyir a això i fer via cap a la resolució mitjançant el diàleg. No es pot deixar en mans dels estats, ETA o els partits polítics, es necessita el compromís del poble. És lloable el que s’està fent als Fòrums Socials, per exemple. Durant anys hem sentit alguns parlant sobre el patiment, però també hi ha hagut patiment en moltes altres ocasions. Estenem la mà a tots els ciutadans, sigui quina sigui la seva ideologia. Perquè no és el moment d’estar en favor de la resolució, sinó de participar-hi. Tots plegats hem de construir un mur popular en contra de tots els atacs provinents de Madrid i París.

A. A.: També fem una crida al Govern Basc i al PNB perquè s’hi sumin al camí. Ja n’hi ha prou de fer servir les forces policials en contra d’Euskal Herria.

G. R.: Es fa front a l’estratègia de il·legalitzacions i avui ja hi ha organitzacions legals, per molt que la batuda contra Herrira ens hagi tornat a portar antigues receptes. També aconseguirem aturar els judicis, els empresonaments i les detencions si tots ens hi comprometem.

Tot plegat està basat en testimonis extrets durant la incomunicació. Quina serà la vostra actitud en el pla jurídic?

A. A.: El judici és un frau, no s’aguanta per enlloc. Tenint Segi com a excusa, només s’han de veure les proves que han presentat contra cadascú de nosaltres: mocadors de les festes, qualsevol llibre, que haguéssim participat a qualsevol concentració, qualsevol fullet... Segons això, tots hauríem d’estar a la presó.

M. E.: Segurament, aquells 100.000 joves que participaven al Topagune haurien d’estar davant l’Audiència Nacional. Aquestes detencions son molt arbitràries. El nostre poble ens ha absolt; no li reconeixem cap legitimitat a un tribunal d’Espanya.

G. R.: La Fiscalia ha presentat les declaracions davant la policia com a proves, gairebé totes fetes sota tortura. Les “proves” demostren que dúiem a terme activitats polítiques. Això no vol dir que serveixi per demostrar que érem o no militants de Segi. Això direm: tenim tot el dret de ser militants polítics i socials.

Quins objectius teniu amb Libre?

M. E.: Fins ara han treballat en favor dels drets polítics i socials. No volem renunciar-hi, però ho volem integrar a les solucions tot demanant-li compromís a la gent; no només per aturar els judicis, sinó també per aconseguir una solució integral per a tot el poble. És temps de buidar les presons, no d’omplir-les. La gent té ganes d’avançar en la resolució i viure en pau, i per tenir dret a decidir el que volem ser.

Pamplona serà la propera parada del mur popular en el camí de la desobediència.

G. R.: També fem nostre el mur popular que han construït a Iruñerria. Aquest és el camí i hem de seguir-lo. No sabem com aniran les coses. És una mala notícia que un jove més acabi a la presó. Ànims a tots els que hi sereu. Nosaltres també hi serem.

Impunity and shame

Imagine a democratic state where a transition from a dictatorship took place nearly forty years ago. The dictator took up the power after a coup d'État against a democratic government and almost three years of bloody civil war.
Then, imagine that the would-be dictator was Francisco Franco and had the aid of a clique formed by other right-wing and monarchist generals, alongside far-right politicians who sought the support of the clergy and the states of the Rome-Berlin Axis. He also counted on an Army Corps formed by African soldiers who served at the Spanish colonies in Northern Morocco. They were known because of their extreme brutality and lack of respect for their victims.
Furthermore, imagine that rebels' coalition brutally murdered thousands of innocent people through bombings against civilians as well as summary executions all along the territory they were conquering. For instance, Franco ordered the German Condor Legion to destroy the Basque city of Gernika through a terrible bombing, the same thing that Italian troops tried to do in Barcelona. Regarding African troops, they committed lots of violations and a huge slaughter of innocent people, including women, children and elderly people. They did not even hesitate to murder people when they were fleeing from the war.
Imagine that, once the dictatorship was institutionalized, the summary executions and the councils of war went on during the postwar. Everyone who had formed part of a trade union or a political party during the Republic was purged, sometimes according only to lawsuits filled because of disputes between neighbours of a village or town. However, authorities did not verify whether the accusations were true or false, so dozens of innocent people were disappeared, jailed and even killed. And the terror continued until the death of the dictator, nearly forty years later.
Finally, imagine that neither the author nor the accomplices of such attrocities were never put before a court to pay for their crimes. Instead, an amnesty law was approved in order to avoid any criminal case against them. Furthermore, praising the dictatorship is legal in Spain, to the extent that some politicians from the ruling People's Party and its youth organization have been photographed showing Francoist flags or making the fascist salutation. And this situation of impunity keeps on... 

China according to Spanish media, a distorted image

It has become common some news about China appear on Spanish media, especially on the TV. Information about natural disasters like damages caused by typhoons or floods is often shown among other curious images of the country. For instance, a person who often watches the news on Spanish television TVE can be aware of the discrimination some Chinese graduates are being supposed to endure on their job interviews because of their zodiac. No, this is not a joke at all. A public television like Televisión Española, the Spanish offiicial TV, broadcast such information on 24th July 2013, only a day before the information about the imminent trial against Bo Xilai became official. However, the same television silenced the report that Bo's lawyer has not been allowed to legally represent him on the upcoming trial, as appeared last week in foreign newspapers like The Guardian. But no word about this issue was said neither in Spanish nor in Catalan or Basque media though the trial will be determinant for the political stability of China and the CCP. In addition, the denial of legal representation to Bo Xilai proofs that his trial is determined in advance so he is very likely to be convicted. 

The last case which drew the attention of every Spanish media was the order to demolish a luxury mansion which had been built by a Chinese millionaire on the top of a skyscrapper in Beijing. Such information was brought to the televisions and newspapers for several days, where as the latests reports on the lawsuit against Bo Xilai, the conviction of Liu Hui (the brother-in-law of jailed Chinese Nobel Prize Liu Xiaobo) amid a political trial or on the current tensions in Tibet have been silenced. Thus a Spaniard with no knowledge in English language or a person who is not used to read foreign media is unlikely to be aware of such important events. Instead, they would know a lot of features and figures about China's economic growth and the existence of several millionaires with an extreme love for luxury. Nevertheless, such anecdotes are seldom accompanied by other serious informations on the country like the accusations of bribery against GSK or some natural disasters which might take place there, as well as the case of Tang Hui, a woman who won a trial against the re-education through labor camp in which she was jailed for denouncing the rapist of her daughter.

Such situation provokes severe misunderstanding of the Chinese reality by the Spanish public opinion. For example, only a few Spaniards are aware of the ethnic and cultural diversity in China or the diplomatic and military conflicts which involve the country. Furthermore, many people do not know that Han ethnic group is only the main of the 55 nationalities which populate Chinese territory or that dozens of languages are spoken there. Instead, they think that the Empire of the Centre (the literal translation for 中国, China in Chinese) is only populated by Han Chinese, all of them speaking the same language and having the same culture. Thus, many clichés abound about them whereas the media contribute to promote them by publishing anecdotal informations such as those mentioned above.
Therefore, lots of Spaniards actually ignore that current policies by Chinese Communist Party officials are conducting to a spate of political detentions and trials which reminds the worst years of Maoist rule. This is even more evident in territories like Tibet (not only the TAR but also parts of other provinces which have been historically Tibetan: Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan), Inner Mongolia (an Autonomous Regions which shares its boundaries with the Republic of Mongolia and where the majority of Mongolians live) and East Turkestan (the Muslim-populated Xinjiang Uyghur Automous Region), where the government encourages a flooding of Han migrant workers to exploit the richness in natural resources of those regions. In addition, migrations bring blatant discrimination to the local population and inflicts huge damages to their environment, language, culture and traditional ways of life. Moreover, both the police and the People's Liberation army severely crack down on anyone who dares to protest against injustices they endure on their daily life, even beating and torturing people to death. The situation is even worse in Tibet, where authorities have even issued a death penalty against relatives of self-immolations, acusing them of encouraging those extreme acts of protest. The latest to be given such a harsh penalty has been Dolma Kyab, a man who was sentenced for allegedly murdering his wife Kunchok Wangmo and then burning her corpse to show that she had self-immolated requesting freedom for Tibet.
In addition, very few information is avalaible in Spain about territorial conflicts led by China. The standoff at the border between China and India in the region of Ladakh, including two incursions by the PLA into Indian territory, only appeared briefly at some newspapers like the right-wing La Razón. Moreover, the little news on this issue are never treated giving their historical or political background, but only treated superficially as is they were isolated facts. Thus, the viewer has not the ability to relate some standoffs like this and the rise of military budget in China with the aggressive foreign policy led by the Communist Party and President Xi Jinping.
Given all the circumstances mentioned above, it is clear that Spanish media offer a very biased information on China, trying not to show any information which could go against the ruling Communist Party or question the territorial integrity of the country. Because of that, the general public from Spain may not be aware of the deep implications that China's policies might have even in their own country.

Creating conflicts

An episode of tension has erupted between Spain and the United Kingdom because of Gibraltar, a city under British sovereignty which is situated south from the Iberian Peninsula and near the Spanish province of Andalusia. In fact, Spanish police has recently implemented new and stricter controls across the border between Gibraltar and La Línea de la Concepción, one of the Spanish cities which share its boundaries with the rock. Spanish authorities claim that the purpose of those security checks is to prevent snuff smuggling whereas hundreds of Spaniards who daily cross the border to their jobs are forced to wait for hours and so being late to their commitments.

However, snuff smuggling is not the origin of those checks and their consequences. Everything started when Gibraltar government started building an artificial reef which in practice prevented Spanish fishing boats from fishing in the area. It was located near the Spanish Playa de Poniente (Western Beach), in the city of La Línea de la Concepción and 500 meters away from British territorial waters. Thus the Spanish government raised concerns on the effects that this mesure could have for the economy of the area and send the Civil Guard to stop the collocation of the blocks which formed the reef. Moreover, Spanish authorities reacted aggressively implementing harder controls along the border and threatening Gibraltar with cutting the Spanish airspace to the aircraft from or to the rock as well as with cutting out the concessions on telecommunications. Furthermore, Spain is working on a tax which would charge people who want to cross the border either to reach their commitments or to enter Gibraltar as a tourist. If it is approved, each vehicle which wants to cross the frontier will be forced to pay 50€, a measure which goes clearly against the freedom of movement of both residents and tourists. Nevertheless, the rock is not within Schengen space thus no rules regarding freedom of circulation are to be applied there.

An isolated fact has led to a diplomatic conflict between the United Kingdom and Spain so far, damaging the inhabitants from both sides of the boundary. But have the latest events be the true cause for such an episode of tension? Why has this conflict exploded preciselly now? Has it something to do with corruption scandals and bad economic results in Spain?
Though Spain delivered Gibraltar to the United Kingdom as a payment to obtain the recognition of Phillip V as the new Spanish king according to the Utretch Treaty, signed in 1713, the reality is that Spanish nationalism has repeatedly used this issue when the situation within the borders of Spain was critical. Several reasons have been exposed by Spanish authorities to raise their concerns on the sovereignty of the rock, as for example the fact that "Utretcht Treaty did not include any clauses regarding the airspace of Gibraltar (sic.)". Other matters of controversy are the territory beyond the 1713 borders which has allegedly annexed by the British government and the sovereignty of the waters surrounding the territory. After several years of sieges and fights during the 19th Century, the worst dispustes took place during Francisco Franco's ruling in Spain, who even forced the closing up of the fence which marked the border between the country and Gibraltar in 1966 and left thousands of Spaniards jobless, after three years of non-stop tensions between both countries which even led Franco to put this issue at the hands of the United Nations that issued two resolutions regarding the status of Gibraltar and its sovereignty while respecting the interests of its inhabitants.
However, the reclamations regarding the rock are always issued when the different governments, like Franco's dictatorship, have something to hide within their borders. In this case, the conflict erupted when Spanish justice is investigating a case of supposed corruption by the ruling party in the country, the People's Party, which is among one of the greatest scandals the country has ever seen. This is the main reason Britons claim to be behind the current reivindications, as well as the territorial disputes within Spain. Moreover, Catalonia and the Basque Country, which are seeking their independence from Spain, have shown their support to Gibraltar and its British sovereignty, as accepted by Gibraltarians on a referendum which rejected the shared ruling of the area in 2002. Hence, claims of "Gibraltar Español" (Spanish Gibraltar) obey only to the purpose of deviating the attention off the critical problems of this country by reliving the ghost of a conflict which has never existed since the same king Philip V admitted that Gibraltar would be forever English. Spain cannot continue giving the back to the history.

Illusion and delusion: China's current policies towards Tibet

Chinese Communist Party has implemented more hard-line policies on Tibet during the last weeks ahead of the birthday of the Dalai Lama. This has happened despite rumours which suggested that the cult to the figure of Tibetan spiritual leader had been allowed in some areas and the invitation by a Chinese religious group to visit Hong Kong in September, as well as the latest statement by Chinese scholar Jin Wei, who suggested that talks with Dalai Lama's representatives should be resumed after more than two years of stallement and even claimed that China should invite him to visit Hong Kong or Macau and eventually allow him to come back to Tibet only on the role of Buddhist leader with no voice on political affairs.

After tightening the surveillance on Tibetans and the plans to vanish the ancient heritage of Lhasa by creating  a comertial area across the Barkhor area (a road that circumvalates Jokhang temple, one of the holiest in the city), the last move by Chinese authorities in Tibet has been the re-launchment of calls for "absolute fight" against the Dalai Lama, as Yu Zhengsheng stated during a meeting with local officials and religious leaders in Gansu province. At the same time, Chinese police shot several people who were celebrating the birthday of Tenzin Gyatso in Tawu county, Kham (Ch.: Daofu County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan). According to some reports emerging from exile, at least two monks (Tashi Sonam and Ugyen Tashi) were shot in the head whilst several others were injured due to the shooting and the use of teargas. In addition, a report by Human Rights Watch has highlighted recently that nearly a third of Tibetans (approximately 2 million people) have been moved away from their homes and grasslands and transferred to the so-called New Socialist Villages, being barred from continuing with their traditional way of life. Therefore, many nomads have been forcibly sedentarized and condemned to alcoholism and margination. The video below gives the background and key features for this issue.

The situation has worsened since Xi Jinping became president of the country and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, with a spike on surveillance on non-Han people, including Tibetans and Uyghurs (a Turkic ethnic group living in Xinjiang).  Several measures of control have been implemented on minorities, such as monitoring of phone and internet communications, house-to-house searchings and arbitrary detentions or a tightening control on religious activities among others. Moreover, the increased control on minorities and "separatism" is not an isolated fact but an attempt to reassure its current boundaries by controlling some strategic points. In the case of Tibet, the plateau is the source of some of major rivers in East and Southeast Asia like Mekong, Yangtze, Brahmaputra or Salween. In addition, both Tibet and Inner Mongolia are rich in mineral resources crucial to the development of China whilst Xinjiang is rich in petrol, agricultural resources and livestock. So that, the Communist Party of China is not interested in loosing its control on them. Furthermore, both Tibet and Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia are territories which share its borders with several countries, thus a heavy military presence is deployed there.
On the other hand, current policies towards Tibet or other "separatist" regions coincide with an increasing assertiveness towards some territories which are considered by China as its own. China's claims include not only the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, an archipielago situated in the East China Sea (they are a disputed territory by both China and Japan) but also other islands and continental territories like Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian state which shares its boundaries with Tibet, Bhutan and Myanmar and claimed by China as a territory called Southern Tibet. But the region which has suffered more attacks to its sovereignty is the territory of Ladakh, a valley situated in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which shares borders with the Tibetan region of Ngari and Aksai Chin, currently part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In fact, the last one has been repeatedly invaded by patrols of the People's Liberation Army during the last year, with some incursions into the area like the ones which took place in April or May this year and have not resulted in violent clashes between both armies, the last of them taking place only four or five days ago. However, India's reaction has been lukewarm since it has not broken any diplomatic conflict between the two countries. For instance, there have been some high-level meetings between important politicians from both countries, including Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang's visit to India in which both countries scheduled diplomatic meetings to discuss the ways to end the rows.
Unlike some scholars who seem surprised by the continuity of hard-line policies on Tibet at a scale that reminds the years of the Cultural Revolution and the impunity that China is enjoying, the last change on the leadership in the country and the CCP has made a variation on policies towards the region unlikely. Instead, some Western countries turn a blind-eye on the precarious situation of human rights in the country by intensifying their economic ties with China or making some political agreements with the Communist Party, like the Memorandum of Understanding between the CCP and the People's Party, the ruling party in Spain. Moreover, the concerns that different governments like the United States have raised over Tibet have not prompted any response by Chinese authorities, which repeatedly claim that Tibetans enjoy more freedom than ever. Thus China enjoys great freedom to address the situation in Tibet at its convenience, despite the damages that the repression on Tibetans could cause to this ethnic group and even to the whole country. 

Hero or genocide?

A museum in Toledo still praises Spanish dictator Francisco Franco as a hero. Basque MP Jon Iñarritu, from Amaiur (a separatist party from the Basque Country) posted a picture to Twitter in which some sculptures of the dictator can be seen within the category "Spanish heros". This qualification could be "acceptable" as a personal opinion (although praising a dictator as a hero can be very criticized), but the institution which has labelled Franco in this way belongs to the Spanish Ministry of Defence. Thus the Army Museum of Toledo is fundraised with public funds. As quoted on its website, the "Spanish Army Museum is a state-owned museum dependent on the Ministry of Defence. Its main objective is to promote knowledge on Spain’s military history". It seems to be situated in the city centre, close to General Moscardó Street (Moscardó was a general of the Francoist army who became famous due to his strenght at the Alcazar or Palace of Toledo, which was besieged for days by the Republican troops at the beginning of the Civil War. The "liberation" of this symbolic space would pave the way for Franco to establish his personal leadership within the rebels against the government of the Spanish Republic). So the museum is not the only remaining of the dictatorship it that city, capital of the region of Castilla-La Mancha.
Nevertheless, it is not the first time that an individual or institution is officially praised by the Spanish government. I quoted other examples on a previous blogspot, all of them related to official statements or homages in support of the former dictatorship. Moreover, the government continues to fund a private foundation which aims to preserve and protect the memory of Franco and his dictatorship. This is the case of the Fundación Francisco Franco, a private entity which praises the figure of the former dictator and tries to preserve his legacy. In 2001, it was given €24,043.08 in order to hire personnel for the digitalization of its archive, including security copies of the documents exhibited there. Among other activities, the entity also organises several symposiums on the fight against communism and some historical features of the regime. The English version of its website is not avalaible, but anyone wanting more information can visit the Spanish one, in which the activity and aims of the foundation are explained.

However, the same government which gives financial aid to the heirs of the former dictatorship is unable to investigate and clear the dozens of extrajudiciary executions which took place since the early months of the war, neither the unlawful councils of war which would take place once the dictatorship was institutionalised. Meanwhile, thousands of people are still missing whereas the corpses of many others are languishing in mass graves all around Spain and others were illegally transferred to the mausoleum of Franco.

Should a dictator whose regime provoked dozens of deaths be praised as a hero even after his own death?

Andreu Nin, a late homage

Catalan Parliament finally decided praising the figure of Andreu Nin, a Catalan anti-stalinist intellectual and politician who was detained, tortured and finally executed with the placet of the Spanish Republican government during the Spanish Civil War. He had been one of the founders of POUM (Worker's Party for Marxist Unification) in 1935, as well as the Justice Minister of Catalan Government during the Civil War, until he was expelled from Generalitat in May 1937. A month later, he would be detained and finally murdered for daring to propose another way to conduct the Spanish civil war instead of the dependence towards the Soviet Union. In fact, even the NKVD was involved in his death.
It was the first time that all the Catalan political forces had managed to celebrate an hommage in his remembrance, almost 76 years after his death. However, his political relevance was once again a matter of controversy whilst each party praised a different trait of his career. Despite this disagreement, the reality is that he was a brave politician who dared to oppose Stalin after having worked for the Commintern, alying himself with the Trotskist Left Opposition. In addition, he would later break up with Trotsky because of the unification of Trotskist Izquierda Comunista de España and Bloc Obrer i Camperol, a Catalan communist party opposed to the Comintern. Furthermore, he always defended the right of Catalans and other peoples in Spain and Europe to freedly decide on their own future. As an intellectual, he collaborated in many newspapers, translated some classic books from Russian literature into Catalan and Spanish and wrote several essays in which he reflected his political ideas.

Nin was kidnapped on 16 June 1937 in front of the headquarters of his party at Ramblas, one of the main streets of Barcelona. After being held in Barcelona for a while, he was later transferred to a prison in Alcalá de Henares, a city situated 40km away from Madrid where several communist cadres from the PCE (Spanish Communist Party) and political commissars from the Soviet Union were trying to control the Republican Army. However, his inprisonment was totally unofficial: it is not on any record. 

He was repeatedly interrogated by the police while being held, in order to make Nin confess that POUM was involved with Falange in a conspiration against the Spanish republican government. No evidence could proof it, only a few documents which were fabricated by two Spanish policement following orders of Soviet NKVD and the Soviet consul in Barcelona. After that, several men under the command of Alexander Orlov picked him out from the prison and transferred him to a Cheka, a secret detention centre which was firstly seen in the USSR; during the Spanish Civil War, it was used by the Republican faction, mainly by communists, to detain either Francoist prisoners or political dissidents. The detention centre where Andreu Nin was confined was situated at the house of the matrimony formed by Ignacio Hidalgo de Cisneros, a communist aristocrat and General of the Republican air forces, and Constanza de la Mora Maura, the granddaughter of former conservative Prime Minister Antonio Maura and eventually the head of the Foreign Press Office of the Republican government. Once there, Nin was tortured and finally executed at an undetermined point in the road from Alcalá de Henares to Madrid.
However, the official version would never admit that the death of Andreu Nin was the result of a conspiration led by Soviet agents who were deployed in Spain under the treaty by which the USSR agreed to provide weapons and aircraft to the Republican Army. Instead, the government claimed that the former POUM leader escaped from the prison helped by his "contacts" within Falange and Gestapo agents hidden in the International Brigades. That is the reason why Spanish Prime Minister Juan Negrín used to say that Nin was either in Salamanca or in Berlin, helping the Nationalist faction win the war.
The documentary below investigates the conspiration that would lead to the murder of Andreu Nin. It is based in the investigations by Catalan historian Pelai Pagès, among others and broadcast by Maria Dolors Genovès (in Spanish).

Andreu Nin was a victim of the tensions within the Republican faction during the Spanish Civil war, in a conflict that has be named as a "second Civil War within the Spanish Civil War" by some historians. The opposition between two ways of making the war was effectively one of the reasons that caused the defeat of those who were fighting for their freedom and trying to prevent the imposition of a regime with close ties to Fascism and Nazism. In fact, the Republic (and also the Catalan government) were victims of the geopolitical reality of a European continent on the eve of a total war. European countries decided not to help the legitimate government whereas Germany and Italy were helping Francoist troops, lefting Republicans in the hands of Stalin. However, the non-intervention would not prevent the outbreak of the Second World War.

Given all these circumstances, the hommage to Nin becomes an act of special importance, especially when his corpse has not still been recovered. His remains are lying somewhere near the road between Alcalá de Henares and Madrid. So the time has come to rehabilitate his memory and praise him as an intellectual who fought tirelessly against fascism. 

Testimoni de Tsering Woeser

Amb el pretext d'un viatge que periodistes estrangers han de fer a Lhasa entre els dies 6 i 13 de juliol, el govern xinès ha tornat a posar l'escriptora i activista Tsering Woeser* sota arrest domiciliari, juntament amb el seu marit Wang Lixiong. Ha donat el seu testimoni sobre aquests fets en una entrada escrita al seu bloc, així com l'explicació que un amic seu ha escrit en anglès. També s'hi poden trobar unes quantes fotografies fetes per la mateixa Woeser, les quals il·lustren molt bé la situació en la qual es troba.

Heus ací el testimoni de Woeser, traduït al català:

No és agradable tornar a parlar d'arrest domiciliari.

Només perquè vosaltres [el govern xinès] voleu permetre a les autoritats que organitzin una sèrie d'entrevistes de grup amb periodistes estrangers a Lhasa (sembla el mateix espectacle de cada any), i perquè els periodistes havien començat els preparatius, incloent-hi una entrevista amb mi, ens heu posat al meu marit i a mi sota arrest domiciliari per l'"escàndol" que s'ha format (sembla que els periodistes estrangers només han de veure la imatge de tibetans feliços vivint feliçment les seves vides). És evident que les autoritats tibetanes tenen por que se sàpiga la veritat.

I aquesta és la visió general escrita en anglès per un amic de l'escriptora:

Un altre cop, com si seguissin una rutina lamentablement regular, Tsering Woeser i Wang Lixiong han tornat a ser posats sota arrest domiciliari.

Aquesta vegada ho han fet per esbiaixar les informacions que sorgiran arran d'un viatge a Lhasa que ha estat organitzat per als periodistes estrangers a la Xina.

Woeser ja s'ha reunit amb alguns dels periodistes i les autoritats semblen amoïnades perquè les seves opinions puguin contradir la imatge de color de rosa que volen presentar mitjançant un itinerari aprovat i els encontres pactats per projectar una imatge de tibetans feliços vivint feliçment les seves vides. 

Està previst que el grup viatgi a Lhasa el 6 de juliol i que romangui al Tibet fins al dia 13. També està previst un viatge per a diplomàtics estrangers, possiblement a finals de juny.

Woeser ha tuitejat que, aquesta vegada, els passos de les autoritats han estat més ostentosos que mai.

En la tarda del 19 de juny, set o vuit policies i membres del personal de Seguretat de l'Estat els van envoltar.

Els van agafar al carrer Cuwei del districte Haidan i van ser portats fins a casa seva a Tongzhou, a l'est del Gran Pequín.

La policia els va portar en el seu propi cotxe, mentre un vehicle del personal de Seguretat de l'Estat els seguia.

No se'ls va permetre de fer cap aturada, ni tan sols per aconseguir alguna cosa per menjar. Després, policies vestits de paisà es van col·locar al voltant de l'edifici, mentre dos més vigilaven permanentment l'ascensor. 

De moment sembla que l'arrest durarà fins el 25 de juny, potser més.

Malgrat els sentiments optimistes que el canvi de lideratge a la Xina ha suscitat a Dharamsala [la seu del govern tibetà a l'exili], sembla que el govern sembla tan determinat com abans a sufocar qualsevol informació sobre el Tibet que vagi en contra del missatge que el govern intenta transmetre'n al respecte.

Tsering Woeser representa una de les escasses veus dissidents sobre el Tibet que roman accessible, i les autoritats la volen fer inaccessible.

*Tsering Woeser (Lhasa, 1966) és una escriptora, poetessa i activista tibetana. Mentre treballava per a una publicació patrocinada pel Partit Comunista Xinès va publicar una sèrie d'escrits per denunciar la situació que travessa el Tibet, per la qual cosa va ser acomiadada. Actualment viu a Pequín amb el seu marit Wang Lixiong, i és freqüentment posada sota arrest domiciliari.