Batasuna ("Unity" in Basque language) is an illegal Basque nationalist political organization based mainly in Spain but with a French presence (Basque Country). Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain Basque nationalism is a movement with roots in the Carlism and the loss by the laws of 1839 and 1876 of the Ancien Régime relationship between the Basque provinces Politics of Spain takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic Constitutional monarchy, whereby the Monarch is the Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Politics of France take place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic Republic, whereby the President of France They were outlawed on the charges of being the political branch of ETA and funding it with public money. Batasuna (previously billing themselves as Herri Batasuna and Euskal Herritarrok) is part of the Basque National Liberation Movement which includes social organizations, trade unions, youth (Jarrai and Gazteriak, now merged in Haika and Segi), and women's groups (Egizan). The Basque National Liberation Movement ( Spanish: Movimiento de Liberación Nacional Vasco MLNV; Basque Euskal Herri Askapenerako Mugimendua is an umbrella Batasuna was judicially declared illegal and banned in Spain by a court ruling in 2003, for accusations of ties between some of its members and ETA - a terrorist Basque socialist separatist organization. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Batasuna remains legal in France.
It is included in the "European Union list of terrorist persons and organizations" as a component of ETA[1]. In spite of its banning, Batasuna has organized or supported numerous rallies, public actions and several workplace strikes. A demonstration is an historically and geographically common form of Nonviolent action by groups of people Strike action, often simply called a strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal by Employees to perform work. Batasuna voters have been encouraged to vote for other abertzale (Basque nationalist) parties since the banning. Abertzale in the Basque language means roughly " patriot " and is used to mean " Basque nationalist "
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The party was founded in April 1978 as Herri Batasuna (Unity of the People), as a coalition of leftist nationalist political groups mostly coming from Euskadiko Ezkerra advocating for "no" in the referendum to be held in December that same year regarding the then new born Spanish constitution. The Basque Country ( Basque Euskadi, Spanish País Vasco) is an autonomous community in northern Spain. An autonomous community is a first-level political division of the Kingdom of Spain, established in accordance with the Spanish Constitution. The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country ' (Basque Euskadiko Politics of Spain takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic Constitutional monarchy, whereby the Monarch is the The Political statute of the Community of the Basque Country, more known as Ibarretxe Plan was a proposal by Lehendakari Juan Jose Ibarretxe The President of the government of the Basque Country is referred to as Lehendakari (literally "the first one" in Basque, or Eusko Jaurlaritzako Lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu (born March 15, 1957) is a Basque politician The Basque Parliament ( Basque: Eusko Legebiltzarra &ndash Spanish: Parlamento Vasco) is the legislative body of the Basque Country In the Basque Regional Election of 2005 the electoral coalition EA - PNV (Basque Nationalists won 29 seats (4 less than in the previous elections the Basque Spanish A two-question non-binding Referendum in the Spanish Basque Country loosely regarding Basque self-determination from Spain was scheduled for 25 October Aralar is a Basque socialist and separatist Political party in Spain. The Basque Nationalist Party is the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community. Communist Movement of Euskadi (in Basque: Euskadi Mugimendu Komunista, in Spanish: Movimiento Comunista de Euskadi) was originally the branch The Communist Party of the Basque Homelands ( Euskera: Euskal Herrialdeetako Alderdi Komunista, acronym EHAK; Spanish: Partido Comunista Communist Party of Euskadi (in Spanish: Partido Comunista de Euskadi, in Basque: Euskadiko Partidu Komunista) is the federation of the Eusko Alkartasuna is a Basque nationalist political party operating in Spain and France. United Left ( Izquierda Unida) is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 during the mobilizations in Spain against NATO. The People's Party ( Spanish: Partido Popular, PP) is the main right Political party in Spain. The Socialist Party of the Basque Country – Euskadiko Ezkerra or PSE (PSOE ( Basque: Euskadiko Alderdi Sozialista – Euskadiko Ezkerra, or The Basque Nationalist Republican Party (in Spanish: Partido Republicano Nacionalista Vasco) was a Political party in Euskadi, Spain Democracia Cristiana Vasca ( Spanish, abbreviated to DCV or Euskal Kristau Demokrazia ( Basque, abbreviated to EKD meaning Basque Christian Democracy Euskadiko Ezkerra ( Basque Country Left, in Basque or EE was a Basque Socialist political organisation Euskal Ezkerra (Basque Left was a Political party in Euskadi, Spain. Euskal Iraultzarako Alderdia ( Party for the Basque Revolution) or EIA was a Basque Country / Spanish Political party between 1977 Herri Alderdi Sozialista Iraultzailea (People's Socialist Revolutionary Party best known for its acronym HASI, that in Basque language means to begin, The Herritarren Zerrenda ( HZ, List of Fellow Citizens; Spanish: Lista de Conciudadanos) is a Basque nationalist Political party Information on politics by country is available for every Country, including both De jure and De facto independent Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) Euskadiko Ezkerra ( Basque Country Left, in Basque or EE was a Basque Socialist political organisation The Constitution of Spain is regarded as the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. Its constituent parties had been called together by senior Basque nationalist Telesforo de Monzón in a 1977 meeting called "the table of Altsasu. Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Altsasu/Alsasua is a town located in the province of Navarre, in the autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. " Herri Batasuna's founding convention was held in Lekeitio, home of Santiago Brouard who was then the leader of HASI (Herriko Alderdi Sozialista Iraultzailea or Revolutionary Socialist People's Party). Lekeitio is a town and Municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, 53 km northeast from Bilbao Herri Alderdi Sozialista Iraultzailea (People's Socialist Revolutionary Party best known for its acronym HASI, that in Basque language means to begin, The party won 170,000 votes (a 13% showing in the Basque Country) in its first general election in March 1979. General elections were held in Spain on 1 March 1979. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar)
On November 20, 1984, Brouard was assassinated by two members of the GAL while treating a child at his medical clinic in Bilbao. Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL Antiterrorist Liberation Groups were Death squads illegally set up by officials of the Spanish government to fight The killing is perhaps the only one performed by the GAL death squad within Spain itself. A death squad is an armed Squad that kills civilians terrorists or guerillas
Another well-known Herri Batasuna leader, Josu Muguruza, was also killed by members of the neo-fascist Bases Autónomas in 1989, while he was in a hotel in Madrid. Bases Autónomas (Autonomous Bases was a Spanish neo-Nazi group that bore some of the hallmarks of National anarchism. Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. He was a congressman on the Spanish Parliament when he was assassinated.
From 1998 to 2001, Batasuna assumed the name Euskal Herritarrok (We Basque Citizens). After the "Batasuna process", Aralar was formed as a schism in Batasuna. Aralar may refer to Aralar Range, a mountain range Aralar Party, a political party
The current party spokesmen are Arnaldo Otegi, and Joseba Permach Gorroño. Arnaldo Otegi Mondragón (born 6 July 1958) is a Basque politician the ideological enforcer and Spokesman for the Basque nationalist Otegi was a member of the armed groups ETA-political-military (since 1977 or before, until 1981), and ETA-military (since 1981) and served several years in prison for bank assault. eu '''Euskadi Ta Askatasuna''' or ETA ( Basque for "Basque Homeland and Freedom" ˈɛːta is an illegal armed Basque nationalist Separatist Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 He is married and has two children. After having been brought to court early this year (2005) he was set free on parole. However, on June 8th 2007 Otegi was arrested on his way to a news conference in the Basque City of Donostia (San Sebastián). Events 68 - The Roman Senate accepts emperor Galba. 536 - St Silverius becomes Pope (probable Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Donostia-San Sebastián ( Basque: Donostia, IPA; Spanish: San Sebastián, known officially as Donostia-San Sebastián He has been committed to serve a 15 month sentence for allegedly "defending terrorism" (a crime in the Spanish State), at a 2003 commeration ceremony for a former ETA leader. eu '''Euskadi Ta Askatasuna''' or ETA ( Basque for "Basque Homeland and Freedom" ˈɛːta is an illegal armed Basque nationalist Separatist
Another important member of Batasuna is José Antonio Urrutikoetxea Bengoetxea, alias Josu Ternera, the main leader of ETA between 1987 and 1989 and accused of a number of homicides like the massacre of 21 people at Hipercor - a shopping center in Barcelona. Jose Antonio Urrutikoetxea Bengoetxeá ( Josu Ternerá, Josu Calf) is a historical member of the Separatist organization ETA Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) List of countries by homicide rate Homicide ( Latin homicidium, homo human being + caedere to cut kill refers to the act of killing another Hipercor is a chain of Hypermarkets in Spain, belonging to the same group as El Corte Inglés Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia He was imprisoned in France after 1989, released after finishing his sentence and was transferred to Spanish prisons, where he stayed for 2 more years until his release by the Constitutional Court, which stipulated that he had served his prison term in France. He was included in the Batasuna electoral ticket and elected to the Basque parliament between 1999 and 2001, where he was appointed as his party's representative in the Human Rights commission at the Basque Parliament, which, given his violent background caused a stir in the rest of parties. The Basque Parliament ( Basque: Eusko Legebiltzarra &ndash Spanish: Parlamento Vasco) is the legislative body of the Basque Country He disappeared when the Spanish courts reopened old charges and presented new ones about his current membership in ETA. Presently he lives in hiding and is considered one of the leaders of ETA that are pushing for negotiations.
Following the February 2006 deaths of ETA members Igor Miguel Angulo Iturrate, 32, (due to an apparent suicide by hanging) and Ricardo Sainz Olmos, 41, (by a heart attack), public commemorations of the dead prisoners were banned by Basque authorities. eu '''Euskadi Ta Askatasuna''' or ETA ( Basque for "Basque Homeland and Freedom" ˈɛːta is an illegal armed Basque nationalist Separatist Amid a period of independent kale borroka street attacks on the offices of the Basque Nationalist Party and other establishment targets, Batasuna together with the union Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak convoked a day of protest and general strike on March 9. Kale borroka ( Basque for 'Street Fighting' refers to urban riots caused by Basque nationalist youth who are integrated into the Abertzale The Basque Nationalist Party is the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community. LAB ( Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak, "Nationalist Workers' Committees" in Basque language) is a Basque nationalist Trade union A general strike is a Strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city region or country Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia. [1] On the morning of the strike, ETA detonated several bombs near highways, with no injuries. Employers reported scant overall participation in the strike, approximately 0. 5% of private sector workers, 1% of government workers and 3-4% of workers in education. A few thousands of Batasuna militants joined mass protests, while others blocked rail lines and roads and occupied municipal halls. [2] Batasuna leader Arnaldo Otegi was ordered to appear in court to answer for the bomb attacks and disruption, but delayed his appearance repeatedly on the grounds of illness. Arnaldo Otegi Mondragón (born 6 July 1958) is a Basque politician the ideological enforcer and Spokesman for the Basque nationalist
Batasuna's support in the elections to the parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community (under the three brands it has used, i. e. , Herri Batasuna, Euskal Herritarrok and EHAK) oscillates around 15% of the total votes, its best result being the 18. 33% achieved in 1990 and the lowest the 10. 12% of the total votes obtained in 2001. [2].
In Navarre it's results in the elections to the Navarrese Foral parliament have been historically slightly less than 15% of the total votes, reaching their highest result in 1999 (15. 95% of the total votes) and their lowest in 1995 (9. 22% of the total votes). [3] In this territory other Basque pro-independence left wing parties which reject violence and so remain legal - namely Batzarre and specifically, Aralar- erode Batasuna's support in a more significant way than in the Basque Autonomous Community. Zutik ("Standing" is a Political party in Basque Country, Spain. Aralar may refer to Aralar Range, a mountain range Aralar Party, a political party
Batasuna had around 140,000 voters and won 10% of the vote in the 2001 regional elections after boycotting the 2000 general election. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Batasuna had representatives in the European Parliament and in the parliaments of Navarre and the provinces of the Basque Autonomous Community. The European Parliament ( Europarl or EP) is the only directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU The Basque Country ( Basque Euskadi, Spanish País Vasco) is an autonomous community in northern Spain. It also ruled some 62 local councils[3], and had members in many more. Currently, Batasuna has lost all its representatives in the Spanish Parliaments, since regaining some their seats in elections held after the banning of the party.
While the party has been barred from formally taking part in elections since 2003 (see below), it has coordinated a variety of forms of participation (or "quantifiable non-participation") in recent elections. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. After the May 2003 provincial and local elections, followers of the local lists protested claiming the council seats corresponding to the invalid votes (127,000, 10% of the total vote in the Basque Country).
In May 2004, a list named Herritarren Zerrenda ("Citizens' List") was presented in Spain and France to the European Parliament Election, 2004. The Herritarren Zerrenda ( HZ, List of Fellow Citizens; Spanish: Lista de Conciudadanos) is a Basque nationalist Political party Elections to the European Parliament were held from 10 June 2004 to 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according Spanish tribunals rejected it, as a successor of Batasuna. However, the HZ list in France remained legal.
HZ candidates in Spain then campaigned for using the French HZ ballot also in Spain, which was to be counted as null vote. There were more than 98,000 null votes in the Basque Autonomous Country and more than 15,000 in Navarre.
HZ leaders interpret the extremely high rate of null votes, which was 12% of the total vote, to mean that most of the nulls were for HZ, since in the previous European elections the null vote was less than 1%.
Batasuna called for a No vote on the European Constitution proposal in the referendums to be held in Spain and in France in 2005. The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE commonly referred to as the European Constitution, was an unimplemented international Treaty intended The French referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was held on 29 May 2005 to decide whether France should ratify the proposed Constitution Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Basque Country & Navarre and Catalonia were comparatively less supportive of 'yes', but approved the referendum by a narrow majority. The Spanish referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe is a consultative Referendum that was held on 20 February 2005 to decide whether Spain
For the Basque elections of 2005, Batasuna presented lists of candidates but they were dismissed as illegal. After the dissolution of the Basque parliament, Batasuna lost all their remaining elected representatives. Simultaneously, lists were presented by the new political group Aukera Guztiak ("All the options"). The Spanish prosecutors and the parties PP and PSOE contended that Aukera Guztiak was actually another front for Batasuna and tried to find evidence leading to its illegalization. The People's Party ( Spanish: Partido Popular, PP) is the main right Political party in Spain. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, commonly abbreviated by its Spanish initials PSOE ( P artido S ocialista O brero E spañol is
The Basque Government led by the PNV-EA and the Batasuna spokesmen protested against these attempts. The issue went all the way to the Spanish Constitutional Court that confirmed the ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court, forbidding the AG lists. The Supreme Court of Spain is the highest judicial body in Spain for all matters not pertaining to the Constitution.
Once the campaign had started, a previously unknown party named Euskal Herrietako Alderdi Komunista ("Communist Party of the Basque Peoples","Partido Comunista de las Tierras Vascas", EHAK) announced that they were ready to bring the programs of Batasuna and AG to the parliament. The Communist Party of the Basque Homelands ( Euskera: Euskal Herrialdeetako Alderdi Komunista, acronym EHAK; Spanish: Partido Comunista The party had been legally registered in 2002 but had no known activity until 2005.
Like those parties, representatives of EHAK have refused to explicitly condemn the ETA attacks but, given the fact that elections were to be held in a matter of days, the courts did not have the time to assess EHAK's compliance with the Ley de Partidos. The People's Party requested that the Spanish government conducts investigations to ban EHAK-PCTV too, though the State Legal Service (Abogacía General del Estado) and the Attorney General's Office (Fiscalía General del Estado) found no evidence to support legal actions against the party. Batasuna asked their supporters to vote for EHAK.
In the Basque elections of April 17, 2005, EHAK obtained 150. 188 votes (12,5%), entering the Basque Parliament with nine seats (all but one being women). The Basque Parliament ( Basque: Eusko Legebiltzarra &ndash Spanish: Parlamento Vasco) is the legislative body of the Basque Country
Batasuna stood in a number of elections for the Spanish Parliament. The Cortes Generales ( Spanish for General Courts or Cortes Españolas, Spanish Courts) is the Legislature of Spain. They first stood in 1979 obtaining their best results in the Basque autonomous community where they polled 15% and won 3 seats. General elections were held in Spain on 1 March 1979. [4] In Navarre they polled almost 9% but failed to win a seat. They lost a seat in the 1982 election despite maintaining the same level of support. General elections were held in Spain on 28 October 1982.PSOE and PSC presented two different lists of candidates with the PSOE contesting most of Spain Their high point came in the 1986 election where they won 5 seats, including one seat in Navarre, the only occasion in which they have won a seat there. General elections were held in Spain on 23 June 1986. In this election the Communist Party of Spain merged with other minor left parties to form the coalition Navarra (also called Navarre in English and Nafarroa in Basque) is one of the 52 electoral districts (circunscripciones used for the Spanish Congress of They lost their Navarre seat in the 1989 election and lost a further 2 seats in the 1996 election, which overall proved to be the party's worst performance in terms of vote share. General elections were held in Spain on 29 October 1989. Results General elections were held in Spain on March 3 1996. The Prime Minister Felipe González of PSOE lost the elections to At provincial level, their best results came in Guipúzcoa where the party topped the poll in the 1989 general election. Guipúzcoa is one of the 52 electoral districts (circunscripciónes used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament
The party denies any links to ETA. However, proponents of the party's illegalization point to a coincidence of Batasuna and ETA's strategies. A significant number of Batasuna leaders have been imprisoned because of their activities in ETA. The party has never condemned any attack by ETA. Its leadears have referred sometimes to the ETA terrorists as 'Basque soldiers' and they have even paid obeisance to them.
There have been a number of attempts to ban the party, and it has frequently changed its name as part of the effort to avoid this, being called Herri Batasuna, then becoming part of the Euskal Herritarrok coalition in the 1990s. Members of the Basque left consider the Spanish government's efforts against Batasuna and its successors to be part of an organized campaign targeting the social support for the independence movement. They point to government crackdowns against the newspaper Egin, the radio station Herri Irratia and the network of pubs that were gathering places for the independentist left.
In 2002 there were renewed attempts by the Spanish government to ban the party. In June the parliament passed legislation that outlawed parties under certain conditions, on the grounds of their support for terrorism. In July Batasuna was fined € 24 million for vandalism and street violence in 2001. Following an ETA car bomb attack on August 4 the Spanish parliament was recalled. The party was suspended for three years by Judge Baltasar Garzón on August 27 to allow him to investigate the party links to ETA. Baltasar Garzón Real (born October 26, 1955 in Torres, Jaén, Spain) is a Judge in Spain. Garzón and the government present 23 arguments for the ban, focusing on the party's refusal to condemn ETA attacks, reference to detainees as political prisoners, collaboration with other banned abertzale forces, and ETA's support in communiqués for Batasuna's political strategy. A political prisoner is someone held in Prison or otherwise detained perhaps under House arrest, for his or her involvement in political activity [4]
The ban prohibits their representatives from contesting elections, holding public demonstrations or rallies and freezes their assets. On the 26th the Spanish parliament voted for an indefinite ban, 295 to 10. The party's main offices in Pamplona were closed by the police and further offices in San Sebastián, Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz were targeted. For other meanings see Pamplona (disambiguation. Pamplona ( Basque: Iruñea or Iruña) is the capital city of Navarre Donostia-San Sebastián ( Basque: Donostia, IPA; Spanish: San Sebastián, known officially as Donostia-San Sebastián Bilbao, (also Bilbo) in the North of Spain, is the largest city in the Basque Country and the capital of the province of Biscay (Basque
Before the prohibition effort, a dissenting minority left the party to form Aralar. Aralar may refer to Aralar Range, a mountain range Aralar Party, a political party While sharing aims with Batasuna, Aralar has clearly refused political violence and ETA's assassinations.
In 2003, Batasuna was declared illegal in Spain, after a reform of the law on political parties. The decision automatically cut them off from the state funding received by all legal political parties. In spite of legal text forbidding its reorganization under another name, former members planned running for the provincial and local elections of May 2003, under the names of Autodeterminaziorako Bilgunea (AuB, Meeting Place for Self-determination) and a plethora of local lists. Most of these lists were considered to be a front for Batasuna by the Spanish Supreme Court. This decision was confirmed by the Spanish Constitutional Court. In spite of this, AuB campaigned for invalid votes.
On December 7, 2006 the Supreme Court of Spain ruled that there should be no legal obstacle to the contact between Batasuna and other political parties. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
On October 4, 2007, twenty-three top members of Batasuna were arrested as they left a secret meeting in Segura (Guipúzcoa), accused of holding an illegal political meeting; the arrests were ordered by Baltasar Garzón, a judge prominent in Spanish anti-terrorism, according to spokespersons for the National Court. Segura is a small town and Municipality in the Goierri region of the province of Gipuzkoa in the Autonomous community of the Basque Country Baltasar Garzón Real (born October 26, 1955 in Torres, Jaén, Spain) is a Judge in Spain. [5]