Victims and politics

Sunday’s march in Madrid was a way for several terrorism victims’ associations to show their disagreement with the recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg governing prison sentences in Spain, and to demand an end to the Basque terrorist group ETA where there are clear “winners and losers.” It is understandable that relatives of murder victims and attack survivors should express their pain and consider themselves victims of an injustice. A matter of greater concern, however, is the fact that some political leaders, including those in the ruling party, should also yield to temptation and choose to protest.

The Popular Party (PP) is in a tight spot. Back when it was in opposition, it used to march on the streets side by side with the victims’ associations to protest the policies of the Socialist government, which it called a “traitor to the dead.” Current Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who used to personally participate in those marches, sent party leaders in his place on Sunday, probably to avoid being targeted by angry protesters.

Spanish society has always avoided the temptation of taking justice into its own hands, even during the worst days of terrorist activity known as the Years of Lead; people believed that democracy would finally overcome the terrorist madness. And so it was: ETA has been defeated, even if it cost a lot of blood. To claim that this is an end without winners or losers is to accept the political and media-fueled demagoguery that refuses to accept any solution other than life imprisonment for terrorists.

Spanish society has always avoided the temptation of taking justice into its own hands

It is also not possible to rationally hold that 20 or 30 years behind bars is the same as impunity or amnesty. There is no such thing as a life sentence in the Spanish judicial system, and each prisoner must be treated according to the laws that were in place when he or she was tried and convicted. Former Madrid premier Esperanza Aguirre is wrong when she clamors against a court that “humiliates the victims and rewards the murderers;” this, by the way, is the same court that supported the Spanish government when it outlawed Batasuna, ETA’s political wing, in 2009. But those who are jumping for joy at the European ruling are also wrong — and cruelly so — because it is not easy to accept that people who filled the streets with blood are now strolling around freely. Basque left-wing radicals will do well to keep away from any attempt at glorifying released criminals.

The executive cannot freely decide how long prisoners must stay behind bars, but nor can it be accused of not having tried to get Strasbourg to find a different solution for killers who were found guilty of one crime and those who were convicted for several dozen. An independent European tribunal has made its decision; it was its role to do so, and its decision must be respected. Article 10 of the Spanish Constitution makes it crystal clear that Spain is bound by the treaties and agreements it has ratified. Under a dictatorial regime, a government does whatever it wants, but not in a democracy. It is possible to be in disagreement with a court ruling, but one cannot build a policy or encourage peaceful coexistence on the basis of ignoring irrevocable rulings or forcing the government to do things that are not in its power.