“The rights of the victims of ETA. Their situation today” seeks to improve defence of the rights of the 864 fatal victims of and the more than 2,500 people wounded by ETA terrorism.
In April 2015, the Plenary Session of the Lower House of the Spanish Parliament commissioned the Office of the Ombudsman to do this case study, which is a continuation of the steps being taken at the institution in defence of the rights of the victims of terrorism.
Main recommendations
To the Interior Ministry
* To unify in a single digitised file all the lawsuits for crimes of Terrorism, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice.
* To create an Official Register of Victims of Terrorism.
* To review the updating of deadlines for exercising victims’ rights to prevent them from being time barred.
* To reinforce psychological assistance schemes for victims and relatives
To the Ministry of Justice
* To enhance access by victims to information about the judicial inquiries.
* To properly equip the Office for Attending to the Victims of Terrorism at the Audiencia Nacional court with the staff and material means necessary to perform its functions appropriately.
To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
* To establish a plan of action, in collaboration with victims’ associations, to raise awareness internationally of the harm caused by terrorism.
* To strengthen action abroad by the State to achieve the extraditions requested by Spain of terrorists who go free in some countries.
To the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport
* To promote in compulsory secondary and higher secondary education syllabuses the general objective of respect and consideration for the victims of terrorism, and –from a philosophical and moral point of view – the rejection of terrorism.
To the Attorney General’s Office
* To continue the procedural proceedings initiated to try to purge criminal liabilities in unsolved terrorist attacks.
* To go deeper into applying the legal notion of crime against humanity to ETA terrorism.
To draw up this study, a group of experts was consulted –because of their qualification and professional expertise – who made suggestions and observations. In order to find out the opinion of the victims of terrorism, representative associations and organisations were convened. The Office of the Ombudsman also received Government representatives and asked the Ministry of the Interior and the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Audiencia Nacional for reports.
