A Battle of Narratives: Spanish Victims Organizations International Action to Delegitimize Terrorism and Political Violence

ABSTRACT

Spanish victims groups have provided a visible contribution to European terrorist violence prevention efforts. Instrumental and knowledge transfer motivations partly explain this interest but a separate driver that requires more attention is their opposition to the international narrative that legitimizes Euskadi Ta Askatasuna's violence promulgated by the political movement of the Basque Patriotic Left. This has resulted in a “battle of narratives” played out at the international level in order to shape the future of Basque politics where victims are challenging a discourse that frames the past in a way that justifies terrorism and that leaves the door open to a future return to violence.

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Correction to: Argomaniz, A Battle of Narratives: Spanish Victims Organizations International Action to Delegitimize Terrorism and Political Violence

Funding

This work was supported by the European Commission [Grant number HOME/2012/ISEC/AG/RAD].

Notes

1. On this question, see for instance the 2011 EU Counter-Terror Coordinator discussion paper on radicalization available at: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/oct/eu-council-radicalisation-14348-11.pdf (accessed 7 May 2015).

2. Steven R. Corman, “Understanding the Role of Narrative in Extremist Strategic Communication,” in Laurie Fenstermacher, ed., Countering Violent Extremism: Scientific Methods and Strategies (Washington, DC: NSI, 2011), p. 42.

3. Rachel Briggs and Sebastien Feve, Review of Programs to Counter Narratives of Violent Extremism (London: Institute for Strategic Dialogue, July 2013); see also Alex P. Schmid, Al-Qaeda's “Single Narrative” and Attempts to Develop Counter-Narratives: The State of Knowledge (The Hague: ICCT, January 2014).

4. The quotes are from p. 87 of the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) report “Preventing Radicalisation to terrorism and Violent Extremism: Strengthening the EU's Response,” which was released in January 2014. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/radicalisation_awareness_network/ran-best-practices/docs/collection_of_approaches_lessons_learned_and_practices_en.pdf (accessed 9 September 2015).

5. The text is from the RAN Voices of Victims of Terrorism (VVT) webpage: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/radicalisation_awareness_network/about-ran/ran-vvt/index_en.htm (accessed 8 July 2015).

6. Orla Lynch and Javier Argomaniz,“Meeting the Needs of Victims of Terrorism—Lessons for the International Context,” in Orla Lynch and Javier Argomaniz, eds., Victims of Terrorism. A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Study (London: Routledge, 2015), pp. 139–148.

7. The Asociación de Ayuda a las Víctimas del 11-M and the Asociación 11M Afectados del Terrorismo.

8. Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo (AVT), Colectivo de Víctimas del Terrorismo en el País Vasco (COVITE), Fundación Fernando Buesa, Fundación Gregorio Ordoñez, Fundación Miguel Ángel Blanco (FMAB), Fundación para la Libertad, Fundación Víctimas del Terrorismo (FVT).

9. A limitation of the sample is that the two main groups that emerged from the 11-M attacks did not answer the researcher's requests for an interview, although their own websites served as valuable sources for the analysis.

10. The organisations who have been traditional front-runners in international engagement are the Fundación Miguel Angel Blanco (FMAB) and the Fundación de Víctimas del Terrorismo (FVT). For more information on this and other statutory bodies see: Javier Argomaniz, “State Responses to Victims of Terrorism Needs in Spain,” in Javier Argomaniz and Orla Lynch, eds., International Perspectives on Terrorist Victimisation. An Interdisciplinary Approach (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), pp. 124–148.

11. Carlos Fernández de Casadevante Romani, International Law of Victims (London: Springer, 2012).

12. Lucía Sutil and Eduardo E. Lázaro, El dolor incomprendido. El sufrimiento en las víctimas del terrorismo (Barcelona: Plataforma Editorial, 2007).

13. See: http://www.zoomrights.com/?lang=en (accessed 5 May 2015).

14. At the time of writing, another organization, the Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo (AVT) is currently translating into English a number of victims testimonies in their website.

15. Such as the Omagh Self Help and Support Group

16. See: http://mapadelterror.com/en/ (accessed 5 May 2015).

17. Interview with victims group representative, 5 June 2015.

18. The exhibition's online catalog can be found at: http://www.fmiguelangelblanco.es/archivos/pdf/publicaciones/Dossier_en.pdf (accessed 3 June 2015).

19. See: http://www.terra-net.eu/pages/cont.php?id=1&menu=2 (accessed 29 April 2015).

20. See: http://www.terra-net.eu/pages/cont.php?id=2&menu=3 (accessed 29 April 2015).

21. See: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/radicalisation_awareness_network/index_en.htm (accessed 29 April 2015).

22. The RAN RVT WG was previously named the Voices of Victims of Terrorism (VVT) Working Group. See: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/radicalisation_awareness_network/about-ran/ran-rvt/index_en.htm (accessed 13 October 2016).

23. In fact, the aforementioned photographic exhibition “Europe against terrorism. Glance of the victim” was praised as a best practice initiative in a 2014 RAN report. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/radicalisation_awareness_network/ran-best-practices/docs/collection_of_approaches_lessons_learned_and_practices_en.pdf (accessed 29 April 2015).

24. Interview with victims group representative, 5 June 2015.

25. Bruce Hoffman and Anna-Britt Kasupski, The Victims of Terrorism. An Assessment of Their Influence and Growing Role in Policy, Legislation and the Private Sector (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2007).

26. By ETA, we refer more broadly to the organisation ETA Militar and related Basque groups such as ETA Politico-Militar or the Comandos Autónomos Anticapitalistas. Other nationalist militant organizations such as the Catalan Terra LLiure or the Galician Exército Guerrilheiro do Povo Galego Ceive (EGPGC) had much shorter histories and, by and large, mostly restricted themselves to acts of sabotage and symbolic actions.

27. Interview with victims group representative, 5 June 2015.

28. Interview with victims group representative, 28 May 2015.

29. Interview with victims group representative, 5 June 2015.

30. Interview with victims group representative, 2 June 2015

31. See: La Tribuna del País Vasco, “COVITE pide urgentemente ayuda económica a sus socios,” 3 July 2015. Available at http://paralalibertad.org/covite-pide-urgentemente-ayuda-economica-a-sus-socios/ (accessed October 10, 2016).

32. Interview with victims group representative, 28 May 2015.

33. For a concise history of the movement, a detailed definition of the term and a clear explanation of what distinguishes it from other similar monikers (such as “radical Basque nationalism” or the “Basque National Liberation Movement” (MLNV) see: Rafael Leonisio, “Basque Patriotic Left: 50 Years of Political and Terrorist Acronyms,” RIPS 14(1) (2015), pp. 83–104.

34. These four parties are: Sortu (To create), Alternatiba (Alternative), Aralar, and Eusko Alkartasuna (Basque Solidarity). The former is Batasuna's heir and the dominant coalition member whereas the three other parties support independence but have rejected armed struggle as a political tool and defended instead the use of democratic methods as a matter of principle. It should be noted that EA has also been an important political player in the past: a traditional partner in government to the region's most popular party, the moderate Christian-democratic Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV-Basque Nationalist Party).

35. The full statement is available at http://gara.naiz.eus/paperezkoa/20120603/344970/es/EPPK-respalda-cambio-ciclo-abre-dar-pasos-futuro- (accessed 18 September 2015).

36. Florencio Domínguez, Dentro de ETA. La vida diaria de los terroristas (Madrid: Santillana, 2002), p. 361.

37. For a recent summary of this position see: Pilar Eirene de Prada, “Buscando la ‘paz positiva’ en el País Vasco,” el diario.es, 19 April 2015. Available at http://www.eldiario.es/contrapoder/paz_positiva_Euskadi_6_379072104.html. For a critique of this argument see the response by José M. Portillo, “¡Aupa, Jonan! Sobre ‘conflicto’, ‘paz’ y los olvidos de siempre,” el diario.es, 20 April 2015. Available at http://www.eldiario.es/norte/vientodelnorte/Aupa-Jonan-conflicto-olvidos-siempre_6_379422081.html (both accessed 9 June 2015).

38. José María Ruíz Soroa, “El canon nacionalista. La argumentación del ‘conflicto’ vasco,” in Breve guía para orientarse en el laberinto vasco (Bilbao: Fundación para la Libertad, 2008), pp. 14–20.

39. Interview with victims group representative, 28 May 2015.

40. See “The narrative of victimization and de-radicalization: An expert view” and “Narrative as a paradigm for studying victimization and radicalization” in this issue.

41. Masi Noor, Nurit Shnabel, Samer Halabi, and Arie Nadler, “When Suffering Begets Suffering: The Psychology of Competitive Victimhood between Adversarial Groups in Violent Conflicts,” Personality and Social Psychology Review 16(4) (2012), pp. 351–374.

42. Leyre Iglesias, “Sortu convence fuera de España ante el silencio del Gobierno,” El Mundo, 26 December 2013. Available at http://www.elmundo.es/pais-vasco/2013/12/26/52bb32e222601d5a618b4585.html (accessed 10 September 2015).

43. Owen Bowcott, “Irish Republicans to Hold Peace Summit with Kurdish and Basque Separatists,” The Guardian, 10 February 2011. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/feb/10/ira-eta-kurds-peace-summit (accessed 6 October 2016).

44. Interview with victims group representative, 5 June 2015.

45. Interview with victims group representative, 2 June 2015.

46. Interview with victims group representative, 28 May 2015.

47. For a document making this case drafted by the Fundación Fernando Buesa see: http://www.fundacionfernandobuesa.com/pdf/20131114VictimasAulas.pdf (accessed 5 May 2015).

48. Including for instance COVITEs circulation in 2014 of a 12-page dossier to MEPs (“ETA and its supporters, a danger for Europe”) describing the BPL as a radicalizing actor that justified political violence and ultimately left the door open for a hypothetical future return to the “armed struggle.” See: “Covite alerta a un centenar de partidos europeos ‘del peligro’ de la IA, que ‘justifica el asesinato selectivo.’” Europa Press, 10 November 2014. Available at http://www.europapress.es/euskadi/noticia-covite-alerta-centenar-partidos-europeos-peligro-ia-justifica-asesinato-selectivo-20141110135353.html (accessed 18 September 2015).

49. Interview with victims group representative, 2 June 2015.

50. Interview with victims group representative, 1 June 2015.

51. Interview with victims group representative, 29 May 2015.

52. At the time of writing, the latest (May 2015) poll on Basque public attitudes carried by the University of Basque Country shows that only 1 percent of the population unreservedly support ETA and merely 3 percent justify its action “critically.” Eleven percent are said to support it in the past but not today. Sixty-six percent totally reject the group. The report can be downloaded from: http://www.ehu.eus/documents/1457190/1525260/EB_Mayo15.pdf (accessed 17 September 2015).

53. Interview with victims group representative, 2 June 2015.

54. Interview with victims group representative, 1 June 2015.

55. Interview with victims group representative, 2 June 2015.

56. Interview with victims group representative, 1 June 2015.

57. Gaizka Fernández Soldevilla,“Mitos que matan, La narrativa del ‘conflicto’ vasco,”Ayer98/2015 (2) (2015), pp. 213–240.

58. The report is available at http://www.ararteko.net/RecursosWeb/DOCUMENTOS/1/5_1684_3.pdf. For a journalistic account of the 15 percent figure see: http://www.diariovasco.com/20090713/mas-actualidad/nacional/adolescentes-vascos-rechaza-justifica-200907131407.html (accessed 16 September 2015).

59. Interview victims group representative, 3 June 2015.

60. Johanna Vollhart, “Altrism Born of Suffering and Prosocial Behaviour Following Adverse Life Events: A Review and Conceptualization,” Social Justice Research 22(1) (2009), pp. 53–97.

61. Francesca Polleta, It Was Like a Fever. Storytelling in Protest and Politics (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2006).

62. Jesus Loza Aguirre, “Como abordar la memoria en el Pais Vasco? El Reto del relato,” in Políticas de memoria, Qué, cómo y para qué recordar, Proceedings XI seminario Fernando Buesa(Vitoria: Fundación Fernando Buesa and Instituto Universitario de Historia Social Valentin de Foronda, 2013), p. 100.

63. The quote can be found in page 17 of the document: http://www.interior.gob.es/en/prensa/noticias/-/asset_publisher/GHU8Ap6ztgsg/content/id/3347168(accessed 18 September 2015).

64. John Horgan, Walking Away from Terrorism. Accounts of Disengagement from Radical and Extremist Movements (Abingdon: Routledge, 2009); See also: Fernando Reinares, Patriotas de la muerte. Por qué han militado en ETA y cuando abandonan. 2nd ed. (Madrid: Santillana, 2011).