The Putrid Party (PP) again turn their backs on the victims of the massacre at Vitoria
Almost forty years after one of the most terrible events of the post-Franco Spain, the echo of gunfire police arrive this Wednesday to the European Parliament. On a day that promises to be historic, the Petitions Committee of the Parliament receive some survivors of the slaughter of March 3, 1976 in Vitoria. So Armed Police -following orders Manuel Fraga ministers (Interior) and Rodolfo Martin Villa (Foreign Trade) - brutally suppressed a workers' protest, leaving five dead, over 100 injured and a lengthy impunity.
"Our appearance in Brussels will be another turning point in this story," says a Public Andoni Txasko, Alava one of many that day and at that damn few successive suffered other blows of the police. The mark not only is engraved in his memory by the blows, Txasko lost some vision. Just before boarding the plane that will take him to the Belgian capital, this member of the Association March 3 does not hide his desire. "We traveled with the hope that Europe Spain requiring a change in its policy towards those who suffered human rights violations," he says.
Through a formal complaint will be delivered to the chairman of the Committee on Petitions, Cecilia Wikstrom, this group will remember the tragic events recorded four decades ago in the church of St. Francis of Assisi, located in the working class district of Zaramaga. Coinciding with the day of general strike unfolding that day, about four thousand people thronged the temple. They wanted to talk, but the Armed Police forced them to shout, tear gas, clubs and shooting ended the meeting ... and the life of Pedro Maria Martinez Leisure (27 years), Francisco Aznar Clemente (17), Romualdo Barroso Chaparro (19) Jose Castillo (32) and Welcome Pereda (30). They were workers.
Police also turned to quell demonstrations that spread throughout Spain to denounce these facts. Juan Gabriel Rodrigo Knafo (19) and Vicente Anton Ferrero (18) were killed in Tarragona and Basauri respectively. In Rome, Italian police attacked participants in a protest outside the Spanish embassy, killing Mario Marotta, a pedestrian passing by. Never in place or the other, those responsible for these crimes be punished. "The Spanish State guaranteed impunity for the perpetrators of this slaughter," says Txasko.
Last November, the Argentina Judge Maria Servini de Cubria -in charge of the lawsuit which was filed in that country against the Franco regime still alive criminals demanded the extradition of Rodolfo Martin Villa for his responsibility in the killing of Vitoria. He also accused Alfonso Osorio, Minister of the Presidency, and the captain of the Armed Police Jesus Quintana, direct commander of the forces that stormed on March 3 Church Vitoria. However, Rajoy's government rejected the request of Servini which also included in its list of extraditable franquistas- other charges, which preclude his prosecution.
Supports and rejections
In this context, representatives of the Association March 3-accompanied by attorney Ana Messuti and members of the Basque platform against the crimes of Francoism and the State Coordinator to support the Complaint Argentina will use the trip to Brussels for talks with MEPs from different parties both Spanish and from other countries, to ask for your support. For now, groups like PNV, EH Bildu, we, IU, ICV, Compromís, ERC and CDC have shown their support for the claims of the victims, who also awaiting a positive response from the Socialist Party.
As highlighted Txasko, only the PP has positioned itself against this visit. "The attitude of that party does not surprise us in the least; precisely why go to Europe, "says one foot on the plane. In his case carries an extensive dossier which relates this tragic story and to be delivered in Brussels. Among other things, the report warns that the attitude of the Spanish government violates the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the acquis communautaire on care for victims of crime.
In addition to seeking justice, the delegation will try to get the auspices of the European Parliament to consecrate Gasteiz as "European capital of historical memory". The centerpiece will be the March 3, 2016, date on which the 40th anniversary of the slaughter is commemorated. "Our intention is to organize around a few international conferences that date," says Txasko. The goal, forward, will be the same all these years: Breaking the wall of impunity