Hunger strike forces the early release of convicted Eta murderer from jail term
The premature release of convicted Eta terrorist Iñaki de Juana Chaos last weekend has sparked a new debate over the future of the peace process in the Basque region.
The convicted murderer has been on hunger strike for 114 days since a second conviction was secured against him last year, which he believes was politically motivated. He had served his 18 year sentence for his role in the murder of 25 people in the 1980s when he was jailed for a second time, charged with making terrorist threats in an article he wrote from prison.
The hunger strike led to his hospitalisation a month ago. The government, fearing for his life, has now permitted him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
De Juana is one of the key leaders in Eta’s terrorist wing which has, over the last four decades, been responsible for the murder of 800 people. His release has sparked outrage among the Association of Terrorism Victims (ATV) and conservative opposition the People’s Party, who deplore Prime Minister Zapatero for negotiating with Eta.
Yet it seems the government has been backed into a corner over the affair. If they did not take action to prevent his death, de Juana would have been martyred in the name of the Basque separatist cause.
This would surely have intensified its strength and conferred legitimacy on the cause, decreasing any likelihood of swift conflict resolution. A similar tactic was used by Bobby Sands and IRA prisoners in Northern Ireland in the 1970s.
The golden question is, how best does a government deal with terrorists? In Northern Ireland, the British government and the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) outright refusal to negotiate with Sinn Fein up until the 1990s (and still today for the DUP) did not successfully work towards relieving sectarian tensions or facilitating the peace process. A policy of non-negotiation, while perhaps morally legitimate, has not proved successful.
Recent events demonstrate that the Zapetero government has made the right decision. The death of de Juana would only have re-ignited the terrorist cause, blocking any prospect of a peace settlement for perhaps another generation. The People’s Party and the ATV remain outraged by the decision, but it is unlikely that open hostilities will break out. The peace process halted by the December Madrid bombings can now recommence, but what happens when de Juana is released from house arrest is another question. A full resolution is unlikely in the near future, as the Basque people still demand secession – a right is not supported by the United Nations.
