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Terrorism victims

'Ararteko' asks municipalities to pay tribute to victims through streets' names

Staff

07/14/2009

In addition, the Ararteko created a profile of the young student who does not reject ETA. According to the report, there are significant differences between young people studying in Basque and Spanish.

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Iñigo Lamarca, the Ararteko (Ombudsman, or the institution that enforces the fundamental rights and freedoms in the Basque Country) handed the special report "Institutional care to victims of terrorism in the Basque Country" to the president of the Basque Parliament, Arantza Quiroga.

The report says there are 1000 killed, 16,000 injured and more than 40,000 threatened people. Furthermore, it also says that Basque armed group ETA is the main responsible for such violence.

Lamarca said that it is necessary to keep on working on the respect to human rights "until reaching 100 percent of the citizenship. That way, there will be a moment in which ETA will disappear."

The Ararteko, following the Basque Law of Recognition and Help to Victims, called for the elimination of graffiti, posters, and streets that support ETA members. On the contrary, he asked for the granting of medals in order to honour the victims.

Worried about the youths that do not reject ETA

15% of Basque teenagers studying one of the four courses of the Secondary School do not reject, or justify, ETA''s violence, and another 14% are indifferent, or they did not make any comments on the conflict.

While 63% of young people does not think ETA''s actions are "good for the Basque Country," almost 12% agree with the idea.

The study found that 14.8% of teenagers are "clearly" against ETA and that more than 71% are likely to condemn the armed group actions (half of that 71% expressed a "very high" level of rejection).

The Ararteko argued that "although there was an only student, only one, who did not reject ETA, we should worry."

There are significant differences between young people studying in Basque and Spanish, given that there is a stronger rejection of violence among students studying in Castilian with Basque language as a subject.

Over 80% of young people studying in Spanish (A model), reject ETA in a high or very high level, while this percentage drops to 62% among those studying in Basque with Castilian as a subject (D model).

46% of teenagers studying in Spanish expressed a very high rejection to ETA, while just 17% of those studying in Basque felt the same way.

According to the report, the profile of the Basque young student who does not reject Basque ETA is based on a boy at the second course of the Secondary School, who lives in Gipuzkoa and that joined the D model.

On the other hand, the teenager that feels a very high rejection to ETA would be a girl from Biscay at the third or fourth course of the Secondary School, who is studying at a semi-private centre, and following the A model.

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