Victims of the Future
EUROPE, 5 Nov 2012
Paul Rios, Lokarri – TRANSCEND Media Service
October 20 [2012] marked one year of the end of ETA violence and these words have taken on a new meaning: “Alec Reid, when talking about the worst years of the conflict in Northern Ireland, said that he started to carry out the role of mediator and tried to represent the victims of the future; he wanted to represent them precisely with the objective that they would never become victims”.
Some months ago a victim of ETA asked me why ETA was not over 20 years ago. If it had, her husband would still be alive. I am sure that all of us who have worked to bring about peace could have done things better. It is certainly possible that we have made mistakes in the meantime, starting with myself. I was not demanding enough during the process in 2006 and was not able to react properly, even when the signals I picked up were very negative.
The suffering and the harm felt by that victim is irreparable. We have to show her our solidarity, but her pain is inconsolable. The only thing that I can offer her – we can offer her – is our efforts so that there will be no more victims in the future, that nobody will have to suffer what she has been through.
This – fortunately – is difficult to quantify. How many people have been saved since ETA carried out its last attack three years ago? How many people have been the victims of extortion through the ‘revolutionary tax’? It is difficult to answer, but knowing that there will be no more victims should fill Basque society with satisfaction.
But this does not imply, let alone, that the problem is solved. The fact that ETA has abandoned violence does not mean that all human rights are guaranteed or that peaceful co-existence can include everyone. Many people frequently remind me that the prisoners are suffering an exceptional situation, that the harm done [to victims] has not been recognised, that not all the victims have been recognised, or that disagreement about the political framework still exists. All this is true. On such occasions is interesting to recall Brian Currin´s few words uttered more than two years ago.
“It should be understood that nobody can guarantee that a peace process will be set in motion, but it can be guaranteed that, with violence present, there will be no chance of the process being set in motion”.
The conditions now exist to consolidate the peace process. This society deserves a more harmonious coexistence, and the challenge and the effort required are worthwhile. We also owe it to the victims of the future.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 5 Nov 2012.
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