Editing ETA (separatist group) (section)

===During the transition===
During the [[Spanish transition to democracy]] (which began following Franco's death), ETA split into two separate groups: [[ETA political-military]] or ETA(pm), and ETA military or ETA(m).

Both ETA(m) and ETA(pm) refused offers of amnesty, and instead pursued and intensified their violent struggle. The years 1978–1980 were to prove ETA's most deadly, with 68, 76, and 98 fatalities, respectively.

During the [[Franco dictatorship]], ETA was able to take advantage of tolerance by the [[French government]], which allowed its members to move freely through French territory, believing that in this manner they were contributing to the end of Franco's regime. There is much controversy over the degree to which this policy of "[[sanctuary]]" continued even after the transition to democracy, but it is generally agreed that after 1983 the French authorities started to collaborate with the Spanish government against ETA.<ref name=Panisello>{{cite book |last1=Panisello Sabaté |first1=Susana |title=No es país para jóvenes actas del III Encuentro de jóvenes investigadores de la AHC |date=2012 |publisher=Universidad del País Vasco |location=Vitoria-Gasteiz |isbn=978-849860-636-2 |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/4721564.pdf |access-date=27 June 2021 |chapter=Primera colaboración francesa en la política antiterrorista española: la deportación a terceros países}}</ref>

The transition to democracy did not undermine core reasons for the existence of ETA, with a large part of its members remaining committed to armed struggle and local Basque community remaining supportive of it into the 1990s. This was caused by the character of Spanish transition, as it was based on the ‘pact of forgetting’ ({{langx|es|pacto de olvido}}). Francoist officials in the army, police and judiciary retained their posts, and no attempt was ever made to hold the representatives of the Francoist regime responsible for political violence and oppression. Left-wing Basque nationalist [[:es:Rafael Díez Usabiaga|Rafael Díez Usabiaga]] recalled: "We confront the flagrant contradiction that in the Spanish state they still have not addressed something so fundamental as the crimes of Francoism."<ref name="endgame_46">{{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=46}}</ref>

ETA members were further radicalized by the shifting position of leading left-wing parties, the [[Communist Party of Spain]] and [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]], on the issue of self-determination. In 1974 self-determination for the Basque Country was a part of PSOE platform, and the party asserted that "all nationalities and regions had the right to break free from the Spanish state". However, the party moved towards centralist position after 1976, and Spanish parties "abandoned all pretensions to support self-determination within a constitutional drafting committee". Basque parties connected to ETA such as KAS and the MLVN created a new far-left [[Herri Batasuna]] coalition to push for a statute of autonomy for Euskadi.<ref name="endgame_46"/>

One of the parties within Herri Batasuna, ETA-affiliated KAS, listed five conditions from ETA that would need to be fulfilled for it to abandon armed struggle - amnesty for all Basque prisoners, legalisation of separatist Basque parties, withdrawal of Spanish police from Euskadi, improvement of the working class' living condition, and an autonomy statute that allowed for Basque self-determination. However, these demands were rejected by the Spanish government, and Madrid passed a new anti-terrorist law in 1978 that reintroduced Franco-esque policing methods; Robert Clark described the law and its consequences as "the long road back to Francoism without Franco".<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=48}}</ref>

The final issue that moved ETA towards continuing the armed struggle was the [[1978 Spanish constitutional referendum]]. The new Spanish constitution was opposed by Basque nationalists as it was considered insufficient in terms of Basque autonomy, protection of the Basque language and providing Euskadi with no legal way towards achieving independence from Spain. Basque politicians decried the new constitution as "the continuing occupation of the Basque Country" and called for abstention from the constitutional referendum. As the result, the abstention rate in Euskadi was over 55%, and although 75% of Basque voters voted in favour of the new constitution, they represented only 31% of the Basque population. Because of this, "Euskadi remained the one region in the country in which a majority of the electorate did not support the foundational document of Spain’s democracy."<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=49}}</ref>

In the 1980s, ETA(pm) accepted the Spanish government's offer of individual pardons to all ETA prisoners, even those who had committed violent crimes, who publicly abandoned the policy of violence. This caused a new division in ETA(pm) between the seventh and eighth assemblies. ETA VII accepted this partial amnesty granted by the now democratic Spanish government and integrated into the political party ''[[Euskadiko Ezkerra]]'' ("Left of the Basque Country").<ref>{{cite journal |first=Gaizka |last=Fernández Soldevill |title=Agur a las Armas. EIA, Euskadiko Ezkerra y la disolución de ETA político-military (1976–1985) |journal=Sancho el Sabio: Revista de Cultura e investigación Vasca |issn=1131-5350 |issue=33 |year=2010 |pages=55–96 |url=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=3401994 |access-date=8 March 2011}}</ref>

ETA VIII, after a brief period of independent activity, eventually integrated into ETA(m). With no factions existing anymore, ETA(m) reclaimed the original name of {{Lang|eu|Euskadi Ta Askatasuna|italic=no}}.

====GAL====
During the 1980s, a "dirty war" ensued using the [[Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación]] (GAL, "Antiterrorist Liberation Groups"), a paramilitary group which billed themselves as [[Counterterrorism|counter-terrorist]], active between 1983 and 1987. The GAL's stated mission was to avenge every ETA killing with another killing of ETA exiles in the French department of [[Pyrénées Atlantiques]].<ref name=Panisello/> GAL committed 27 assassinations (all but one in France), plus several kidnappings and torture, not only of ETA members but of civilians supposedly related to those, some of whom turned out to have nothing to do with ETA.<ref name="santamaria437">{{cite book|author=Diego Carcedo|title=Sáenz de Santa María. El general que cambió de bando|page=437|isbn=84-8460-309-1|year=2004|publisher=Temas de Hoy|location=Madrid|author-link=Diego Carcedo}}</ref> GAL activities were a follow-up of similar dirty war actions by death squads, actively supported by members of Spanish security forces and secret services, using names such as {{Lang|es|italic=no|[[Batallón Vasco Español]]}} active from 1975 to 1981. They were responsible for the killing of about 48 people.<ref name="santamaria437"/>

One consequence of GAL's activities in France was the decision in 1984 by interior minister Pierre Joxe to permit the extradition of ETA suspects to Spain. Reaching this decision had taken 25 years and was critical in curbing ETA's capabilities by denial of previously safe territory in France.<ref>{{cite book|title=Talking to Terrorists: Making Peace in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country |pages=197–202 |first1=John |last1=Bew |first2=Martyn |last2=Frampton |first3=Inigo |last3=Gurruchaga |publisher=Hurst & Co. |location=London}}</ref><ref name=Panisello/>

The airing of the state-sponsored "dirty war" scheme and the imprisonment of officials responsible for GAL in the early 1990s led to a political scandal in Spain. The group's connections with the state were unveiled by the Spanish journal {{Lang|es|italic=yes|[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]}}, with an [[investigative journalism|investigative]] series leading to the GAL plot being discovered and a national trial initiated. As a consequence, the group's attacks since the revelation have generally been dubbed [[state terrorism]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/168958.stm |title=Former Spanish ministers jailed for 'terrorism' |work=BBC News |date=12 September 1998 |access-date=30 January 2011}}</ref>

In 1997, the Spanish {{Lang|es|italic=no|[[Audiencia Nacional]]}} court finished its trial, which resulted in convictions and imprisonment of several individuals related to the GAL, including civil servants and politicians up to the highest levels of the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] (PSOE) government, such as former Homeland Minister [[José Barrionuevo]]. Premier [[Felipe González]] was quoted as saying that the [[Rechtsstaat|constitutional state]] has to defend itself "even in the sewers" ({{lang|es|El Estado de derecho también se defiende en las cloacas}}), something which, for some, indicated at least his knowledge of the scheme. However, his involvement with the GAL could never be proven.

These events marked the end of the armed "counter-terrorist" period in Spain and no major cases of foul play on the part of the Spanish government after 1987 (when GAL ceased to operate) have been proven in courts.

====Human rights====
According to the radical nationalist group, Euskal Memoria, between 1960 and 2010 there were 465 deaths in the Basque Country due to (primarily Spanish) state violence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minutodigital.com/2011/02/28/los-etarras-escriben-su-historia-euskal-memoria/|title=Los etarras escriben su historia...Euskal Memoria|work=Minuto digital|access-date=29 November 2014|url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703031839/http://www.minutodigital.com/2011/02/28/los-etarras-escriben-su-historia-euskal-memoria/ |archive-date=3 July 2016}}</ref> This figure is considerably higher than those given elsewhere, which are usually between 250 and 300.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gara.naiz.info/paperezkoa/20101107/230664/es/474-personas-han-muerto-represion-desde-1960|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130412234747/http://gara.naiz.info/paperezkoa/20101107/230664/es/474-personas-han-muerto-represion-desde-1960|archive-date=12 April 2013|title=474 personas han muerto por la represión desde 1960 |work=GARA |access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref> Critics of ETA cite only 56 members of that organisation killed by state forces since 1975.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.es/hemeroteca/historico-15-09-2003/abc/Nacional/cincuenta-y-seis-etarras-han-muerto-en-enfrentamientos-con-las-fuerzas-de-seguridad_207653.html|title=Cincuenta y seis etarras han muerto en enfrentamientos con las fuerzas de seguridad|work=ABC|date=15 September 2003|access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref>

ETA members and supporters routinely claim [[torture]] at the hands of Spanish police forces.<ref name="Publico"/> While these claims are hard to verify, some convictions were based on confessions while prisoners were held incommunicado<!-- ordinary English word in this spelling, no italics needed --> and without access to a lawyer of their choice, for a maximum of five days. These confessions were routinely repudiated by the defendants during trials as having been extracted under torture. There were some successful prosecutions of proven tortures during the "dirty war" period of the mid-1980s, although the penalties have been considered by [[Amnesty International]] as unjustifiably light and lenient with co-conspirators and enablers.<ref name="AIUN2002">{{cite web |url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGEUR410122002 |title=October 2002 AI Index: EUR 41/12/2002: SPAIN: A briefing for the United Nations Committee against Torture |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021212345/http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGEUR410122002 |archive-date=21 October 2006 |quote=Although convictions of torturers occur, these are rare.&nbsp;... examining judges and prosecutors may not always be displaying due diligence&nbsp;... trials involving torture complaints are often delayed for long periods. Where torture has been found to have occurred and torturers are convicted, awards of compensation by courts to torture victims are usually low and may take between seven and 19 years to be decided.}}</ref><ref name="AIUN2002Update">{{cite web |url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGEUR410142002 |title=AI Index: EUR 41/014/2002: 1 November 2002: Spain: A Briefing for the UN Committee against Torture: Update |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021212352/http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGEUR410142002 |archive-date=21 October 2006 |quote=The Committee also expressed concern about: the length of judicial investigations into torture complaints, which could give rise to the granting of pardons to convicted torturers, or the failure to impose appropriate sentences, owing to the period of time that had elapsed since the crime was committed;&nbsp;...}}</ref>

In this regard, Amnesty International showed concern for the continuous disregard of the recommendations issued by the agency to prevent the alleged abuses from possibly taking place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/regions/europe-and-central-asia/spain |title=Amnesty International Report 2008: Spain |access-date =19 June 2008 |publisher=Amnesty International |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611020111/http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/regions/europe-and-central-asia/spain <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=11 June 2008}}</ref> Also in this regard, ETA's manuals were found instructing its members and supporters to claim routinely that they had been tortured while detained.<ref name="Publico">{{cite news|url=http://www.publico.es/espana/037038/eta/comando/t4/torturas |title=ETA aleccionó al 'Comando' de la T-4 Sobre cómo denunciar tortures |work=Público.es |access-date=30 January 2011}}</ref> Unai Romano's case was very controversial: pictures of him with a symmetrically swollen face of uncertain aetiology were published after his incommunicado period leading to claims of police abuse and torture. Martxelo Otamendi, the ex-director of the Basque newspaper {{lang|eu|italic=yes|Euskaldunon Egunkaria}}, decided to bring charges in September 2008 against the Spanish Government in the [[European Court of Human Rights]] for "not inspecting properly" cases tainted by torture.{{Update inline|date=May 2021}}

As a result of ETA's violence, threats and killings of journalists, [[Reporters Without Borders]] included Spain in all six editions of its annual watchlist on [[Freedom of the press|press freedom]] up to 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17496&Valider=OK/ |title=Spain – 2006 annual report |publisher=Reporters sans frontières |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201427/http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17496&Valider=OK%2F |archive-date=30 September 2007 |access-date=21 December 2020}}</ref> Thus, the NGO included ETA in its watchlist "Predators of Press Freedom".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=13624 |title=Spain: ETA (terrorist organization) |publisher=Reporters sans frontières |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209081828/http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=13624 |archive-date=9 February 2008 |access-date=21 December 2020}}</ref>