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februaryFew changes have occurred this February regarding the status ofthe repressed Basques or for us, their families and friends. Andthat's not good news. There are still 603 Basque political priso-ners scattered across 83 prisons, of whom 582 are outside theBasque Country. We suffer stress, harassment, and arbitrary vio-lation of rights. Sometimes repression seeks us directly to perse-cute us, as with the new examples of harassment contained in thisFebruary report: while spending the night at a hotel, hoping to visita prisoner the following day, police raided the room where the re-

latives of a female Basque prisoner werestaying, including an 11 year-old boy. Atother times, we suffer as a direct result ofthe prison special policy: the dispersal hasalready caused the first traffic accident ofthis year 2013.

In prisons or in the distance of exile anddeportation, our relatives are still subjected to harsh living condi-tions. Poor medical medical treatment, isolation, problems withvisits and communications, searches, tension ... constitute theirdaily reality, to which must be added equally active special mea-sures: three new life sentences have fallen this month on Basqueprisoners.

Especially in this report we have chosen the theme of life senten-ces, as we are approaching the date of March 20th, the day onwhich the European Court of Human Rights will begin their exa-mination of the Spanish state's view on the case of Ines del Rio.Undoubtedly, this date will mark a before and after for all thosewho suffer from the special prison policy and the final decision willdirectly affect us all. How could it be otherwise then but that thesubject of this month's report is the Decree 197/2006. The lawyerAmaia Izko answers many of the questions we have about the ac-

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tion brought by the Spanish state and its implications.(i.e. the Spanish state's appeal against the verdict of the Stras-bourg Court last July that Ines Del Rio should have been releasedalready as the new decree could not be applied rectroactivelyagainst prisoners convicted before the decree was issued andalso that no prisoner could have an indefinite sentence, as a re-sult of which the Spanish state should release Ines Del Rio, payher compensation and pay the costs of the case -- Translator).

Finally, we cannot omit to mention the 12th National Conferencewhich we, the relatives of prisoners, exiled and deported, held onthe 17th February. This annual date of our Association is a greatopportunity to work in unity and collectively, for in the end we allwork with a common objective:

Etxean nahi ditugu! (Euskera for “We want them home!”-- Translator)

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dispersed

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603 basque political prisoners, through 83 prisons

439 Basque political prisoners dispersed through 45 prisons of spanish state134 Basque prisoners dispersed through 32 prisons of french state

10 Basque prisoners dispersed through 3 prisons of the Basque Country 4 Basque prisoners in Englanbd

1 Basque prisoner in Northern Ireland 1 Basque prisoner in Scotland1 Basque prisoner in Portugal1 Basque prisoner en Brazil1 Basque prisoner on house arrest in Roma

11 Basque prisoners on parole due to serious and incurable illnesses1 Basque prisoner in internal exile, confined by French authorities to Autun

87 prisoners in jails between 1.000 and 1.100 km from Euskal Herria (the Basque Country)

161 prisoners in jails between 800 and 1.000 km from Euskal Herria

136 prisoners in jails between 600 and 800 km from Euskal Herria

101 prisonerss in jails between 400 and 600 km from Euskal Herria

88 prisoners in jails at least 400 km from Euskal Herria

one Basque prisoner confined at least900 km from Euskal Herria

8 Basque prisoners jailed in another 5 countries.

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gravely ill Another month has passed without us being able to give positive news abouthealth nor about the situation of the thirteen prisoners suffering from seriousand incurable illnesses. They continue in jail and subject to regimented rulesand conditions which would be difficult enough to bear when the circumstan-ces are normal in the prisons without health problems; unjustifiable when theiraggressive effect make not only a cure difficult but rather can be the cause oftheir worsening.

The long years endured in prison have a direct impact on he-alth. The lack of dignified living conditions, difficulties in get-ting exercise, poor diet, stress, confined spaces .... all impactnegatively on health. Medical assistance is not a priority issuefor those in prison management authority and any related me-dical care, consultations with a specialist, progress checks, tre-atments ... all these encounter obstacles to be resolved andlengthen the time fthereby favoring development of the Illness.In prison in Villena, female prisoners await the resolution of a

formal complaint filed in order to be seen by a gynecologist of the prisoners'choice.

With regard to the seriously-ill prisoners, their liberty is essential in order to beable to receive not only the medical treatment which they need but to receiveit in the necessary environment.

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The application of Decree 197/2006 by the Supreme Court, reportedduring the month of February, to Aldasoro Ramon, Raul Alonso andGonzalo Iñaki, brings up to 93 the number of Basque political prisonersto which life sentences have been applied. Of these, 71 are in prison,another 22 have been released: some of these judgements were sus-pended by the High Court (in the case of Jesus and Iñaki Bollada Pu-jana, released during this month) and others have already served theextensions of their sentences.

Ramon Aldasoro, from Otxandio, is in the Castelló II- Albocasser prison; he was jai-led in 1997, so he has been in jail for 16 years. He had been given the release dateof 27th October 2017 but the application of Decree 197/2006 extends his sentenceto 2027. Raul Alonso, from Bilbo, also in the Castello II-Albocasser jail, was jailed in1991. He had the release date of 25th March 2015; his actual date of release will be2021. Iñaki Gonzalo Casal, from Getxo, who is in the Valladolid jail, was jailed in1994 and has been 19 years in jail. His release date had been fixed for the 4th of Mayof 2013. They have informed him that the Decree will be applied to him but havenot given him the new date of release.

In the French state, Jakes Esnal, Frederik Haranburu and Jon Kepa Parot and arealso sentenced to life (perpétuite); they are nearing 24 years in prison even thoughthey have met all the requirements for parole five years ago.

On March 20, the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will examine the appealbrought by the Spanish state against the Court's decision in the case of Ines delRio. The new decision will mark a “before and after” point in our lives. The applica-tion of the 197/2006 Decree is a cruel measure and as already made clear by Stras-bourg is a clear violation of human rights for prisoners. This measure as well asentailing imprisonment for life for Basque political prisoners also means that fa-mily and friends have to suffer a lifetime of the consequences of a special prison po-licy. The systematic denial of parole is another of the special measures taken against

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special measures decree 197/2006

release on parole

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Basque political prisoners. There are currently 130 which, in termsof legal time limits, are eligible for probation.

In line with this issue, on January 23rd, the Court for the applica-tion of the sentence (in the French State) accepted the probationapplication of Perurena Argi, who has already served 13 years inprison. The Public Prosecutor appealed the court's decision so thatthe Basque political prisoner remains incarcerated. The verdict willbe delayed probably until March.

130

Ibai Sueskun, in prison in Tarascon (French state) is refusing prison food everWednesday since December, in protest at his isolation. In addition, he has sentletters to the prison authorities explaining and demanding and end to his si-tuation.

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in the prisons

Solitary confinement or the isolation of all comrades, impeding all contact bet-ween them, is one of the special regimes to which Basque political prisoners aresubjected. Although within the legislation and normal practice of the prisons,isolation is a measure to be employed in very specific situations and for res-tricted time periods, it is applied to our relatives and friends as a regime for life,separately from the sanctions they view as punishment. Basque political pri-soners are dispersed through different jails and also in different blocks. In othercases and without being subjected to this regime as such they are separatedfrom their comrades which one must suppose leaves the prisoner in a lonely si-tuation.

Euskal Heria Zaballa Txus Martin

Spanish state: Soto del Real ibai Peña

French state: Joux La Ville Marian AramendiJoux La Ville Julen EizagirreUzerche Mattin OlzomendiTarascon Ibai Sueskun

violation of rights other incidents

searchesParticularly hard and aggressive body searches, conducted by several officers ineach cell, were recorded in the prisons of Huelva, Córdoba, and FoncalentDueñas (Spanish state).

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Prison Puerto III. As he came out of a face-to-face visit, Cotano Aitor was strip-ped and frisked. A prison officer also tried to force him to do pushups, despitethe fact that he is on crutches, which the Basque prisoner refused, so he wastaken to isolation. In the afternoon, when his partner was waiting to go to thevisiting booths, she was told, without any explanation, that there would not bea visit. After many attempts to get an explanation for the arbitrary measuretaken, the Chief Officer said that Aitor had not complied with his orders, so hewas in isolation. Finally, the visit could not go ahead.

Most French prisons require the Basque prisoners to strip when they returnfrom a visit with their lawyer, after a cell search, each time they go to court ....

Marta Lauzirika and partner Karmelo Igarriz, imprisoned in Port Castelló I andI, respectively: the Prosecutor has withdrawn permission for the couple to com-municate.

Throughout the month there have been repeated problems with phone calls inprisons: Topas, Puerto I, Puerto III, Meaux ... Authorised calls are cut minutesbefore the five minutes allocated.

problems with the right to communication

Sevilla II: Since December, a new rule forbids the prisoners to receive morethan two publications, whether books, newspapers or magazines, in theirmonthly packages..

Algeciras Prison: after the ban on writing Christmas cards in Basque becamepublic, the prisoners have been informed that the letters written in Castilianwill now also be delayed for 14 days.

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New accident due to the dispersals

Harassment of relatives.

On February 1, three friends of Mitxel Turrientes, imprisoned in the prison ofHerrera, became victims of the first accident of this year 2013. The accident oc-curred near Burgos, on their way to the visit; they lost control of the car due tobad road conditions, ice and hail. They suffered no serious injuries but lost theirvisit. They were forced to return by taxi due to the extent of the damage to thevehicle.

In the third weekend of February, relatives of Aitziber Coello, incarcerated inthe Foncalent jail, were staying at a nearby hotel intending to visit the follo-wing day. Around 3:00 am, six Policía Nacional, five in uniform and one in plain-clothes who was identified as such, tried to enter the room, in order to check theidentities of the visitors of the female Basque prisoner. The relatives pointedout that there was a girl of 11 years present, and eventually they agreed thatonly the plainclothes policeman should enter.

We consider situations such as this to be serious, to experience the shock of se-eing the police in a room at dawn; there is also the fact that logic tells us that ifthey were aware of who were staying there, they also knew that there was achild among them. It is difficult to justify on the other hand, in order to establishtheir identities, that it was necessary to go there at that hour.

On February 3rd, the Ertzaintza (Basque Government police force -- Transla-tor) stopped the van returning from family visits in Foncalent jail. It was heldup there for one hour.

On February 15th, the Guardia Civil, at an apparently routine checkpoint, stop-ped the car of a family who were on their way to catch the bus for relatives vi-siting prisons in Andalucia. They were held up there for a very long time duringwhich not a single other vehicle was stopped.

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Searches of relatives

Lost visits

Villena Prison: In a December face-to-face visit, the relatives suffered in-tense frisking; girls and boys had the detector passed over them, whilethe women were obliged to remove their bras. They were also searched byphysically patting-down.n.

Zuera Prison: Intense body searches before a face to face visit in January. Des-pite setting off no signal while passing through the metal detector, the relati-ves were brought to a room where they were obliged to submit to searches byphysically patting down.

Seysses Muret Prison, French state: the family of Juan Carlos Estevez couldnot make the visit because upon arrival, officers assured them that the Basqueprisoner was not in that prison. However Juan Carlos Estevez was and is still inSeysses Muret. The prison is located 430 km from the Basque Country.

Villefranche-sur-Saone Prison (French state). Relatives of prisoner Julen Mu-jika on 13th February journeyed the 900 kilometers to the French jail in orderto visit their relative. The journey was in vain. Upon arriving there, they wereinformed that he had been transferred to the Muret-Seysses jail.

Soto del Real Prison. Prisoner Aingeru Cardaño was transferred from that jailto the one at Ocaña I. The transfer took three days, from Friday to Monday, du-ring which he was unable to communicate with his family. The day he arrivedat Ocaña, he had a face-to-face visit scheduled at Soto. His relatives travelled1,000 km altogether, totally in vain.

Soto del Real Prison. Olga Comes was transferred from that jail to the one atMansilla, Leon. As in the previous case, relatives only learned of this transferwhen they arrived at the Soto jail to have their visit.

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Jesus Bollada (Barakaldo), 14th February after 26 years in jail.

Mikel Olza (Iruñea), on 16th of February with sentence served.

Ugaitz Astiz (Iruñea), on 16th of February with sentence served.

Ailande Hernaez (Gasteiz), on 17th of February with sentence served.

Iñaki Pujana (Otxandio), on 21st of February after 27 years in jail.

Asier Tapia (Donostia), on 23rd of February after 5 years in prison.

Alberto Gomez (Barakaldo), arrested on 8th of February in Barakaldo and jai-led in Basauri.Aitor Franco (Orereta) arrested on 13th of February and jailed in Martutene.Oier Ibarguren (Donostia) arrested on 21th of February in Moulins (France).Arkaitz Varea (Antsoain) arrested on 21th of February in Moulins (France).

set free

imprisonments

transferredSpanish state:Aingeru Cardaño (Bilbo), from Soto del Real to Ocaña I.Kristina Goirizelaia (Igorre), from Soto del Real to Estremera.Eneko Bilbao Aresti (Bilbo), from Soto del Real to Alcala Meco.Olga Comes Arranbillet (Iruñea), from Soto del Real to Mansilla.

change of destination

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temporary relocations

French state:

Andoni Lariz (Ziortza-Bolibar), from Fleury to Bois D'Arcy.Julen Mujika (Donostia), from Villefranche to Muret Seysses.Oier Ardanaz (Iruñea), from Nantes to Poitiers-Vivonne.Xabier Aranburu (Bilbo), from Bourg to Bresse a Muret Seysses.

SPANISH STATE:Manex Castro (Villabona), from Puerto III to Zaballa.Ibai Beobide (Bilbo), from Puerto III to Valdemoro.Josune Balda (Oiartzun), from Valencia II to Soto del Real.Jose Agustin Camacho (Hernani), from Valencia II to Valdemoro.Jon Olarra (Donostia), from Granada to Valdemoro.

FRENCH STATE:Mikel Karrera (Iruñea), from Villepinte to Fresnes.Aitzol Iriondo (Donostia), from Bois D’Arcy to La Santé.Urtzi Etxebarria (Donostia), from Osny to La Sante.Jurdan Martitegi (Durango), from Nanterre to Fleury.Oihan Barandalla (Etxarri Aranatz), from Bourg en Bresse to La Santé..Ander Mujika (Donostia), from Bourg en Bresse to La Santé.Marixol Iparragirre (Eskoriatza), from Lyon to Fresnes.