Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday there would be no impunity for the crimes of Basque separatist militants ETA following the announcement of their dissolution this week.

"There has never been and there never will be any impunity," he said in a televised speech.

"ETA's crimes will continue to be investigated, its crimes will be put on trial and if necessary sentenced and sentences (already handed down) will continue to be served," he added.

"Now that ETA has at last announced its disappearance, our first thought must be for the victims, for all of them without exception, without distinctions," Rajoy said.

On April 20 ETA asked forgiveness from its victims for the first time for the "pain" caused by its decades-long campaign of violence.

ETA said on Thursday it had completely dismantled and ended all its activity, ending a 50-year campaign for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France, in which it killed around 850 people.</s>The Spanish prime minister has dismissed the disbanding of ETA as “noise and propaganda” and vowed to carry on prosecuting the militants.

A day after an ETA letter emerged stating that it had “completely dissolved its structures”, Mariano Rajoy said the separatist group had failed in imposing through violence an independent Basque state.

A final public declaration from ETA, which Spain regards as a terrorist group, is expected later on Thursday.

“Whatever ETA does or says, it won’t find any loophole for impunity,” Mr Rajoy said.

“ETA can announce its disappearance, but its crimes or the action of the judiciary won’t disappear.”

ETA, which stands for “Basque Homeland and Freedom”, killed 853 people, most of them after Spain transitioned to democracy in the late 1970s.</s>Spain’s prime minister has vowed that Eta’s crimes will not go unpunished and called for victims of its five-decade terrorism campaign to be remembered as the group finally dissolves.

Speaking on Friday as Eta held a ceremony in southern France to mark its end, Mariano Rajoy said the day did not belong to the terrorists but to the 853 people they had murdered since 1968.

“Today, after 50 years, Eta has finally recognised that its whole story has been one of failure,” he said. “It has achieved none of the political aims of its long, criminal history. Not one.”

He said the terrorists had gained nothing from killing people and would not profit from the abandonment of their armed campaign seven years ago nor from their dissolution, finalised this week.

“We will carry on investigating Eta’s crimes. They will be judged and sentences handed down,” Rajoy said.

“There has not been and there will not be any impunity. We owe them nothing and we have nothing to thank them for when it comes to abandoning their violence, because they have waited too long in recognising their defeat.”

The prime minister said he would have liked to mention all of Eta’s victims by name but could not do so in his televised address. Instead, he urged Spain to remember them “one by one, along with the uniqueness of their stolen lives”.

“They’re not just another statistic,” he said. “They are unique individuals whose lives, like those of all of us, were full of sadness, happiness, hope and disappointment. But they were not allowed to live those lives; they were snatched away.”

Rajoy also paid tribute to the police, security services, judges, prosecutors and journalists who had helped in the fight against Eta.

He said the group’s defeat had begun when Spanish democracy started to listen to the victims’ stories and realised “the only possible story about the fight against Eta was the story of the victims, a story of cruelty and injustice, a story of the totalitarianism of those who tried to use force and criminal acts to impose something that the people rejected”.

In a pointed reference to Eta’s recent apology, which has been fiercely criticised for not going far enough in expressing remorse over the deaths of all its victims, Rajoy said there should be no distinction between civilian and police or military deaths.

“There is no room for justification nor for excuses,” he said. “There is nothing that can justify so much pain and so much cruelty.”



Eta, which stands for “Basque homeland and freedom”, was founded as a cultural organisation in 1959, but began its armed struggle the following decade in an attempt to establish an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.

Its end came with Friday’s event in the French town of Cambo-les-Bains, which was attended by Eta members, Basque civilians and international mediators.

Two days earlier, a letter from the group had emerged in which it confirmed it had “completely dissolved all its structures and declared an end to its political initiative”.</s>The Spanish prime minister has dismissed the disbanding of ETA as “noise and propaganda” and vowed to carry on prosecuting the militants.

A day after an ETA letter emerged stating that it had “completely dissolved its structures”, Mariano Rajoy said the separatist group had failed in imposing through violence an independent Basque state.

A final public declaration from ETA, which Spain regards as a terrorist group, is expected later on Thursday.

“Whatever ETA does or says, it won’t find any loophole for impunity,” Mr Rajoy said.

“ETA can announce its disappearance, but its crimes or the action of the judiciary won’t disappear.”

ETA, which stands for “Basque Homeland and Freedom”, killed 853 people, most of them after Spain transitioned to democracy in the late 1970s.</s>A woman walks past a graffiti against torture in the Spanish Basque village of Agurain on May 3. Photo: Ander Gillenea / AFP

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Thursday there would be "no impunity" for ETA's crimes even though the Basque separatist group has committed to fully disbanding after more than four decades of violence.

"No matter what ETA does, there is no room for impunity for its crimes. ETA can announce its disappearance but its crimes do not disappear nor do the efforts to pursue and punish them," he said in a televised speech in the northern city of Logrono.

"We don't owe them anything and we have nothing to thank them for," Rajoy added.

His comments come as ETA is expected to formally announce its dissolution Thursday with a filmed statement, marking the definitive end to western Europe's last armed insurgency after more than four decades of violence.
• ETA begs forgiveness for 'pain and harm' it caused victims and families
• ANALYSIS: Why Catalan and Basque separatists are going different ways

Created in 1959 at the height of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, ETA waged a relentless campaign of killings and kidnappings in its fight for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France, leaving at least 829 dead.

Weakened in recent years by the arrest of its leaders, ETA announced a permanent ceasefire in 2011 and began formally surrendering its arms last year.

In a leaked letter published Wednesday by Spanish online newspaper El Diario, the group went a step further, announcing it was fully disbanding.

"ETA has completely dissolved all of its structures and declared an end to its political initiative," it said.

The regional leader of Spain's Basque Country, Inigo Urkullu, said he hoped ETA's end would be "unilateral, effective and definitive", in an interview published in newspaper El Pais on Thursday.

The group "owed" this step to "Basque society and humanity as a whole", he added.

"ETA never should have existed. It puts an end to a dark chapter of 60 years."

Spanish press have also reported that veteran, high-level ETA member Jose Antonio Urrutikoetxea, better known as Josu Ternera, will be in the video.

The 67-year-old is a wanted fugitive who disappeared in 2002 and is said to be suffering from cancer.

His potential presence in the video has infuriated some of ETA's victims, who say the separatist group should first and foremost condemn its history of violence and shed light on more than 350 unsolved crimes.

"This is not the end of ETA we deserved," said Consuelo Ordonez, head of the Covite victims' association, on Wednesday.

A partial apology by the separatist group last month, in which it acknowledged the harm done and apologised to some of its victims -- but not to those it considered legitimate targets such as police -- has done little to stem the criticism.

While an overwhelming majority of Basques welcome the end of violence, many still want independence.

The separatist coalition EH Bildu, the second largest grouping in the Basque parliament, won 21 percent of the vote in 2016's regional elections.

Critics charge that pro-independence parties, which include people once part of or linked to ETA, are trying to impose their version of events.

Separatists argue that Basques have been repressed for decades, even centuries, by Spain and France. This came to a head under Franco, who forbade the use of the Basque language in public.

Victims and historians, though, insist ETA was a terrorist group that went on killing even after Spain transitioned to democracy in the late 1970s. It is recognised as such by the European Union.

"ETA never wanted to bring about any democracy or any freedom, it wanted to end it," said Basque philosopher Fernando Savater.

"And that's what we want to remind people."

But apart from ETA victims, there were also separatists killed by far-right groups and death squads backed by members of Spain's security forces in what has become known as a "dirty war" campaign.

According to a December report commissioned by the Basque regional government, more than 4,100 complaints of police torture were made between 1960 and 2014.

Those victims are also demanding they be acknowledged.

"If you don't recognise part of the suffering, it's very difficult to create conditions for... reconciliation," said Ane Muguruza, 28.

"It's very difficult when there are open wounds."

Her father Josu, a lawmaker for Herri Batasuna, ETA's political wing, was murdered in 1989 by far-right militants she believes were state-backed.</s>Mariano Rajoy, durante la declaración institucional en La Moncloa. ULY MARTÍN / VÍDEO: QUALITY

Máxima solemnidad con la máxima sobriedad fue la impronta que ayer quiso dejar para la historia el presidente del Gobierno. Después de casi sesenta años de terror, ETA se ha disuelto y la ocasión merecía para Rajoy una declaración a la altura de la trascendencia del momento. Por ello ha elegido el Salón de Tapices del Palacio de La Moncloa, solo utilizado en ocasiones especiales, para leer un breve discurso. Para que no hubiera confusión en el objeto de la celebración, los principales destinatarios de sus palabras han sido las víctimas mortales de ETA, los heridos, y tantas familias rotas por los atentados.

“Desaparece ETA, pero no el dolor que ha sembrado, ni la deuda de gratitud que tenemos con las víctimas”, ha señalado Rajoy. “ETA no ha logrado ninguno de sus objetivos políticos. Ninguno”.

Esta será una de las frases que quedarán para siempre, así como el homenaje a los anteriores presidentes del Gobierno y a los ministros del Interior. “Esta jornada también es de ellos”, les ha dedicado Rajoy, que en mayo de 2005, siendo líder de la oposición, acusó al presidente socialista José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero de “traicionar a los muertos”.

Las víctimas siempre estarán en primer lugar en el relato sobre lo que fue ETA, ha recalcado el jefe del Ejecutivo. Los terroristas tampoco ganarán la guerra de la memoria. Y este Gobierno, al igual que los anteriores, proclamará siempre que ETA produjo dolor pero no consiguió nada. Por eso los sectores que se mantienen críticos con la acción de los Ejecutivos del PSOE y del PP desde la legalización de la izquierda abertzale —entre los que están parte de las asociaciones de víctimas— han escuchado del jefe del Ejecutivo que ETA se extingue sin haber logrado nada de lo que perseguía.

“ETA ha reconocido por fin que toda su historia ha sido un fracaso”, ha dicho Rajoy. “No consiguieron ningún rédito por matar, tampoco por dejar de hacerlo, y no van a obtener nada por anunciar su disolución”, ha añadido. “Los crímenes de ETA se seguirán investigando, sus delitos se seguirán juzgando y las condenas se seguirán cumpliendo”, ha subrayado. “No hubo ni habrá impunidad para ETA”.

Política penitenciaria

El futuro de los presos de ETA va a ser el punto de controversia que puede desatarse ahora. “No hay cambios en la política penitenciaria”, ha dicho el portavoz del Gobierno, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, avanzando que la política de dispersión y alejamiento se mantiene.

Sin embargo, el lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, en declaraciones a EL PAÍS, dijo que se ha abierto la puerta a que se produzca un acercamiento de presos etarras a las cárceles vascas, y aseguró que Rajoy se había mostrado “sensible” a esa opción en sus conversaciones. El Gobierno lo niega en público y en privado solo responde que ahora mismo no es momento de hablar de tal eventualidad aunque los etarras encarcelados que muestren arrepentimiento podrán tener beneficios penitenciarios, tal como ocurre con otros presos. En ningún caso se contempla una medida colectiva, sino siempre caso a caso, señalan fuentes gubernamentales.

Si hay controversia se verá la próxima semana en la reunión del Pacto Antiterrorista que convocará el ministro del Interior, Juan Ignacio Zoido, para que los partidos evalúen la situación.</s>Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has given his initial reaction to the ETA announcement it is ceasing all activity and disbanding.

"Whatever ETA does, there will be no concessions or impunity for its crimes. ETA can announce its dismantlement but neither its crimes nor the prosecution and punishment of them will disappear. Whatever ETA does these days, whatever ETA says, nothing will change an unquestionable reality. The whole ETA project was a resounding and complete failure," he said.

Many families of the nearly 900 fatalities attributable to ETA, including hundreds of police officers, await justice, and will endorse Rajoy's uncompromising position.</s>MADRID (AP) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is calling the disbanding of ETA "noise and propaganda," vowing to carry on prosecuting the militants in the Basque separatist organization.

Speaking a day after an ETA letter emerged stating that it had "completely dissolved its structures," Rajoy said the group had failed in imposing through violence an independent Basque state.

A final public declaration from ETA, which Spain regards as a terrorist group, is expected later on Thursday.

FILE - In this Dec. 30, 2006 file photo, plumes of smoke rise as firefighters work at the scene after a car bomb exploded in a parking lot at Madrid's new airport terminal. The Basque militant group ETA says it has "completely dissolved all its structures" after a 60-year armed independence campaign, but the Spanish government vowed Wednesday, May 2, 2018 not to abandon the investigation of crimes from the group's violent past. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

"Whatever ETA does or says, it won't find any loophole for impunity," Rajoy said. "ETA can announce its disappearance, but its crimes or the action of the judiciary won't disappear."

ETA - which stands for "Basque Homeland and Freedom" - killed 853 people, most of them after Spain transitioned to democracy in the late '70s.</s>MADRID, May 4 (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday there would be no impunity for the crimes of Basque separatist militants ETA following the announcement of their dissolution this week.

"There has never been and there never will be any impunity," he said in a televised speech.

"ETA's crimes will continue to be investigated, its crimes will be put on trial and if necessary sentenced and sentences (already handed down) will continue to be served," he added.

ETA said on Thursday it had completely dismantled and ended all its activity, ending a 50-year campaign of violence across Spain in which it killed around 850 people. (Reporting By Paul Day; Editing by Sonya Dowsett)</s>David Harland, Executive Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. Screen grab: AFP

After a 60-year armed struggle, Basque terror group ETA on Thursday announced it was dissolving in a ceremony lasting a matter of minutes.

Following a week of rumours and speculation that the group was preparing to formally declare its dissolution, the announcement was made at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) in Geneva.

The centre, which for the past 15 years has been involved in mediating the Basque conflict, had attempted to keep the whole event under wraps.

It had refused to respond to media enquiries or to confirm any kind of ceremony would take place.

But after a leaked letter appeared to confirm the rumours Wednesday and media began camping out in front of the small centre, set in an idyllic park on the shores of Lake Geneva, its plans seemed to unravel.

The centre had invited only the BBC, Swiss broadcaster RTS and a Basque television station to witness the ceremony, but under pressure agreed to allow in other journalists, who at the last minute tumbled into a room full of dignitaries.

"I can say that as of 1400 hours today, the 3rd of May, ETA has ceased to exist," David Harland, the executive director of the HD centre, told the crowd, before reading an official statement from ETA.

No members of the group were present, although they simultaneously published an audio recording of the statement read in several languages by veteran, high-level ETA member Jose Antonio Urrutikoetxea -- better known as Josu Ternera and who remains wanted by police -- and jailed ETA militant Marixol Iparraguirre.

Created in 1959 at the height of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, ETA was blamed for hundreds of killings and kidnappings in its fight for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France.

In what it said was its final statement, the group announced it had "completely dismantled all its structures" and "put an end to all its political activity".

"ETA wishes to end a cycle of the conflict between the Basque Country and the Spanish and French states," it said.

As he wrapped up his short speech, Harland reflected on how suddenly ETA, which has been blamed for the deaths of at least 829 people during its armed campaign, had ceased to exist.

"That's it. It took us 15 years to get here, but it's over in 15 minutes," he said.

He asked the guests to gather for a drink in the adjourning room, and waved out the media.

"Okay," he said. "Thank you very much for coming. That is the end of ETA."

Earlier on Thursday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Thursday there would be "no impunity" for ETA's crimes even though the Basque separatist group has committed to fully disbanding after more than four decades of violence.

"No matter what ETA does, there is no room for impunity for its crimes. ETA can announce its disappearance but its crimes do not disappear nor do the efforts to pursue and punish them," he said in a televised speech in the northern Spanish city of Logrono. "We don't owe them anything and we have nothing to thank them for," Rajoy added. Attacks by ETA and retaliation by Spanish state death squads traumatised Spain, peaking in the 1980s and 1990s. But weakened in recent years by the arrests of its senior leaders, it announced a permanent ceasefire in 2011 and began formally surrendering its arms last year. On April 20th it asked forgiveness from its victims for the first time for the "pain" caused by its decades-long campaign of violence. Victims' campaigners complained that the call for forgiveness did not extend to those the group considered legitimate targets, such as police officers and politicians. Some 300 ETA members are imprisoned in Spain, France and Portugal and up to 100 are still on the run, according to prisoners' families' group Forum Social. The group has demanded that prisoners be moved to prisons closer to their families after the end of ETA. International mediators are organising a peace conference in southwest France on May 4th.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy reminds a crowd to remember the 853 victims of the conflict and reaffirms that there will be no impunity for the violence perpetrated by ETA during its 60-year history.