, Madrid, Spain, Apr 20 – The Basque separatist group ETA apologised Friday for the “pain” and “harm” it caused during its decades-long campaign of violence, and appealed to its victims for forgiveness.

“We have caused a lot of pain, and irreparable harm. We want to show our respect to the dead, to the wounded and to the victims of the actions of ETA… We sincerely regret it,” it said in a statement released in the Basque newspaper Gara.

The statement came just days before ETA is expected to announce its dissolution.

“We know that, forced by the necessities of all types of armed struggle, our actions have harmed citizens who were not responsible. We have also caused serious wrongs which are irreparable. We ask forgiveness to those people and their families”, it said.

The government in Madrid said the apology was the result of “the strength of the rule of law that has defeated ETA with the weapons of democracy”.

“ETA should have asked for forgiveness a long time ago”, it said in a statement.

ETA waged a nearly four-decade campaign of bombings and shootings to establish an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.

At least 829 people were killed before the group announced a permanent ceasefire in 2011.

Last year it went a step further and began laying down its arms.

In its statement to Gara, its traditional mouthpiece, ETA said it was not alone in being responsible for the violence in the Basque Country.

“Suffering existed before the birth of ETA and continued after it ceased its armed struggle,” it said.

Without specifically mentioning the Madrid government, it called for “all to recognise their responsibilities and wrong caused” and to open the way to reconciliation.

“ETA, the national Basque socialist revolutionary liberation organisation, wants to acknowledge by this declaration the harm caused by its armed course, and demonstrate its commitment to definitively overcoming the consequences of the conflict and avoiding a repetition.”

The group has been severely weakened in recent years after police arrested hundreds of its members, including its leaders, and seized several of its weapons stashes.

Spain’s 2.2-million-strong Basque region is now gearing up for the dissolution of the group created in 1959 at the height of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.

On Thursday, an international mediator, Alberto Spektorowski, said that “failing a last-minute surprise” ETA would announce its dissolution on May 5 or 6.

“The declaration that ETA no longer exists will be very clear,” the Israeli academic, a member of the International Contact Group, told Basque radio EITB.

“I cannot say what words they will use but no one will be left in any doubt,” he said, adding that the announcement would be made across the border, in the French Basque region. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Basque armed organisation Eta is expected to announce its dissolution next month

An apology from the Basque organisation Eta to those killed in its armed independence struggle has been rejected by victims' groups.

The separatists in the Spanish Basque Country asked for "forgiveness" for killing people without "a direct participation in the conflict".

Victims' groups accused Eta of seeking to justify its use of violence and attempting to rewrite history.

Eta is widely expected to announce its dissolution in the coming weeks.

The militants killed more than 800 people and wounded thousands more over 40 years of conflict as they sought to establish an independent Basque state in the area spreading across northern Spain and into south-western France.

"We are aware that during this long period of armed struggle we have created a lot of pain, including many damages for which there is no solution," the group said in a statement published in two Basque newspapers.

"We want to show respect for the dead, those injured and the victims that were caused by the actions of Eta... We truly apologise," it added, admitting its "direct responsibility" in the "disproportionate suffering" in the Basque country.

The Victims of Terrorism Association (AVT) said the statement was another step in Eta's strategy of "diluting its true responsibility" and manipulating history "to whitewash the criminal past".

AVT leader Maria del Mar Blanco told AFP news agency: "I find it shameful and immoral that they should make a distinction between people who deserved a bullet in the back of the head or a bomb in their car and accidental victims who did not deserve it."

Another group, the Collective of Victims of Terrorism (COVITE), also criticised that distinction, and said Eta was maintaining its story of a "non-existent conflict" and aiming to "blur its responsibility over crimes committed".

Spain's government said Eta was defeated politically and operationally and had not achieved any of its goals.

Eta also said it was committed to moving forward with the process of reconciliation in the Basque country.

In September 2010, the group announced that it would not carry out further attacks, and it declared a permanent ceasefire in January 2011.

In April 2017 the militant group revealed the locations of its weapons caches and said it had completely disarmed.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Eta carried out many attacks including the one which killed Spanish Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco in 1973

Eta first emerged in the 1960s as a student resistance movement bitterly opposed to Gen Francisco Franco's repressive military dictatorship.

Under Franco the Basque language was banned, the region's distinctive culture was suppressed and intellectuals were imprisoned and tortured for their political and cultural beliefs.

Franco's death in 1975 and the transition to democracy brought the region of two million people home rule.

Many of those who were killed were members of Spain's national police force, the Guardia Civil, and both local and national politicians who opposed to Eta's separatist demands. </s> Madrid: Basque separatist group ETA announced it was fully disbanding, the final step to the definitive end of its deadly decades-long independence campaign, in a letter published Wednesday.



 "ETA has decided to declare its historical cycle and functions terminated, putting an end to its journey," the group said in a letter published by Spanish online newspaper El Diario.

"ETA has completely dissolved all of its structures and declared an end to its political initiative."The letter was dated April 16 and addressed to various groups involved in recent peace efforts.A Basque regional government representative told AFP that following the letter, ETA was expected make a further direct declaration of its disbandment on Thursday, probably in a video.The letter was sent to figures such as former UN secretary general Kofi Annan to reassure them that ETA was firm in its decision to disband, the representative said.ETA cautioned in its letter that its own dissolution did not end the deeper "conflict" between the Basque Territories and the Spanish and French states.But its move marks what is expected to be the last of several key steps towards the formal break-up of the once-armed separatist group, blamed for more than 800 deaths.ETA waged a nearly four-decade campaign of bombings and shootings for an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.It is classed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union as well as the Spanish and French governments.Created in 1959 at the height of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, ETA is blamed for the deaths of at least 829 people.Attacks by ETA and retaliation by Spanish state death squads traumatised Spain, peaking in the 1980s and 1990s.Weakened in recent years by the arrests of its senior leaders, ETA announced a permanent ceasefire in 2011 and began formally surrendering its arms last year.On April 20 it 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.Some 300 ETA members are imprisoned in Spain, France and Portugal and up to 100 are still on the run, according to prisoners' families' group Forum Social.The group has demanded that prisoners be moved to prisons closer to their families after the end of ETA.International mediators are organising a peace conference in southwest France on May 4.(WAH) </s> Militant group responsible for more than 800 deaths says it has ‘dissolved all its structures’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The Basque separatist group Eta, which killed more than 800 people during its 40-year terror campaign, has announced its full dissolution days after apologising to its victims and their families.



In a letter dated 16 April, but published by a Spanish online newspaper on Wednesday, the group informed Basque institutions and civil society groups that it had come to the end of its existence.

“Eta has decided to declare an end to its historical cycle and its role, thereby bringing its path to an end,” said the letter, which was obtained by eldiario.es. “Eta has completely dissolved all its structures and declared an end to its political initiative.”

The group, which abandoned its armed campaign seven years ago, said the move was part of a process intended to “bring about a new political cycle” in the Basque homeland.

“This decision ends Eta’s 60-year historical cycle,” it added. “But it does not bring an end to the conflict between the Basque homeland and Spain and France. The conflict did not begin with Eta and will not end with its dissolution.”

The letter said Basques had a new opportunity to break with the past and build a future together: “Let’s not repeat our mistakes. Let’s not let our problems fester. Doing so will only give rise to new problems.”

Eta will hold a symbolic event marking its disbandment in southern France on Friday.

Its apology last month was dismissed by victims’ groups, but hailed by the Spanish government as proof that Eta had been defeated “with the weapons of democracy and the strength of the rule of law”.

Spain’s interior minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido, reacted to the letter by promising that the police would continue hunting terrorists “wherever they may be”.

He added: “Eta members got nothing when they stopped killing and they won’t get anything by making a statement about dissolution.”

Eta, which stands for “Basque homeland and freedom”, was founded as a cultural organisation in 1959. Its aim was the establishment of an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.

It took up armed struggle the following decade and, between 1968 and 2010, murdered 829 people in bombings and shootings, almost half of them civilians.

The group also targeted state security forces and in 1973 assassinated the Spanish prime minister Luis Carrero Blanco with huge car bomb.

But Eta’s disregard for civilian life left it increasingly marginalised. In 1987, it killed 21 people in a supermarket bombing in Barcelona. Six million people took to the streets in protest a decade later after it murdered Miguel Ángel Blanco, a young local politician. </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. </s> MADRID: 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. </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> Basque separatist group ETA announced it was fully disbanding, the final step to the definitive end of its deadly decades-long independence campaign, in a letter published Wednesday by a Spanish news site.

"ETA has decided to declare its historical cycle and functions terminated, putting an end to its journey," the group said in a letter published by Spanish online newspaper El Diario.

"ETA has completely dissolved all of its structures and declared an end to its political initiative."

The letter, dated April 16, marked what is expected to be the last of several key steps towards the full break-up of the group.
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A Basque regional government representative told AFP that following the letter, ETA was expected make a further direct declaration of its disbandment on Thursday, probably in a video.

The letter was sent to figures such as former UN secretary general Kofi Annan to reassure them that ETA was firm in its decision to disband, the representative said.

ETA cautioned in its letter that its own dissolution did not end the deeper "conflict" between the Basque Territories and the Spanish and French states.

But its move marks what is expected to be the last of several key steps towards the formal break-up of the once-armed separatist group, blamed for more than 800 deaths.

ETA waged a nearly four-decade campaign of bombings and shootings for an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.

It is classed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union as well as the Spanish and French governments.

Created in 1959 at the height of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, it is blamed for the deaths of at least 829 people.

Attacks by ETA and retaliation by Spanish state death squads traumatised Spain, peaking in the 1980s and 1990s.

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

On April 20th it 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.

Some 300 ETA members are imprisoned in Spain, France and Portugal and up to 100 are still on the run, according to prisoners' families' group Forum Social.

The group has demanded that prisoners be moved to prisons closer to their families after the end of ETA.

International mediators are organising a peace conference in southwest France on May 4th. </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.
The Basque separatist terrorist group ETA apologises to "every victim" of its actions. The ETA killed more than 800 people in its 40-year history, committing terrorists attacks throughout Spain.