Editing ETA (separatist group) (section)

==Political support==
[[File:EuskadiTaAskatasunaMural.JPG|thumb|A pro-ETA mural in [[Durango, Spain|Durango, Biscay]]]]

The former political party [[Batasuna]], disbanded in 2003, pursued the same political goals as ETA and did not condemn ETA's use of violence. Formerly known as [[Euskal Herritarrok]] and "[[Herri Batasuna]]", it was banned by the Spanish Supreme Court as an anti-democratic organisation following the Political Parties Law (''Ley de Partidos Políticos'').<ref name="Ley 6/2002"/> It generally received 10% to 20% of the vote in the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Autonomous Community]].<ref>[http://www.elmundo.es/especiales/2005/03/espana/elecciones_pv/resultados.html Elecciones en el País Vasco 2005]. elmundo.es. Retrieved on 30 January 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.historiaelectoral.com/juntas.html Elecciones a las Juntas Generales del País Vasco 1979–2015] (in Spanish). Retrieved on 13 July 2017.</ref>

Batasuna's political status was controversial. It was considered to be the political wing of ETA.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/56763.stm|work=BBC News  |title=ETA's political wing elects new leaders|date=14 February 1998|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-1272166/Batasuna|title=Batasuna (Basque org.) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Britannica.com|access-date=14 April 2017}}</ref> Moreover, after the investigations on the nature of the relationship between Batasuna and ETA by Judge [[Baltasar Garzón]], who suspended the activities of the political organisation and ordered police to shut down its headquarters, the [[Supreme Court of Spain]] finally declared Batasuna illegal on 18 March 2003. The court considered proven that Batasuna had links with ETA and that it constituted in fact part of ETA's structure. In 2003, the Constitutional Tribunal upheld the legality of the law.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.12957/ballot.2015.17895|doi-access=free|title=The banning of political parties in Spain (the Batasuna case)|volume=1|number=1|journal=Ballot|last=Foruria|first=Eduardo Vírgula|location=Rio de Janeiro|language=en|date=June 2015|pages=1–20|doi-broken-date=6 December 2024 }}</ref>

However, the party itself denied being the political wing of ETA,{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} although double membership – simultaneous or alternative – between Batasuna and ETA was often recorded, such as with the cases of prominent Batasuna leaders like Josu Urrutikoetxea, [[Arnaldo Otegi]], Jon Salaberria and others.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4581987.stm|work=BBC News  |title=Basque nationalist leader jailed|date=26 May 2005|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref><ref name = "jvjtfe">[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/direccion/Batasuna/ETA/elpepuesp/20080521elpepunac_4/Tes De la dirección de Batasuna a la de ETA · ELPAÍS.com]. Elpais.com. Retrieved on 30 January 2011.</ref>

The Spanish [[Cortes Generales|Cortes]] (the Spanish Parliament) began the process of declaring the party illegal in August 2002 by issuing a bill entitled the ''Ley de Partidos Políticos'' which bars political parties that use violence to achieve political goals, promote hatred against different groups or seek to destroy the democratic system. The bill passed the Cortes with a 304 to 16 vote.<ref>[http://www.elmundo.es/2002/06/05/espana/1153258.html El Congreso aprueba la Ley de Partidos con el 95% de Los votos], ''El Mundo'', 5 June 2002.</ref> Many within the Basque nationalistic movement strongly disputed the Law, which they considered too draconian or even unconstitutional; alleging that any party could be made illegal almost by choice, simply for not clearly stating their opposition to an attack.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Defenders of the law argued that the ''Ley de Partidos'' did not necessarily require responses to individual acts of violence, but rather a declaration of principles explicitly rejecting violence as a means of achieving political goals.{{cn|date=April 2024}} Defenders also argued that the ban of a political party is subject to judicial process, with all the guarantees of the State of Law. Batasuna had failed to produce such a statement. {{As of|2008|alt=As of February 2008}} other political parties linked to organizations such as ''[[Communist Party of Spain (Reconstituted)|Partido Comunista de España (reconstituted)]]'' have also been declared illegal, and [[Acción Nacionalista Vasca]] and [[Communist Party of the Basque Lands]] (EHAK/PCTV, ''Euskal Herrialdeetako Alderdi Komunista/Partido Comunista de las Tierras Vascas'') was declared illegal in September 2008.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

A new party called [[Aukera Guztiak]] ''(All the Options)'' was formed expressly for the elections to the [[Basque Parliament]] of April 2005.{{cn|date=April 2024}} Its supporters claimed no heritage from Batasuna, asserting that they aimed to allow Basque citizens to freely express their political ideas, even those of independence. On the matter of political violence, Aukera Guztiak stated their right not to condemn some kinds of violence more than others if they did not see fit (in this regard, the [[Basque National Liberation Movement]] (MLNV) regards present police actions as violence, torture and state terrorism). Nevertheless, most of their members and certainly most of their leadership were former Batasuna supporters or affiliates. The Spanish Supreme Court unanimously considered the party to be a successor to Batasuna and declared a ban on it.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

After Aukera Guztiak had been banned, and less than two weeks before the election, another political group appeared born from an earlier schism from Herri Batasuna, the [[Communist Party of the Basque Lands]] (EHAK/PCTV, ''Euskal Herrialdeetako Alderdi Komunista/Partido Comunista de las Tierras Vascas''), a formerly unknown political party which had no representation in the Autonomous Basque Parliament. EHAK announced that they would apply the votes they obtained to sustain the political programme of the now-banned Aukera Guztiak platform.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

This move left no time for the Spanish courts to investigate EHAK in compliance with the ''Ley de Partidos'' before the elections were held. The bulk of Batasuna supporters voted in this election for PCTV. It obtained 9 seats of 75 (12.44% of votes) in the Basque Parliament.<ref>[http://www.elmundo.es/especiales/2005/03/espana/elecciones_pv/resultados/ Elecciones en el País Vasco 2005]. elmundo.es. Retrieved on 30 January 2011.</ref>
The election of EHAK representatives eventually allowed the programme of the now-illegal Batasuna to continue being represented without having condemned violence as required by the ''Ley de Partidos''.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

In February 2011, Sortu, a party described as "the new Batasuna",<ref name="LV8F">{{cite web|url=http://www.lavanguardia.es/politica/20110208/54111615502/el-nuevo-partido-de-la-izquierda-abertzale-se-denomina-sortu.html|title="El nuevo partido de la izquierda abertzale se denomina 'Sortu'", La Vanguardia, 8 February 2011|work=LA VANGUARDIA|date=8 February 2011|access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref> was launched. Unlike predecessor parties, Sortu explicitly rejects politically motivated violence, including that of ETA.<ref name="LV8F"/> However, on 23 March 2011, the Spanish Supreme Court banned Sortu from registering as a political party on the grounds that it was linked to ETA.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|858354060}} |title=Spanish supreme court bans Basque separatist party Sortu for links to ETA |work=BBC Monitoring European |date=24 March 2011 }}</ref>

===Social support===
[[File:ETA Pasajes 2003 06 28.jpg|thumb|Graffiti in [[Pasaia]] (2003). "ETA, the people with you" on the left, and Batasuna using several nationalist symbols asking for "Independence!"]]

The [[Spanish transition to democracy]] from 1975 on and ETA's progressive radicalisation had resulted in a steady loss of support, which became especially apparent at the time of their 1997 kidnapping and countdown assassination of [[Miguel Ángel Blanco]]. Their loss of sympathisers had been reflected in an erosion of support for the political parties identified with them. In the 1998 Basque parliament elections Euskal Herritarrok, formerly Batasuna, polled 17.7% of the votes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.electionresources.org/es/eus/parliament.php?election=1998 |title=October 25, 1998 Election Results - Euskadi Totals |work=Election Resources on the Internet |access-date=21 December 2020}}</ref> However, by 2001 the party's support had fallen to 10.0%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.electionresources.org/es/eus/parliament.php?election=2001|title=May 13, 2001 Election Results - Euskadi Totals |work=Election Resources on the Internet |access-date=21 December 2020}}</ref> There were also concerns that Spain's "judicial offensive" against alleged ETA supporters (two Basque political parties and one NGO were banned in September 2008) constituted a threat to human rights.{{cn|date=November 2024}} Strong evidence was seen that a legal network had grown so wide as to lead to the arrest of numerous innocent people.{{cn|date=November 2024}} According to [[Amnesty International]], [[torture]] was still "persistent", though not "systematic".{{cn|date=November 2024}} Inroads could be undermined by judicial short-cuts and abuses of human rights.{{CN|date=November 2024}}

===Clerical support===
Despite its far-left orientation, ETA was founded by students of the Benedictine seminary in [[Lazkao]] and owed its ability to survive the Francoist years of harsh repression to the support of Basque clergy, with many Basque priests having strong nationalist and separatist tendencies. With the approval of the local ecclesiastical hierarchy, ETA was able to store its weapons in churches, chapels and monasteries. According to the US researcher Robert P. Clark, 73% of Basque priests were members of ETA in 1968.<ref name="llanos">{{cite book |title=Separatyzm baskijski: historia, współczesność, perspektywy |language=pl |first=Anna |last=Llanos-Antczak |publisher=Dom Wydawniczy ELISPA |year=2019 |isbn=978-83-8017-280-7 |page=157}}</ref> ETA was also able to survive because of profound sympathy it found in the [[French Basque Country]], and the support of local nationalists and clergy granted ETA safe haven in France, where it was beyond the reach of Francoist security forces.<ref>{{cite book |title=Endgame for ETA: Elusive Peace in the Basque Country |publisher=Oxford University Press |first=Teresa |last=Whitfield |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-938754-0 |page=43}}</ref>

Basque clergy was also important in terms of ideology of the organization, as it provided ETA with both new members as well as influences of the far-left [[liberation theology]]. Largely protected from Francoist persecution, Basque-speaking priests educated members of ETA in the nationalist faith and were considered the guardians of Basque language and culture, heavily influencing Basque nationalism. Basque nationalism acquired a religious character, as evidenced by the motto of [[Basque Nationalist Party]], ‘Jaun-Goikua eta Legi Zarra’ (God and Old Laws). [[Sabino Arana]], the father of Basque nationalism, argued that the Basque Country could not be truly Catholic as long as it was dependent on Spain, and portrayed his struggle for independent Euskadi not as a political project, but rather as something that was ‘about saving souls’.<ref>{{cite thesis |title=Ethnicity and Violence: The Case of Radical Basque Nationalism |first=Diego |last=Muro Ruiz |degree=Doctor of Philosophy |year=2004 |publisher=ProQuest LLC. |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/46519284.pdf |pages=161–162}}</ref>

ETA-supportive clergy accepted the violence of ETA, following the beliefs of liberation theology and seeing it as a part of the oppressed people's aspiration for freedom and independence. The Archbishop of [[San Sebastián]] [[José María Setién]] repeatedly justified the actions of ETA in his statements, causing consternation and even indignation in Spain. His statement that dialogue with ETA should have begun before it even stopped the attacks was condemned by the [[Philippines|Filipino]] [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]] [[Jose Tomas Sanchez]].<ref name="llanos"/> Catholic clergy then played an important role in trying to mediate the conflict; in 1998 the Catholic organisation [[Community of Sant'Egidio]] offered to negotiate with the Spanish government on behalf of ETA, but it was turned down by the Minister of Interior [[Jaime Mayor Oreja]]. ETA still enjoyed support of the Basque clergy in the 2000s, with sympathetic priests such as [[:es:Joseba Segura Etxezarraga|Joseba Segura Etxezarraga]] consistently encouraging the Spanish government to enter dialogue.<ref>{{cite book |title=Endgame for ETA: Elusive Peace in the Basque Country |publisher=Oxford University Press |first=Teresa |last=Whitfield |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-938754-0 |page=130}}</ref>

===Opinion polls===
The [[Euskobarometro]], the survey carried out by the [[Universidad del País Vasco]] (University of the Basque Country), asking about the views of ETA within the Basque population, obtained these results in May 2009:<ref name="Euskobarometro">[http://alweb.ehu.es/euskobarometro/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=78&Itemid=114 Euskobarómetro – EUSKOBAROMETRO MAYO 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811094823/http://alweb.ehu.es/euskobarometro/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=78&Itemid=114 |date=11 August 2011 }}. Alweb.ehu.es. Retrieved on 30 January 2011.</ref> 64% rejected ETA totally, 13% identified themselves as former ETA sympathisers who no longer support the group. Another 10% agreed with ETA's ends, but not their means. Three percent said that their attitude towards ETA was mainly one of fear, 3% expressed indifference and 3% were undecided or did not answer.{{cn|date=April 2024}} About 3% gave ETA "justified, with criticism" support (supporting the group but criticising some of their actions) and only 1% gave ETA total support. Even within Batasuna voters, at least 48% rejected ETA's violence.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

A poll taken by the Basque Autonomous Government in December 2006 during ETA's [[ETA's 2006 ceasefire declaration|"permanent" ceasefire]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.euskadi.net/estudios_sociologicos/estudiosfecha_c.apl?es_fecha=11/12/2006%208:45:40&anio=2006|title=Gabinete de Prospección Sociológica (Gobierno Vasco): list of sociological studies 2006|work=Euskadi.net|access-date=14 April 2017|archive-date=26 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926214310/http://www1.euskadi.net/estudios_sociologicos/estudiosfecha_c.apl?es_fecha=11%2F12%2F2006%208%3A45%3A40&anio=2006}}</ref><ref>[http://gara.euskalherria.com/idatzia/20061211/art192774.php Más del 85% apuesta por el derecho a decidir y por el diálogo Sobre el Marco – GARA – euskalherria.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425083737/http://gara.euskalherria.com/idatzia/20061211/art192774.php |date=25 April 2012 }}. Gara.euskalherria.com (11 December 2006). Retrieved on 30 January 2011.</ref> showed that 88% of the Basques thought that all political parties needed to launch a dialogue, including a debate on the political framework for the Basque Country (86%). Sixty-nine percent support the idea of ratifying the results of this hypothetical multiparty dialogue through a referendum. This poll also reveals that the hope of a peaceful resolution to the issue of the constitutional status of the Basque region has fallen to 78% (from 90% in April).

These polls did not cover [[Navarre]], where support for Basque nationalist electoral options is weaker (around 25% of the population); or the [[Northern Basque Country]], where support is even weaker (around 15% of the population).