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.