Seven Basque Citizens arrested in Paris and Basque Country
On Tuesday, 9 March 1999, Spanish and French police arrested seven
Basque citizens in Paris. The Basque Nationalist parties have
criticised the attitude of the Spanish government, which keeps using
policing methods to solve the Basque conflict. Joseba Egibar, one of
the leading figures of the conservative Basque Nationalist Party,
criticised the approach of the Spanish government to the political
process opened in the Basque Country after ETA's cease-fire
declaration. ``The police actions are shaping the government approach
to the peace process''.
However, for the Spanish Home minister, Mayor Oreja, the detention of
the supposed members of ETA is a clear move towards peace. ``Some
could wonder whether these detentions take us to peace. For us, the
government, it is clear that the application of the State laws takes
us always close to peace...''
The arrests took place just as the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria
Aznar was meeting the French Minister in Paris and after Oreja
visited the French capital.
Jabier Arizkuren Kantauri, Irantzun Gallastegi, Jose Luis Puy
Lekumberri, Mikel Zubimendi, Jose Ignacio Herran Bilbao y Jon Mirena
Sanpedro Blanco where arrested in Paris, while the HB councillor
Nekane Txapartegi was arrested in the Basque village of Asteau.
The Spokesperson for Herri Batasuna, Arnaldo Otegi explained, ``the
police operation against ETA is just another part- as was the
imprisonment of the National Executive of HB, and the closure of the
newspaper Egin and the radio station Egin Irratia- of the Spanish
government strategy to destroy the political process open in the
Basque Country''.
Also, in the Basque Country, the workers of the newspaper EGIN
organised a picket at the doors of the Provincial Court in San
Sebastian to protest against the arrest of two journalists, who were
members of the research team of the paper. Pepe Rei was arrested on
Sunday, 7 March, by members of the Spanish National Police and
charged with ETA membership. BegoÒa Perez Capape was arrested on
Monday, 8 March, but was released on bail on Tuesday. Egin's editor,
Jabier Salustregi, denounced the situation of political prosecution
suffered by Egin workers. He also said that the party in the Spanish
government, the Popular Party, ``is doing things that any other
democratic government wouldn't dare to do... Pepe Rei is in prison
because they dare to do something that a democratic government
wouldn't: kill the messenger''.
US government violates the human rights of women prisoners
``Giving birth while incarcerated was one of the most horrifying
experiences of my life. While enduring intense labour pains, I was
handcuffed while taken to the hospital, even though I was in a
secured vehicle with a metal grating between the driver's and
passenger's compartments and with no interior door handles on the
passenger's compartments and with no interior door handles on the
passenger doors... At the hospital, I was shackled to a metal bedpost
by my right ankle throughout seven hours of labour, although a
correctional officer was in the room with me at all times. The
shackles were not removed until 30 minutes prior to my delivery...
Even animals would not be shackled during labour, a household dog or
a cow on a farm. The birth of a child is supposed to be a joyous
experience, and I was robbed of the joy of my daughter's birth''. This
is the testimony of Warnice Robinson, a woman imprisoned in Illinois
for shoplifting, one of the cases of human rights violations in US
jails highlighted by Amnesty International in its report ``United
States of America. Rights for All''.
There are around 138,000 female prisoners in the USA, most of them
from an ethnic or racial minority background, with relative low
levels of education and unemployed. AI's report outlines the
contradiction of US policy on human rights. Because while the US
government has always tried to play the role of international human
rights defender, ``it declined to ratify key human rights treaties,
has reserved the right not to implement important provisions of
treaties that it has ratified and refused to permit people within the
USA to bring complains about alleged violations of their human rights
to international monitoring bodies.''
The law of the US also prohibits many of the violations included in
the report -as rape and sexual abuse committed by prison guards.
However, ``a female prisoner may find it extraordinarily difficult to
stop unlawful conduct or to have the perpetrator brought to justice.''
But there is also the fear that if she complains she will be
victimised again.
The overwhelming majority of complaints of sexual abuse by female
inmates against staff, men are reported to be the perpetrators.
Although international standards provide that only female guards
should supervise female prisoners, prisons and jails in the US employ
men to guard women and place few restrictions on the duties of male
staff. ``Under laws of the USA, a male guard may watch over a woman,
even when she is dressing or showering or using the toilet. He may
touch every part of her body when he searches for contraband''. These
are seen as some of the main causes for sexual abuse on women
prisoners by the male prison guards.
The use of restraints as a matter of course not only humiliate women,
but also endangers their lives and the lives of their unborn children
as handcuffs and iron legs are used while women are in labour or
seriously ill, ``even dying.''
Health care is minimal or non-existent in some women prison, and
sometimes it is needed the approval of non-medical staff to allow a
visit to a doctor. The report outlines serious concerns about the
adequacy of health care and points out the lack of treatment for
substance abuse, and of counselling services, and the abuse of
psychotropic medication. These situations are caused by the lack of
resources, ``the most commonly cited barrier to adequate health care''.
Amnesty International calls on its report ``on federal, state and
local governments and authorities to take urgent action to ensure
that the laws, regulations, policies and practices for which they are
responsible rigorously conform to international standards and respect
the human rights of women deprived of their liberty''.
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