EFAy President, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, has written to the Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, condemning the imminent ban of two more political parties ahead of next month’s General Elections.

The Basque Nationalist Action (ANV) and Communist Party of the Basque Lands (EHAK) political parties are likey to be banned before the 11th February following accusations from Public Prosecutors that they have links with the outlawed Batasuna political party.

Founded in 1930, Acción Nacionalista Vasca (ANV) is one of the oldest nationalist political parties and was the first Basque political Party to stand on a socialist platform. Euskal Herrialdeetako Alderdi Komunista (EHAK) was legally registered in 2002, but had no known activity until 2005. It is alleged that the party has been infiltrated by the outlawed Batasuna Party.

This week Spain’s High Court Judge Baltasar Garzón charged the leaders of both parties with having links with the armed group ETA, in a move that will surely pave the way for the parties expulsion from the democratic political process. ANV won 337 seats in towns and villages in the Basque region (including Navarre) in the 2006 elections, despite the fact that over half their candidates barred from standing, due to alleged links to Batasuna.

In the letter the EFAy President argues:

“If the intention is to find a solution to terrorism in the Basque Country and Spain, every attempt should be made to engage all parties in the democratic political process and this cannot be achieved by banning them.”

Click here to see the full text.

EFA – Rainbow (The Macedonians of Greece) would like to present an interesting report by Human Rights Watch (1994)

This report is based on information gathered by a fact-finding mission in the Macedonian region in northern Greece. In July 1993, organized and co-ordinated by the Minority Rights Group-Greece. The participants were Panayote Dimitras, representing the Minority Rights Group-Greece; Erik Siesby, head of the Danish Helsinki Committee; and Lois Whitman, the Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. The report was written by Lois Whitman and edited by Jeri Laber, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch /Helsinki.

The Greek Fogeign Ministry, which initially refused to meet with the three groups making up the fact-finding mission, was subsequently very cooperative with Human Rights Watch / Helsinki in answering questions and providing information. Macedonian rights activists were very helpful in providing interviews and information, sometimes at considerable risk. In many cases activists and others interviewed by the mission requested that their names not be used, for fear of retaliation by authorities.

Read more:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/g/greece/greece945.pdf