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Events of Vitoria
[edit]| Events of Vitoria | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Place | Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain | |
| Coordinates | 42°51′21″N 2°40′08″OCoordinates: 42°51′21″N 2°40′08″O (map) | |
| Target(s) | Workers' assembly in Saint Francis of Assisi church | |
| Date | 3 March 1976 | |
| Casualties | 5 | |
| Injured | 150 | |
| Perpetrator(s) | Armed Policy | |
The events of Vitoria, also known as the killings of the 3rd of March[1][2][3], took place on the 3rd of March 1976 at Vitoria-Gasteiz, Alava's capital (Basque Country) a few months after the of the death of the dictator Francisco Franco and in the middle of the Spanish transition to democracy. In the middle of a day of strikes, the Armed Police threw tear gas to evict the workers who were meeting in assembly in Saint Francis of Assisi church, located in the working class area of Zaramaga, and shot at the people who came out of the church. The police action left five fatal casualties and over 150 wounded by gunshot.
Index
[edit]- History
- Consequences
- Reparations and Recognition of the Victims
- Police Recordings Transcript
- Tributes
- Memorials Gallery to the Victims of the 3rd March 1976 in Vitoria-Gasteiz
- References
- External links
History
[edit]
On January, 1976 about 6,000 workers called a strike against the decree on salary caps and over better working conditions. Two months later, a general strike was called for the third time on the 3rd of March which was overwhelmingly supported. The same day, the Armed Police entered Saint Francis of Assisi church in Vitoria-Gasteiz, where a workers' assembly was going to take place. Ignoring the parish priest’s decision and the 1953 concordat between the Vatican and the Spanish government, they ordered an evacuation. Just a few seconds later, the Armed Police threw tear gas in a closed space full of people, which caused outrage and panic broke out. The ones who could escape half suffocated and with handkerchiefs covering their mouths) were beaten by the Armed Police and even shot.
The Armed Police resolved the conflict they had created by shooting four people to death. The victims were: Pedro María Martínez Ocio (27) who worked for Forjas Alavesas; Francisco Aznar Clemente (17), a student and bakery worker; Romualdo Barroso Chaparro (19), who worked for the Agrator company; and José Castillo (32), who worked for Grupo Arregui. Two months later, Bienvenido Pereda (30), who worked for Grupos Diferenciales died too. Two of the labourers died at the scene of the conflict, four were seriously injured (three later died) and more people were wounded, some of them by bullets.
From that moment on, violent confrontations started and the Armed Police lost control of the city until 9 pm, when reinforcements arrived. Antonio Losada, a police inspector, was the last one who was seriously injured. While he was at the door of the police station, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at him which caused burns all over his entire body.[4].
That Thursday, the Secretary-General of the Social Democratic Party of Germany cancelled his meeting with Fraga who was participating in a diplomatic campaign to internationally promote a reform endorsed by the monarchy. On Saturday, Manuel Fraga Iribarne (Minister of the Interior), Rodolfo Martín Villa (Minister of Labour) and General Campano (in charge of the Spanish Civil Guard) tried to reduce the impact of their decision by visiting the injured[5].
Right of assembly, right to demonstrate and right to strike were still prohibited. Trade unions, which were also illegal, called strikes throughout Spain, with this one in Vitoria-Gasteiz and another one in the industrial zone of Madrid being two of the most important ones. The Government's response was, as usual, police repression. Five demonstrators were killed and hundreds were injured on 9th of March in Vitoria because of the riot police. There were more altercations and general strikes over the following months.
Consequences
[edit]Those incidents accelerated both the action of the democratic opposition and its unity of action. The Democratic Junta of Spain and the Democratic Convergence Platform merged into the Democratic Converge, also known as Platajunta, on the 26th of March. The new committee exerted more pressure on the government, demanding amnesty, freedom of association, democracy, and the rejection of the reformist laws.
In 2008, a commission of the Basque Parliament considered that the politicians responsible for the events were "the heads of the participating ministries in this conflict" such as: Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Minister of the Interior (who was in Germany when the events took place acting as "Duty Minister" in charge of covering the absence of others and assuming responsibilities for Adolfo Suarez), Rodolfo Martín Villa, Minister of Labour, and Alfonso Osorio, Minister of the Presidency.[6]
In 2014 Interpol asked for the preventive detention for extradition purposes of some of the people involved in the killing.[7]
In Rodolfo Martin Villa's case, the Argentinian judge Maria Servini de Cubría considered that "[He] is responsible for the repression" and that "the events for which he is liable for" are punishable with "privation of liberty or life imprisonment" in reference to the crime of homicide with the aggravating circumstance of having been committed with the deliberate participation of two or more people.
For Servini, Villa and the rest of the suspects' felonies are considered crimes against humanity and the people responsible for them are subject to prosecution under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
The judge also attributes liability to Alfonso Osorio, the Minister of the Presidency who "decided with Adolfo Suarez and Martin Villa that the raid would be lead by a single chain of command who would coordinate and direct all the troops by public order". Servini additionally demands that Jesús Quintana, captain of the Armed Police in command of the troops that attacked the church was also detained and extradited.[7]
Reparations and Recognition of the Victims
[edit]After the investiture of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as President of Spain, the Basque Nationalist Party raised a question to the Senate on the 19th of May 2004, in which they were concerned in clarifying the events of Vitoria[8]. On June 16th 2011, the Basque Nationalist Party, the Aralar Party, Eusko Alkartasuna and the United Left-Greens submitted a proposal to the Basque Parliament in order to include the victims from the events of Vitoria in the Recognition of the Victims of Terrorism Act, which the Congress of Deputies was processing at that time. Although they supported the need for reparations, the Socialist Party of the Basque Country, the People's Party and UPD rejected considering them as "victims of terrorism". The Socialist Party of the Basque Country considered that these facts should be included in the presentation about politically motivated victims, which was starting shortly after in the Basque Parliament.[9]
For the first time, on March 3rd 2012, the Basque Government paid tribute to the 1976 victims of police violence. The spokesperson for the Basque Government and the Counselor of Justice, Idoia Mendia participated in the floral offering accompanied by the general secretaries of the General Union of Workers and the Workers' Commissions. (unions to which the dead belonged). [10]
Police Recordings Transcript
[edit]This is the transcript from a part of the conversations between the patrols responsible for the raid in the church, according to the existing Police Radio Band recordings.
- "V-1 to Charlie. Near St. Francis of Assisi church is where more groups are seen. Ok, got it".
- "Charlie to J-1. It seems that in St. Francis of Assisi church is where most people are. What shall we do? If there are people there, let's go get them! Let's get them".
- "J-1 to Charlie. Charlie, check if you need J-2 there. Send them over here to cover the church's back side".
- "J-3 to J-1. We're in the church. Shall we go in or what? Over".
- "...What you really need is that they are apprehended at the back. Exactly".
- "J-1 to J-2. Do what I told you (go to Charlie's aid to Zaramaga). If I leave here, they are going to escape from the church. Charlie to J-1. Listen, you can´t leave from there because they will escape from the church. ...Send reinforcements otherwise there is nothing we can do, or we can leave, otherwise we're going to have to use firearms. Let's see, a Charlie platoon is on its way. Then the remaining Charlie platoon, J-2 and J-3, evacuate the church in any case, Over. we can't evacuate, because, because, it's full of blokes! Full, completely full! We must do it from the outside surrounded by reinforcements. We're going to have to use gunpower! Over. Gas the church. Over. Send the Charlie's platoons, cause we're surrounded by people and when they leave the church it's going to be a nightmare. We're going to use firearms or sure. ah? Charlie to J-1. " Has the order to evacuate the church arrived yet? Yes, J-3 has it and they have proceeded to evacuate cause you were not there. Ok. Got it. What I shame I wasn't there".
- "I'm trying to comunicate but nobody is answering. They must be at the church fighting like lions. J-3 to J-1! J-3 to J-1! Send reinforcements here. We have already fired more than two thousand bullets. How is everything there? You can imagine, after firing more than a thousand bullets and breaking St. Francis of Assisi church. You can imagine how the street and everything else is. By the way, thank you! Good job! Tell Salinas that we have contributed to the biggest battering in history. This has been a massacre. Over. Ok, ok. A real massacre".
Tributes
[edit]Catalan singer Lluís Llach wrote the song Campanades a morts the following day in tribute to the victims. This song was sung again in order to commemorate the 30th anniversary, in an emotional concert at the pavilion Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria. Basque ska band Betagarri dedicated a song to these events on its album Hamaika Gara, entitled 1976 martxoak 3. Also, the band Mossin Nagat dedicated a song to those events. Likewise, punk band Hachazo refers to this incident in one of its songs. Equally, in reference to these events, Basque band Zarama composed in 1983 the single Gasteizko gaua (“Night of Vitoria”).
Memorials Gallery to the Victims of the 3rd of March 1976 in Vitoria-Gasteiz
[edit]- Monument to the victims of he 3rd of March in Vicente Manterola Street, in front of Saint Francis of Assisi church.
- Memorial erected in 3rd of March square, in front of Saint Francis of Assisi church.
- Memorial erected in 3rd of March square, in front of Saint Francis os Assisi church.
- Memorial erected in 3rd of March square, in front of Saint Francis os Assisi church.
- Mural allusive to the Events of Vitoria in a residential building adjacent to 3rd of March square.
42°51′21″N 2°40′08″W / 42.8558°N 2.6689°W
References
[edit]- ^ "El otoño de las castañas".
- ^ "3 de marzo 1976, un océano de valentía".
- ^ "Se cumplen 38 años de la matanza del 3 de marzo en Vitoria-Gasteiz".
- ^ "Diario Vasco, 4 de marzo de 1976".
- ^ "Testimony of Manuel Fraga".
- ^ "Resoluciones. Sobre los hechos ocurridos en Vitoria-Gasteiz el 3 de marzo de 1976 (Acuerdo del Pleno)" (PDF).
- ^ a b "Interpol pide la detención preventiva de Martín Villa y otros 19 imputados por crímenes franquistas".
- ^ "Boletín oficial de las Cortes Generales, Senado, VIII legislatura,nº 39, 18 de junio de 2004".
- ^ "Europa Press (16 de junio de 2011). «El Parlamento vasco rechaza incluir a los afectados del 3 de marzo de Vitoria en la Ley de Víctimas». La Voz Libre".
- ^ "El Gobierno vasco rinde homenaje por primera vez a víctimas de abusos policiales".
External links
[edit]- Wikimedia Commons has multimedia content about the events of Vitoria