This file is a mirror of EUSKAL HERRIA JOURNAL by Basque Red Net.

(coming from previous page)

Group Isolation

29. In 1987, dispersal starts and the Basque political prisoners are scattered out. It is in this moment that the long process of this new stage starts. Prisoners are taken in small groups from the High Security Prison towards 60 prisons all over the Spanish State.

Within their new prison, they will be usually kept in smaller groups consisting of about 5 to 10 political prisoners. At first, these sub-group was kept together and had the possibility to maintain the group mechanisms they have developed for years. But in the second phase, those smaller groups were scattered across different blocks inside each prison. Thus at the very most there would three comrades per block separated into different cells.

This is the current situation of Basque political prisoners, dispersed through 60 prisons, shut up in cell blocks which are like small prisons within prisons.

Faced to this new situation prisoners find themselves obliged to answer individually to the measures imposed on them. Psychologically, they keep the sense of group bonding, but in real terms, the group has been broken up. Each prisoner will have to answer individually but while retaining the cohesion of the group to which he belongs. If he is to survive in this situation, it is vital that he always bears in mind this group identity. The prisoner will be still controlled and analyzed, and tested so that all his reactions are monitored. He will not have the right to privacy, nor will he be able to stick up to a routine. He will be object of continuous changes of space and daily timetable ( transfers to different cells or prisons). He will be subjected to space isolation and thus to a climate of mistrust towards his fellow prisoners: two methods to destroy his relationship and emotional bonds. He will be exhausted and deprived of sleep by other measures methodically applied such as switching on and off the lights of the cell during the night.

The special consequences of isolation, anguish, weakness, continual lack of sleep, overheating or underheating of cells, chronic hunger, (small amounts of badly-cooked and inadequate food) will make it difficult to keep up prisoner’s spirits and to maintain his physical and mental coherence as individual. The human organism is not able to resist such a sustained attack, so occasionaly, these measures will be stopped for the prisoner to regain his strength, but as soon as he recovers, everything will start again.

Another fact to highlight is that since1992 the physical assaults during transfers from one prison to another have progressively increased. We will discuss this later, but it should be borne in mind that the uncertainty about what is to happen and the fear and insecurity caused by a new transfer can only exacerbate the emotional turmoil in which the prisoners find themselves.

All these measures applied to Basque political prisoners are led to produce anguish, forcing them into a hightened state of self- defense, which is inevitably extremely stressful. Until such time and living conditions are improved, this stress can only get worse, since there are no means to avoid it. It produces negative energy which can only be released and externalized by anxiety and aggressivity, which will rebound on the individual himself. We must not forget that we are dealing with a close system where the control of that system is controlled by the prison system itself and in which the individual is bereft of power. This strategy has fatal consequences: 3 Basque political prisoners appeared hanging in their cells. Two of them, JOSE Mª ARANZAMENDI ARBULU and JUAN CARLOS HERNANDO GONZALEZ, died in 1997. These two cases took place in a context of hard pressure towards the Group of Prisoners, with constant threats, beatings and assaults, isolation,...

Individual isolation, or separation from the group, is one of hardests situation anyone could ever face. To be part of a group means to share a way of thinking and a system of values and patterns of behavior common to the group as a whole. To be part of a group is to intefrate within a unity which give each of its members a sense of personal dignity and self-esteem. This unity gives perseverance and solidity to the individual, and helps to protect him against pressures coming out from the group. It gives him a dymnamic of harmony and balance,and only by persistent attacks can this dynamic be broken down, making him vulnerable to outside pressures.

Social isolation from the group is the main cornerstone of penitentiary dispersion. It makes it qualitatively and quantitatively more and more difficult for prisoners to maintain their point of view, their way of thinking and their system of ideas.

We are confronted with a system which all the prisoners have to face. Any who refuse this resocialization must be physically and psychologically destroyed.

Isolation and dispersal will deliberately put into practice a program destined to destroy human will and political identity.They are aimed at the individual: his mind, beliefs, ideals, imagination, life itself.

30. In 1994, isolation practice affected 4 political prisoners at least. Thus, FERNANDO DE LUIS ASTARLOA was kept in a cell of JAEN II with no possibility to see the sun-light during three months and was subjected to constant searches in the cell day and night. In the cell, he was only allowed to have underwear and did not have radio, television, personal cleaning tools, and finally, no mail was passed to him. JON MIRENA SAN PEDRO BLANCO, was in solitary confinement during several months in PUERTO II. Only in one week, he was changed cells in four occasions; social prisoners were threatened with reprisal if they had any relationship with him. The prisoner JOXE DOMINGO AIZPURUA AIZPURU, who denounced cruel torture while in the hands of the Civil Guard, remained 14 days in solitary confinement.

31. In 1995, five Basque prisoners suffered a situation of complete solitary confinement, with no contact with any other prisoner. These were: JUANJO ZUBIETA ZUBELDIA, in the MONTERROXO prison; JOXEPA ERNAGA ESNOZ, in the prison of PUERTO II; MAITE ROJO in MELILLA; GOTZON LIZARBE in A CORUÑA and UNAI PAROT in ALMERIA.

32. The Basque prisoner JOSE ANTONIO FERNANDEZ HERNANDO was transferred from one block to another in October 1995, after a Judicial Decree supported a claim by the prisoner. This decree states that "it is not legal to keep the internee in such a situation of solitary confinement". This prisoner had already been four years in solitary confinement.

33. The Basque prisoner PATXI ARISTI ETXAIDE was kept in isolation during 11 months in CARABANCHEL after his extradition in June 1995.

34. The prisoner JUAN JOSE REGO VIDAL was kept in isolation more than one year in SOTO DEL REAL, after his detention and imprisonment in August 1995. He is diabetic and over 60, and his health has greatly deteriorated during his stay in prison.

35. In 1996, the prisoner LUIS IRURETAGOIENA LANZ was kept in solitary confinement during one month, with no visits of relatives or defending counsels.

36. The prisoners JOSU URIBETXEBERRIA and XABIER UGARTE are in solitary confinement in CARABANCHEL since they were imprisoned on July 5, 1997. These two prisoners get out to the courtyard together but they cannot talk to each other, nor even say hello.

37. FERNANDO ELEJALDE was kept in the ISOLATION CELLS in SOTO DEL REAL since his imprisonment on March 15, 1997. Furthermore, he is subjected to constant vexations, such as constant strip-searches and press-ups with no apparent reason.

38. ROXARIO PIKABEA was kept in solitary confinement since his imprisonment on Novermber 22, 1996 until he was released in May 1997. He is diabetic and his situation was seriously aggravated.

39. It is particularly serious the situation of isolation of the prisoner UNAI PAROT since his imprisonment in 1990. Additionally, he has been object of 6 physical assaults and numerous death threats.

Right to medical care

40. The right to medical care is recognized as a fundamental right in the Spanish Penitentiary Regulation, in accordance with the guidelines for the Treatment of Prisoners passed by the Council of Europe and the ECOSOC. Certainly, the penitentiary regulation is correct. However, as we have previously shown in this report, the law and the way our friends and relatives are treated differ from each other. The issue of health is one of the most disturbing aspects, particularly as the pshychological aggressions above mentioned must have serious physical consequences (loss of sight, muscular deterioration, hearing problems, difficulties of movement,...).

Every prisoner has the right to proper medical care. The rules governing this issue are to be found in articles 36 to 40 of the LOGP. In particular, they spicify that each prison must dispose of at least one doctor with a training in psichology, who will take care of the physical and mental health of the prisoners and will monitor the sanitary conditions and general hygiene of the establishment. This doctor will be empowered to call for the collaboration of specialists, if required. There must also be at least one trained health worker with adequate auxiliary personnel, plus access to dental care (article 36.1). The prisoners have right to ask, at their expenses for the service,for medical consultations with specialists from outside the prison for medical consutlations,except when security reasons advice the limitation of this right.(article 36.3). Nevertheless, Basque political prisoners are alwasys deprived of this right in many ways:

A) They have difficulty in receiving adequate medical care from prison doctors.

- When they suffer from an illness, it can be moths before they are examined and diagnosed adequately.

- In a quite arbitrary manner, Basque political prisoners are regarded as F.I.E.S. (the register of prisoners who need special surveillance, on which prisoners considered "dangerous" are placed). Whenever they need to be taken to hospital for a medical exsamination or an operation (a right acknowledged in article 36.2), the security measures are excessive and always deleterious to the prisoners. They are handcuffed and there is always strong police presence. There will be Civil Guards in the room where the examination takes place, and the prisoner will be kept handcuffed throughout. Because of this lack of privacy and confidentiality, the prisoner may be well reluctant to explain his problems to the doctor. This situation goes beyon all limits when Basque political women undergo gynaecological examination. Should the prisoner be retained in hospital for an operation, he will be handcuffed to the bed and there will be permanent police custody. This will exert serious psychological pressures on the patient.

- Occasionaly, prison doctors ignore the needs of prisoners and fail to monitor their progress. We have it on record that six Basque political prisoners have died as a result inadequate medical attention: having been inadequately or incorrectly examined or given the wrong treatment. In the period this report was written, the prisoners JABI GOROSTIZA LEJARRIAGA and SANTIAGO DIEZ URIARTE died. In both cases, a cancer that was not adequately treated in prison developed fatally.

-The way patients are cared for during treatment is also frequently inadequate. They are never put on a diet adequated to their illness; but must eat standar prison food or the so-called infirmary diet. which hardly differs from the former and is the same for all the patients. When surgery is neccesary, it is not always authorized or it will be delayed for long periods of time because it is is the policy of prisons that whenever possible, operations on political prisoners should be effected in the Carabanchel prison hospital, where staffing levels and technical facilities are very limited.

-In the case of prisoners with psichological illnesses, there is no psyco-therapy. Prison doctors merely prescribe pharmacological treatment. These drugs can be withdrawn or their dosage modified, for no apparent reasons. Political prisoners with serious psycological illnesses have been punished with solitary confinement and subjected to extremely hard living conditions (2 hours of yard without contact with any fellow prisoners and 22 hours shut up in their cells) or they have been transferred to Prison psychiatric hospitals, where their condition has visibly deteriorated.

-As regards dental care, it is limited to extractions. Treatment such as fillings or bridges is unavailable.

-Ophthalmic care is inadequate and there are no regular eye test.

-Vaccination programmes are very rare and can be interrupted or suspended when prisoners are transferred to other prisons.

-Ordinary prisoners with contagious illnesses are not separated to avoid the spread of diseases, so healthy Basque political prisoners are forced to share cells with such prisoners.

Furthermore, showers and toilets are habitually filthy, and often soiled with blood from drug-addicted prisoners who mainline it.

B) On the othe hand, neither the French nor the Spanish administrations permit Basque political prisoners to receive extramural medical care, despite their right to have it. The reasons alleged are either never explained or justified "security reasons" or a simple "not authorized". Sometimes ,the reasons given can be: "they can use internal system", "clasiffied as a high-grade prisoner" or "the doctor may act as a go-between for ETA".

41. At present, it is 6 Basque political prisoners suffering from serious illnesses that have requested their transferal to the Basque Country for operations by doctors and hospitals of their choice. Their request has been denied:

*PEDRO GURIDI AROZENA, suffers a really painful LEFT HALF-SIDE SLIPPED DISK L4-L5, found on December 21, 1995. He has twice asked for his transferal to the Martutene prison where the Orthopedic Surgery Service of the Gipuzkoa Hospital has offered him treatment.

*The prisoner MIKEL VAZQUEZ DE LUIS was diagnosed a deviation of the nose cartilage. This pathology causes inflammation of the nose mucus and breathing problems. In August 1996, he asked for his transferal but no answer has given to him since.

*JOXE GOIKOETXEA MUNDUATE, in August 1996, was diagnosed a SYNDROM OF BILATERAL DUPUYTREN, which can only be cured by surgery. He requested his transferal on March 14, 1997 and he is still awaiting answer. The risk of finger amputation increases every day.

*JOXE MARI BERISTAIN URBIETA suffers from Hepatitis B since August 1990. His illness was diagnosed as PERSISTENT CHRONIC HEPATITIS B in May 1994. The medical personnel in the Gipuzkoa Hospital offered themselves to carry out a new treatment based on anti-virals, but to that end, it is necessary that the prisoner be transfered to Martutene. In February 1996, the medical sub-director in the ALCALA prison agreed with their proposal. On June 11, 1997, The General Chief of Penitentiary Institutions answers that "IN CONCORDANCE WITH THE MEDICAL REPORTS AT HAND, THERE ARE NO SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MAY FOR THE MOMENT SUPPORT THE CHANGE OF DESTINATION TO ANOTHER PRISON". Another demand of transferal was issued and in September 1997, he was rejected his petition again.

*XABIER ETXEBARRIA GONZALEZ, was diagnoesd a Lumbo-sciatica in November 1993; on June 20, 1996 he was diagnosed DISC PROTUSIONS AT THE L4-L5 and L5-S1 level. Since 1993, he has twice asked for authorization to be treated by extramural orthopedic surgeons and osteopaths, but these two requests has been equally rejected. On September 1996, he demanded his transferal to the Basauri Prison. As he received no answer, he issued the petition again in May 1997. On July 29, 1997, the Ombudsman Mr. Fernando Alvarez de Miranda closed the case because he could not see any surgery pathology and deemed his transferal unreasonable.

*FERNANDO DIEZ TORRES, was diagnosed a superios slipped disc in the left groin region on November 26, 1996. In April 1997, he requested his transferal to the Basauri prison for operation in the Basurto Hospital. On June 17, the Prison Judge rejects the tranferal as the prisoner is in the waiting-list in the Almeria Hospital. However, the fact is that he has been waiting for 8 months.

Article 92

42. In the section refering to the right to medical care, we must consider another aspect that is not only related to serious illnesses, but also to the nature of political prisoners and the fact we have previously mentioned: the attempts to break the prisoners down, destroy them by placing them in extreme conditions. We are referring to the use of blackmail both on prisoners and on their relatives and friends in cases of serious ilnesses that would justify their release from prison.

Article 92 of the Criminal Code states as follows: "In spite of what the previous article states (referred to probation), the convicted who have reach the age of 70, or do so before the sentence is served, and fulfill the necessary requirements -except for the requirement of having served three quarters of the said sentence or two thirds of the sentence- will be released on parole. The same criterion wiil be applied when there is medical proof that a prisoner is suffering from a very serious and incurable illness".

The article states that the following criteria should be applied:

a) There must be medical proof that the illness is serious and/or incurable or the prisoner must be 70 or over.

b) The prisoner must be sentenced and classified as grade 3, a decision taken by the Internal Prison authorities or by the Prison Judge.

c) The prisoner must register a permanent address and indicate whether he has a job or means of earning a living. On released, he must register at a magistrate's office in his area of residence and must report there, as often as the Judge states ( usually twice a month).

It is the Prison Judge that makes the final decision on whether the probation is granted or not in enforcement of article 92 (article 196.2 of the RP).

In the case of Basque political prisoners, the prisonsystem has thrown innumerable obstacles in their way, despite the fact that some of them satisfy all the clinico-medical criteria for parole according to the article.

The prison system questions the fact that psychological illnesses such as paranoid schizophrenia, manic-deppressive psychosis, pathological depression,etc are serious or incurable, despite the attempts to comit suicide by the prisoners with these illnesses. Mental patient is confined in a psychological unit within the prison or merely kept within its general regime, even if medical reports have established that an effective treatment of the illness would require his release into an adequate emotional and social environment.

On other occasions ill prisoners are not conceded the grade 3 classification, so the requirement of section b) is not fulfilled.

On the other hand, there are cases in which Basque political prisoners suffering from serious illnesses (such as a very advanced tumour) have been classified as grade 3, but were required by the Prison Judge to sign a document which obliges prisoners to promise to have nothing to do withthe kind of activities that led to their arrest in the first place whatsoever. If they refused to do so, they would not be released even if the judges recognized that probation was necessary to receive adequate treatment.

43. The arbitrariness in the enforcement of this right and the inhuman nature of the treatment can be illustrated by the most recent five cases on the enforcement of Article 92 (previously article 60). This five prisoners are free at present after long juridical battles (lasting several years in most cases), institutional stagnation and strong popular mobilizations and pressure for their release.

*INAXIO MENDIBURU ITURAIN, diagnosed ANQUILOSANT ESPONDILITIS with harm in the backbone, lumbar region, sacroliac and both hips. In 1992 and 1993, a request is issued to the Prison Judge in Murcia for his release on probation according to Article 60. Both requests were rejected. In December 1995, the access of two extramural doctors is demanded and the answer is also negative. At the end of June 1996, the Article 60 is demanded again in the Prison of Penitenciary Surveillance in Bilbo, because he had been transfered to Langraitz Prison. On January 24, 1997, Inaxio Mendiburu was released, five years after his first demand.

*FRAN FRANCO ARGIBAI. Diagnosed PARANOID SQUIZOPHRENIA OF LONG EVOLUTION, CHRONIC AND WITH SENSE OF SELF-INJURE. After the request for the Article 60 to be enforced, the Court of Penitenciary Surveillance in Alicante rejected his freedom on probation. This was a hard blow for the health of Fran Franco Argibai, who was released three monts later.

*AXUN SIERRA SAN MARTIN. Diagnosed a "rheumatic illness that affects skin, articulations and mainly the kidney. It causes reddening of the skin, arthritis and kidney insufficiency". She was sentenced to six year imprisonment, the National High Court agreed the provisional suspension of the execution of the sentence and after six years on freedom, the same Court ordered her definite imprisonment on March 9, 1995. After two rejections of the Article 60, she was finally released on June 10, 1996.

*XABIER ALKAIN IPIÑAZAR. Diagnosed a MANIAC-DEPRESSIVE PSYCHOSIS in 1992. In this year, he was punished with solitary confinement as the result of his agressive behaviour. On May 5, 1996, Article 60 was asked which was finally conceded in May 1997.

*KRISTINA ARRIZABALAGA. Diagnosed psychosis in 1987 after 10 days of solitary confinement and torture in the hands of the Police. Desfite the diagnosis, she was transfered in many cases from Langratz, where her state had greatly improved. She was taken to Zaragoza, Carabanchel,...On October 1996, a request for release on parole was requested in enforcement of the Article 92. It was finally achieved a month before the end of her sentence, in May 1997.

Transfers

44. In the dispersion policy, the transfer of prisoners plays a key role. Two types of transfers have to be distinguished:

-Transfers from one prison to another (only in 1996, there were 596 transfers of such type)

-Transfers from one cell to another or from one block to another with a variable frequency and which can take place at any time of the day or night, with no prior warning.

The aim of these measures is quite obvious. When a prisoners arrive at a prison, he tries to adapt as well as they can, to the living conditions of that particular place, getting to know how it works, the officers and what they are like, building relationships with the other prisoners, adapting to live in their cells.... As soon as the prisoner has minimally adapted to this situation, he is transferred to another cell, disrupting the patterns he has built up way, making him feel more insecure and disorientated. Recently, cell-to-cell transfers have increased. This means that within the same prison inmates are periodically trransferred from one cell or block to another, even within a few days. This system puts the prisoner into a continuous state of tension, because they never know when the officers are going to turn up to transfer them. They must live on permanent alert, with their posessions packed and ready to be moved at a moment's notice. On many occasions they are moved so fast that they are forced to leave things behind.

With regard to transfers, the only official requirement is that they must be effected in a way that respects the dignity and rights of the prisoners and the security of their transportation (article 36 of the RP).

Rule 45.2 of the ECOSOC and rule 50.2 of the Council of Europe specify that the transport used to transfer prisoners must be well ventilated and lit and that under no circumstances should they be made to suffer physically.

Obviously, these rules apply to transfers implying displacement outside the prison, to another prison or any other location. We see that Spanish prison autorities infringe both the domestic law and the recommendations by international organizations to which they are signatories.

When the transfers are made between prisons, prisoners are frequently beaten up by the Civil Guards who transfer them. Apart from the beatings, the transfers are carried out in completely sealed off cellular vans with no ventilation. These drivings last hours, even days, while prisoners remain inside the van, handcuffed, are not even allowed to relieve themselves.

Another aspect of the transfers is the tension they create for relatives. They are never previously warned of these transfers and prisoners' whereabouts remain unkown for several days, not kowing their situation and their state of health or the reasons of the transfer. These are usually arbitrary, but even when there are health motives, neither relatives nor the lawyers are informed. Thei whereabouts is finalyy known through a telegram from the prisoner himself when he reaches his destination or through notice of other political or social prisoners.

Neither the law nor the rules of treatment say anything about transfers form cell to cell or from block to block. This area is not regulated. The only thing to be stressed is that the so-called "security reasons" are a fallacy. These continuous cell transfers try to psichologically destabilize our relatives. When we visit our relatives, we frequently find them in abnormally high emotional states, suffering from insomnia, outbursts of anger, lack kof concentration, etc. and this gives us serious cause for concern.

Physical assaults

45. As the families and friends of Basque political prisoners, we are extremely alarmed at one particular feature of transfers during the last few years: the beatings, threats and physical assaults they have been subjected by those who are in charge of their custody during these drivings.

In the Spanish State, it is the members of the Civil Guard who are in charge of the custody of prisoners in transit between the prisons and their custody. During the last few years, the cases of physical assaults against the prisoners had been infrequent. Nevertheless, over the last three years there have been some incidents which are disturbing even if taken individually, but which sees as a whole show a very alarming picture because of the serious consequences they can imply to our relatives. We refer to the increase of all kind of physical assaults against prisoners by the Civil Guards in charge of supervising transfers, and sometimes by prison officers too.

We must also add what we said before, namely that the prisoners are continuously transferred in order to "hinder their acclimatization in any given prison" and sometimes they have to suffer systematic isolation, which leads to serious psychological disorders.

As regards to physical assaults, since the penitentiary dispersion was put into effect in 1987, there have been more than 350 physical assaults on Basque political prisoners, most of them during these transfers. In the period of this report, there have been 117 assaults by prison officers within the prisons and civil guards in prison-to-prison transfers.

Freedom on Probation

47. In this section we will deal with the right of the convicted to be put on probation after serving a specific part of the sentence. Article 192 of the RP states that prisoners who have served three quarters of the sentence and satisfy the requirements stated in article 90 of the Criminal Code will serve the last quarter of the sentence on probation. These reqirements are the following:

-That they are classified as grade 3 of penitentiary treatment.

-That they have served three quarters of the sentence.

-That they have earned this benefit through good behaviour and that there is a favourable report from the experts appointed by the Prison Judge in support of his social rehabilitation.

Of these fourrequirement in the Criminal Code, we see that the only objective requirement is that three quarters of the sentence must have been served. The others are totally subjective, this is, they are subjected to the arbitrary decision of penitentiary authorities, with no rules regulating it. The governing board in each prison will write a record and send it to the Prison Judge who will decide whether to release the prisoner or not.

48. Today, 125 Basque political prisoners are in the situation to access to the freedom on probation after serving three quarters of the sentence. However, they are still in prison.

The most serious aspect is the arbitrarity response and political use of the Spanish Government and manipulation in this regard for political ends. In 1994, the number of prisoners who sholud already be on probation became a vindication of the policy of dispersion and social reintegration. It was said that massive release of prisoners was inminent, about 50 or more prisoners who were supposed to have renounced the policies of the whole group of Basque political prisoners. The truth was that most of them fulfilled the requirements stated by law for probation, which do not contain any kind of political proviso. It was precicely due to this political factor that they refused to renounce their ideas. The Administration kept them in prison, totally illegaly.

The Right to legal assistance

49. The right to legal assistance is historically conceived and considered to be one of the fundamental rigths of the individual, whatever his situation is. It is also one of the basic cornerstones of a Constitutional State.

With regard to the RIGHT TO LEGAL ASSISTANCE, article 17 paragraph 3 of the Constitution guarantees the assistance of a defendin counsel for the detainee throughout all police and judicial procedures.

Finally, Article 24 of the Constitution establishes that judges and authorities must guarantee EFFECTIVE LEGAL PROTECTION of rights and legitimate interests and under no circumstances should a detainee be without a legal defence.

It is unequivocal that Public Authorities must protect this fundamental right against any violation, and assure that in no circumstances is it ever undermined.

As a series of general and basic norms, the Constitution disposes the basis to draw up subsequent laws, and all the national rules should be consonant with the principles contained within it. According to this statement, we find a whole list of rules concerning the Right to legal assistance, and we will now procede to summarize them.

To begin with, we find the LECr (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal -Code of Criminal Prosedure). Article 118 of this Code states that every person accused of a punishable offence shall be able to exercise the right to legal assistance, and to this end he shall be represented by a solicitor and defended by a legal counsel. If no counsel is asked by the prisoner, he must be assisted by a court-appointed counsel.

We find some other rules in the LOPJ- Ley Orgánica del Poder Judiacial -Constitutional Law of Judicial Power of 1985 (from now on LOPJ).

Article 137 of this law establishes among other things that freedom of speech and legal assistance of the defending counsel will be protected by Judges and Courts. It also specifies that all the facts or reports obtained through their proffesional activity must remain confidential and they shall not be forced to divulge them.

Article 440 of the same law provides that the accused will may freely appoint their own representative and defending counsel, and article 441 obliges the public authorities to guarantee the legal defense.

In respect to the right to legal assistance and proffesional confidentiallity, article 39 of the General Statutes of the Legal Proffession states that the legal defence is a proffesional obligation both for the legal profession which the defending counsel must observe within the parameters of the prevailing legal rules.

Article 41 states that the defending counsel has the duty and the right to keep proffesional confidentiallity. According to this article, the proffesional secret forces the lawyer into an obligation and right not to reveal any information or display any document he has aquired during his proffessional activities and which relates to his client.

Finally and as far as the area we are examining is concerned, article 53 states the obligations of the defending counsel in respect to his client. Among these obligations, we find the obligation to carry out the defence as zealously and diligently as possible, and always to observe the principle of confidentiality.

To conclude this analisys of the Spanish law we will refer to the LOGP, in what refers to communication betewen defending counsels and their imprisoned clients. Article 51 in section 2 states that those communications, oral or written, shall not be interrupted except by a judicial order and in cases of terrorism. Section 5 of the same article states that communication can be suspended or intercepted by the prison Governor, in which case he must inform competent legal authorities. At this point the term "in due cause" is used. It must be understood that the decision to suspend or intercerpt communication must be justified for each specific case, and cannot be taken in a general way and for an indefinite period of time although this is the way some Prison Judges have interpreted it.

We can observe that Spanish law regulating the RIGHT TO LEGAL ASSISTANCE is in consonance with the international rules adopted in the Treaties and Convenants on Human rights ratified by the Spanish State.

Article 11, section 1 of UNIVERSAL STATEMENT ON HUMAN RIGHTS specifies that every person accused of a punishable offence has the right to be pressumed innocent until proved guilty, according to law and after a public trial in which his legal defense must be guaranteed.

Likewise, Article 14 Section 3.b) of the INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS states that during the trial every person accused of a punishable offence will have the uniform right of access to the time and means required to prepare his defence and to comunicate with a lawyer of his choice.

Finally, Article 6 Section 3 of the EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS lays down the basic rights of every accused, among which we find the right to have enough time and facilities required to prepare his defence. It also states the right to be defended by a lawyer of his choice.

We can observe that one of the basic rights of every detained or imprisoned is the right to communicate with a lawyer in order to prepare his defence and if he is found guilty, to have his legal assistance until the sentence is served. Another basic right is the assistance by a lawyer of his choice. These rights are guaranteed by Spanish Law as well as by the international Treaties dealing with Human Rights, which are part of the Spanish Domestic Legislation, since according to the first section of article 96 of the 1978 Constitution, all International Treaties and Conventions are automatically included in national legislation.

50. Before going any further, we must insist on the fact that at present, Basque political prisoners are dispersed all over the Spanish States in 60 prisons (although in fact, when counting the number of prisons, we have to take into account that there may be several prisons in any given locality with the same name. In Seville, for instance, there are 2 prisons: Seville I and Seville II and male and female prisoners are separated. If we bear this in mind, the number of prisons where Basque political prisoners are dispersed is around 100). This fact implies a great difficulty to exercise prisoners’ Right to Legal Assistance. The dispersion of our relatives means that the persons who are to be tried for the same offence are separated, regardless of the fact that their lawyers cannot bring them together to discuss his strategy with them as a group, they cannot carry out a proper defence. The truth is that they are dispersed in such a way that a joint defense is impossible. Therefore, lawyers have to travel thousands of kilometres to prepare their defense, because it happens for example that one prisoner is in the prison of Martutene, in San Sebastian and another one is in the prison of Seville and these two cities happen to be 1000 kilometers one from the other.

51. In relation to the defence of Basque political prisoners we should distinguish two aspects:

A) Legal defence during the trial that culminated in imprisonment. The final verdict in these trials is always passed by the National High Court in Madrid. For these trials, prisoners are transferred from the prisons where they have been dispersed to prisons in Madrid that are close to the building of the High Court. Despite these transfers, it is extraordinarily difficult to prepare the defense because moves are not carried out with the sufficient time. Furthermore, communications between the lawyer and the prisoners jointly accused of the same offence are usually uncoordinated. The lawyer usually has to communicate with them separately and this makes the defence much more difficult.

B) Legal defense with regards to events inside prisons. Most of the complaints by the prisoners due to the infringment of rights go by the board because they do not have access to legal defence. It is actually impossible that around 550 dispersed people, whose reports about the violation of their rights are made of a daily basis, can be assisted by a very small group of lawyers who live in the Basque Country.

Moreover, there is an additional factor which affects both aspects of the legal defense, and which relates to what happens inside prisons when lawyers communicate with the prisoners.

This is the factor of confidentiality between client and lawyer, and the duty and right of the lawyer to observe proffesional confidentiality (regulated in Article 137 of the LOJP and in Articles 41 and 53 of the General Statutes of the Legal Proffession).

The reality is that, despite all the above mentioned rules, when prisoners have inteviews with their lawyers, prison officers take advantage of the Article 51 Section 2 of the LOPJ and record their conversations.

Article 51.2 of the LOJP states that communications, oral or written, will not be suspended, except by a court order and in cases of suspected terrorism. Section 5 of the same article states that communications will be suspended or intercepted by the prison governor with due cause, and the competent legal authority must be notified.

With respect to the right to legal assistance, we have to point out that if the said article gives prison governors the pretext to interrupt or control communications between lawyers and prisoners, the law indicates that this interruption must have a motive and the prison governor must inmediately inform the judge. It is the judge's responsibility to interpret the law strictly in order to assure that a constitutionally- establihed basic right like the right to legal defense is not violated. From this we may deduce that in each and every case where communication has been suspended or intercepted, the specific reason for which applies in a general way to all the communications a prisoner may have with his lawyer, and the decision itself can never be taken in an arbritary way. For so basic a human right to be withdrawn, the motive must be serious and explicit.

The reality of the situation isquite different; all the interviews between lawyers and Basque political prisoners are intercepted by prison officers that supervise them with the aid of tape ecorders.

This is a serious and totally unacceptable state of affairs, since a fundamental right is being infringed. Prisoners cannot prepare their defense properly or tackle any aspects in it without the prison authorities knowing it.

Right to Education

52. The LOGP states in Article 55.3 that penitentiary administration should stimulate the interest of the prisoners in study and make available as many facilities as possible so that those prisoners who cannot study outside may do so by correspondence courses, or via radio or television. Similarly, Article 58 states the prisoner's right f access to books.

Rule 77 of the ECOSOC and rule 77 et seq. of the rules of the Council of Europe state that the prison authorities must encourage study within their prisons.

However, this right is denied to Basque political prisoners who are confronted with all manner of obastacles which prevent them gaining access to books and which seriously hinder their studies.

53. Basque political prisoners have always wanted to study while in prison. be this university courses or others. The authorities have the duty to facilitate such studies, providing prisoners with the access to the relevant materials and resources. Study is not a privilege. Yet, for the Basque political prisoners it becomes a daunting task. Before the dispersion policy began, it was already difficult to study. These difficulties have increased with dispersion so nowadays it is almost impossible to follow a course.

CONSEQUENCES FOR THE RELATIVES

54. In addition to all the above mentioned vulneration of right, there are many others that directly affect relatives: vexations with integral strip imposed before visits; rejection of visits according to the arbitrary will of a given prison officer; abuses and threats, even death threats...Or the long periods of uncertainty when the prisoner is transfered and his new destination is still unknown. Day after day goes by without the least information. Nevertheless, one of the most serious facts is the significant human cost apart from the economic cost that this inhumane prison policy implies. From the very beginning of this policy, three have been the realtives who died far away from the Basque Country when they were to visit their imprisoned relatives. Only in the period of this report, one person dies and 101 friends or relatives have been differently injured in 32 car accidents.

55. The whole picture of violations and infrigement of rights lead us to assure that penitenciary dispersion is, as a matter of fact, a further punishment, a cruel and inhumane punishment that the prisoners and their relatives suffer.

ATTACHED DOCUMENTS

. Map of prison dispersal

. Ombusdman Report for the Basque Parliament. March 1996.

. REPORT 1994 (International Prison Watch)

. RAPPORT 1995 (Obserbvatoire International des Prisons)

. Resolution of the Basque Parliament on December 28, 1995.

. Resolution of the Commission on Human Rights and Citizens’ Requests in the Basque Parliament on September 13, 1996.

. Statement of support and signatures of the Majority of Basque Trade Unionis.

. List of physical assaults in 1993-94-95-96 and 1997.

In the Basque Country, on November 1st 1997