Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday there would be no impunity for the crimes of Basque separatist militants ETA following the announcement of their dissolution this week.

"There has never been and there never will be any impunity," he said in a televised speech.

"ETA's crimes will continue to be investigated, its crimes will be put on trial and if necessary sentenced and sentences (already handed down) will continue to be served," he added.

"Now that ETA has at last announced its disappearance, our first thought must be for the victims, for all of them without exception, without distinctions," Rajoy said.

On April 20 ETA asked forgiveness from its victims for the first time for the "pain" caused by its decades-long campaign of violence.

ETA said on Thursday it had completely dismantled and ended all its activity, ending a 50-year campaign for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France, in which it killed around 850 people. </s> MADRID, May 4 (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday there would be no impunity for the crimes of Basque separatist militants ETA following the announcement of their dissolution this week.

"There has never been and there never will be any impunity," he said in a televised speech.

"ETA's crimes will continue to be investigated, its crimes will be put on trial and if necessary sentenced and sentences (already handed down) will continue to be served," he added.

ETA said on Thursday it had completely dismantled and ended all its activity, ending a 50-year campaign of violence across Spain in which it killed around 850 people. (Reporting By Paul Day; Editing by Sonya Dowsett) </s> Spain’s prime minister has vowed that Eta’s crimes will not go unpunished and called for victims of its five-decade terrorism campaign to be remembered as the group finally dissolves.

Speaking on Friday as Eta held a ceremony in southern France to mark its end, Mariano Rajoy said the day did not belong to the terrorists but to the 853 people they had murdered since 1968.

“Today, after 50 years, Eta has finally recognised that its whole story has been one of failure,” he said. “It has achieved none of the political aims of its long, criminal history. Not one.”

He said the terrorists had gained nothing from killing people and would not profit from the abandonment of their armed campaign seven years ago nor from their dissolution, finalised this week.

“We will carry on investigating Eta’s crimes. They will be judged and sentences handed down,” Rajoy said.

“There has not been and there will not be any impunity. We owe them nothing and we have nothing to thank them for when it comes to abandoning their violence, because they have waited too long in recognising their defeat.”

The prime minister said he would have liked to mention all of Eta’s victims by name but could not do so in his televised address. Instead, he urged Spain to remember them “one by one, along with the uniqueness of their stolen lives”.

“They’re not just another statistic,” he said. “They are unique individuals whose lives, like those of all of us, were full of sadness, happiness, hope and disappointment. But they were not allowed to live those lives; they were snatched away.”

Rajoy also paid tribute to the police, security services, judges, prosecutors and journalists who had helped in the fight against Eta.

He said the group’s defeat had begun when Spanish democracy started to listen to the victims’ stories and realised “the only possible story about the fight against Eta was the story of the victims, a story of cruelty and injustice, a story of the totalitarianism of those who tried to use force and criminal acts to impose something that the people rejected”.

In a pointed reference to Eta’s recent apology, which has been fiercely criticised for not going far enough in expressing remorse over the deaths of all its victims, Rajoy said there should be no distinction between civilian and police or military deaths.

“There is no room for justification nor for excuses,” he said. “There is nothing that can justify so much pain and so much cruelty.”



Eta, which stands for “Basque homeland and freedom”, was founded as a cultural organisation in 1959, but began its armed struggle the following decade in an attempt to establish an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.

Its end came with Friday’s event in the French town of Cambo-les-Bains, which was attended by Eta members, Basque civilians and international mediators.

Two days earlier, a letter from the group had emerged in which it confirmed it had “completely dissolved all its structures and declared an end to its political initiative”. </s> Spain vowed to bring to justice all those who committed crimes as members of former Basque separatist group ETA even as its formal dissolution was sealed on Friday with calls for reconciliation.

By disbanding, the group put a definitive end to western Europe’s last armed insurgency following more than four decades of killings and kidnappings.

But the Spanish government reiterated its vow to pursue any outstanding cases against members of the group, which is blamed for more than 800 killings.

“ETA’s crimes will continue to be investigated, its offences will continue to be tried in the courts, convictions will continue to be issued accordingly and the sentences will continue to be served,” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in an address.

“There has not been and will not be any impunity. We owe them nothing and have nothing to thank them for.”

Rajoy paid tribute to people the group is accused of killing and the victims’ families. He said the group is now accused of killing 853 people.

“We owe a homage to all of them — to them, their families and the hundreds of Spaniards who survived the terrorist violence but who still suffer the consequences of that cruelty.”

Mediators gathered in the French Basque country on Friday for a peace conference to mark ETA’s dissolution.

In a closing statement, they said the move must lead to “reconciliation”.

ETA’s decision marks “a commitment to take part in the democratic process” within Spain’s institutions, “which will require reconciliation,” South African lawyer Brian Currin said at the conference in Cambo-les-Bains, southwestern France.

The Spanish government has refused to negotiate with ETA, which is classed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union.

ETA “will not get anything in return for announcing its dissolution,” Rajoy said.

“There is no place in the European Union for terrorism, arms and guns,” said European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas.

“This is the European union and the European Union is based on the rule of law.”

Northern Ireland’s Gerry Adams, the former head of Sinn Fein — once considered the political wing of the Irish Republican Army — called on the Madrid government to cooperate.

“In my own view, there is a particular onus on governments, which are the more powerful actors in any conflict, to proactively engage and sustain the conditions for a peace process,” he said in a speech at the conference.

He urged the Spanish government to move imprisoned ETA members closer to their families — a long-standing demand by the separatists and their relatives.

“It would not be a sign of weakness,” he said.

But Spanish goverment spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said “the government will not alter its penitentiary policy.”

Jonathan Powell, a former chief of staff for British leader Tony Blair who helped broker a peace agreement in Northern Ireland, also urged all sides to seize the opportunity for reconciliation.

“Today is a day to celebrate and to look to the future,” he said.

“It shows that dialogue can bring about peace and dialogue should be pursued everywhere where conflict exists.”

On April 20, ETA asked forgiveness from its victims for the first time for the “pain” caused by its decades-long campaign of violence.

Victims’ campaigners complained that the call for forgiveness did not extend to those the group considered legitimate targets, such as police officers and politicians.

“Our first thought must be for the victims, for all of them without exception, without distinctions,” Rajoy said. </s> Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has warned there will be 'no impunity' for crimes by former ETA members as the Basque separatist group sealed its dissolution.

Rajoy paid tribute to victims of the group which has been blamed for hundreds of killings and kidnappings in its fight for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France.

ETA today ended its days-long dissolution process at a peace conference in the French Basque Country attended by former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and other European independence politicians.

Adams posed for a selfie with others as he attended the event in Cambo-les-Bains.

The conference ends western Europe's last armed insurgency after more than four decades of violence.

But Rajoy dismissed it as 'noise and propaganda' and vowed there would be 'no impunity' for the group's crimes.

'Now that ETA has at last announced its disappearance, our first thought must be for the victims, for all of them without exception, without distinctions,' Rajoy said in an address.

On April 20 ETA asked forgiveness from its victims for the first time for the 'pain' caused by its decades-long campaign of violence.

Victims' campaigners complained that the call for forgiveness did not extend to those the group considered legitimate targets, such as police officers and politicians.

Created in 1959 at the height of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, ETA was blamed for more than 800 hundreds of killings and numerous kidnappings.

It waged an armed campaign for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France.

Rajoy warned that ETA's dissolution did not mean its fugitive members were off the hook.

'Convictions will continue to be executed,' he said. 'There will be no impunity' for crimes by former ETA members.

ETA had already announced it would be fully disbanding in a letter leaked on Wednesday in Spanish media, addressed to various groups and figures involved in recent peace efforts.

On Thursday, it released a 'final declaration' recorded by Jose Antonio Urrutikoetxea, better known as 'Josu Ternera', a historic high-ranking ETA figure who has been on the run since 2002.

In the recording, he announced that the separatist group had 'completely dismantled all its structures' and 'put an end to all its political activity'.

Weakened in recent years by the arrest of its leaders and a major drop in support among Basques, ETA announced a permanent ceasefire in 2011 and began formally surrendering its arms last year.

At the peace conference, Northern Ireland's Gerry Adams, the former head of Sinn Fein - once considered the political wing of the Irish Republican Army - was among several attendees.

Adams was active in the Northern Ireland peace process which culminated with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern was also due to be present, along with Jonathan Powell, who once served as chief of staff for British leader Tony Blair.

On the Spanish side, representatives of Basque nationalist party PNV, in power in the Spanish region, and far-left Podemos were also due to attend according to media reports.

Since its ceasefire in 2011, ETA has wanted to follow the United Nations' peace steps of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration into society, just like the FARC rebels in Colombia.

But Madrid has refused to make any gesture of appeasement, under pressure from ETA victim associations.

ETA's announcement has also been rejected by victims' groups, who argue it should first and foremost condemn its history of violence and Basque separatists must stop paying public homage to militants as they are released from prison.

They have also asked that light be shed on at least 358 unsolved crimes.

A partial apology by the separatist group last month in which it acknowledged the harm done and apologised to some of its victims - but not to those it considered legitimate targets such as police - has done little to stem the criticism.

'The victims are watching with pain and stupor how ETA is being allowed to direct this farce,' the Victims of Terrorism Association (AVT) said in a statement.

So to seal the last chapter of its history on Friday, ETA chose the French Basque Country, which it once used as a safe haven.

Neither the Spanish Basque Country's regional government, nor that of neighbouring Navarra, which is considered part of the wider Basque territories, have accepted invitations to attend.

Going forward, the sensitive issue of ETA's 270 militants imprisoned across Spain and France will also need to be addressed.

Separatist coalition EH Bildu, the second largest grouping in the Basque regional parliament, wants the prisoners to be transferred to jails that are closer to home and their families.

Paris has started to make moves in that direction, but for now, Madrid will not hear of it. </s> Spain vowed to bring to justice all those who committed crimes in the name of former Basque separatist group ETA even as its formal dissolution was sealed on Friday with calls for reconciliation.

By disbanding, the group put a definitive end to western Europe’s last armed insurgency following more than four decades of killings and kidnappings.

But the Spanish government reiterated its vow to pursue any outstanding cases against members of the group, which is blamed for more than 800 killings.

“ETA’s crimes will continue to be investigated, its offences will continue to be tried in the courts, convictions will continue to be issued accordingly and the sentences will continue to be served,” conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in an address.

“There has not been and will not be any impunity. We owe them nothing and have nothing to thank them for.”

Rajoy paid tribute to people the group is accused of killing and the victims’ families. He said the group is now accused of killing 853 people.

“We owe a homage to all of them — to them, their families and the hundreds of Spaniards who survived the terrorist violence but who still suffer the consequences of that cruelty.”

Mediators gathered in the French Basque country on Friday for a peace conference to mark ETA’s dissolution.

In a closing statement, they said the move must lead to “reconciliation”.

ETA’s decision marks “a commitment to take part in the democratic process” within Spain’s institutions, “which will require reconciliation,” South African lawyer Brian Currin said at the conference in Cambo-les-Bains, southwestern France.

In the small village of Oiartzun in the Spanish Basque country, graffiti reading “Thanks ETA” appeared in several locations overnight, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

The Spanish government has refused to negotiate with ETA, which is classed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union.

ETA “will not get anything in return for announcing its dissolution,” Rajoy said.

“There is no place in the European Union for terrorism, arms and guns,” said European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas.

“The European Union is based on the rule of law.”

Northern Ireland’s Gerry Adams, the former head of Sinn Fein — once considered the political wing of the Irish Republican Army — called on the Madrid government to turn the page.

“In my own view, there is a particular onus on governments, which are the more powerful actors in any conflict, to proactively engage and sustain the conditions for a peace process,” he said in a speech at the conference.

He urged the Spanish government to move imprisoned ETA members closer to their families — a long-standing demand by the separatists and their relatives.

“It would not be a sign of weakness,” he said.

But Spanish government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said “the government will not alter its penitentiary policy.”

“The great thing of democracy is to integrate those who have been its worst enemies, it is its moral superiority,” he said during a television interview.

On April 20, ETA asked forgiveness from its victims for the first time for the “pain” caused by its decades-long campaign of violence.

Victims’ campaigners complained that the call for forgiveness did not extend to those the group considered legitimate targets, such as police officers and politicians.

“ETA was not able to express a word of contrition for all the victims, but Basque society and institutions can do it,” said the head of the Basque regional government, Inigo Urkullu, of the nationalist PNV party. </s> Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Thursday there would be “no impunity” for ETA’s crimes even though the Basque separatist group has committed to fully disbanding after more than four decades of violence.

“No matter what ETA does, there is no room for impunity for its crimes. ETA can announce its disappearance but its crimes do not disappear nor do the efforts to pursue and punish them,” he said in a televised speech in the northern city of Logrono.

His comments come as ETA is expected to formally announce its dissolution Thursday with a filmed statement, marking the definitive end to western Europe’s last armed insurgency after more than four decades of violence.

Created in 1959 at the height of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, ETA waged a relentless campaign of killings and kidnappings in its fight for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France, leaving at least 829 dead.

Weakened in recent years by the arrest of its leaders, ETA announced a permanent ceasefire in 2011 and began formally surrendering its arms last year.

In a leaked letter published Wednesday by Spanish online newspaper El Diario, the group went a step further, announcing it was fully disbanding.

“ETA has completely dissolved all of its structures and declared an end to its political initiative,” it said.

The regional leader of Spain’s Basque Country, Inigo Urkullu, said he hoped ETA’s end would be “unilateral, effective and definitive”, in an interview published in newspaper El Pais on Thursday.

The group “owed” this step to “Basque society and humanity as a whole”, he added.

“ETA never should have existed. It puts an end to a dark chapter of 60 years.”

Spanish press have also reported that veteran, high-level ETA member Jose Antonio Urrutikoetxea, better known as Josu Ternera, will be in the video.

The 67-year-old is a wanted fugitive who disappeared in 2002 and is said to be suffering from cancer.

His potential presence in the video has infuriated some of ETA’s victims, who say the separatist group should first and foremost condemn its history of violence and shed light on more than 350 unsolved crimes.

“This is not the end of ETA we deserved,” said Consuelo Ordonez, head of the Covite victims’ association, on Wednesday.

A partial apology by the separatist group last month, in which it acknowledged the harm done and apologised to some of its victims — but not to those it considered legitimate targets such as police — has done little to stem the criticism.

While an overwhelming majority of Basques welcome the end of violence, many still want independence.

The separatist coalition EH Bildu, the second largest grouping in the Basque parliament, won 21 percent of the vote in 2016’s regional elections.

Critics charge that pro-independence parties, which include people once part of or linked to ETA, are trying to impose their version of events.

Separatists argue that Basques have been repressed for decades, even centuries, by Spain and France. This came to a head under Franco, who forbade the use of the Basque language in public.

Victims and historians, though, insist ETA was a terrorist group that went on killing even after Spain transitioned to democracy in the late 1970s. It is recognised as such by the European Union.

“ETA never wanted to bring about any democracy or any freedom, it wanted to end it,” said Basque philosopher Fernando Savater.

But apart from ETA victims, there were also separatists killed by far-right groups and death squads backed by members of Spain’s security forces in what has become known as a “dirty war” campaign.

According to a December report commissioned by the Basque regional government, more than 4,100 complaints of police torture were made between 1960 and 2014.

Those victims are also demanding they be acknowledged.

“If you don’t recognise part of the suffering, it’s very difficult to create conditions for… reconciliation,” said Ane Muguruza, 28.

Her father Josu, a lawmaker for Herri Batasuna, ETA’s political wing, was murdered in 1989 by far-right militants she believes were state-backed. </s> International negotiators held a peace conference Friday to mark the dissolution of the Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), after its 60-year fight for an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.

 

 Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy commended the victims of the Basque separatist group during an address at the conference. 

 

 "Now that ETA has at last announced its disappearance, our first thought must be for the victims, for all of them without exception, without distinctions," Rajoy said. 

 

 ETA released an open letter Thursday to the Basque people, saying it had "completely dismantled all of its structures" and "will no longer express political positions, promote initiatives or interact with other stakeholders."

 

 ETA, whose full name translates to "Basque Homeland and Freedom" in the Basque language, is responsible for around 850 deaths in its decades-long campaign against Spain. Victim groups rejected the dissolution as propaganda and the Spanish government said it would continue to prosecute anyone involved in past violence. 

 

 "Convictions will continue to be executed," Rajoy said. "There will be no impunity" for crimes committed by former ETA members.

 

 One of the mediators of the years-long peace process, South African attorney Brian Currin, told the conference in the southwestern French town of Cambo-les-Baines the decision to disband is "a commitment to take part in the democratic process" which would "require reconciliation." 

 

 Basque militants founded the group in response to Spain's military dictator Francisco Franco, who banned the Basque language in public.

 

 But Basques say they were marginalized and suppressed for decades before Franco seized power in 1939. </s> Spain vowed to bring to justice all those who committed crimes in the name of former Basque separatist group ETA even as its formal dissolution was sealed on Friday with calls for reconciliation.

By disbanding, the group put a definitive end to western Europe's last armed insurgency following more than four decades of killings and kidnappings.

But the Spanish government reiterated its vow to pursue any outstanding cases against members of the group, which is blamed for more than 800 killings.

"ETA's crimes will continue to be investigated, its offences will continue to be tried in the courts, convictions will continue to be issued accordingly and the sentences will continue to be served," conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in an address.

"There has not been and will not be any impunity. We owe them nothing and have nothing to thank them for."

Rajoy paid tribute to people the group is accused of killing and the victims' families. He said the group is now accused of killing 853 people.

"They were all murdered unjustly and cruelly," he said.

"We owe a homage to all of them -- to them, their families and the hundreds of Spaniards who survived the terrorist violence but who still suffer the consequences of that cruelty."

Mediators gathered in the French Basque country on Friday for a peace conference to mark ETA's dissolution.

In a closing statement, they said the move must lead to "reconciliation".

ETA's decision marks "a commitment to take part in the democratic process" within Spain's institutions, "which will require reconciliation," South African lawyer Brian Currin said at the conference in Cambo-les-Bains, southwestern France.

In the small village of Oiartzun in the Spanish Basque country, graffiti reading "Thanks ETA" appeared in several locations overnight, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

The Spanish government has refused to negotiate with ETA, which is classed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union.

ETA "will not get anything in return for announcing its dissolution," Rajoy said.

"There is no place in the European Union for terrorism, arms and guns," said European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas.

"The European Union is based on the rule of law."

Northern Ireland's Gerry Adams, the former head of Sinn Fein -- once considered the political wing of the Irish Republican Army -- called on the Madrid government to turn the page.

"In my own view, there is a particular onus on governments, which are the more powerful actors in any conflict, to proactively engage and sustain the conditions for a peace process," he said in a speech at the conference.

He urged the Spanish government to move imprisoned ETA members closer to their families -- a long-standing demand by the separatists and their relatives.

"It would not be a sign of weakness," he said.

But Spanish government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said "the government will not alter its penitentiary policy."

Spain's former prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose socialist government carried out secret talks with ETA, also defended dialogue.

"The great thing of democracy is to integrate those who have been its worst enemies, it is its moral superiority," he said during a television interview.

On April 20, ETA asked forgiveness from its victims for the first time for the "pain" caused by its decades-long campaign of violence.

Victims' campaigners complained that the call for forgiveness did not extend to those the group considered legitimate targets, such as police officers and politicians.

"ETA was not able to express a word of contrition for all the victims, but Basque society and institutions can do it," said the head of the Basque regional government, Inigo Urkullu, of the nationalist PNV party.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy reminds a crowd to remember the 853 victims of the conflict and reaffirms that there will be no impunity for the violence perpetrated by ETA during its 60-year history.