The pain of victims grows when judicial authorities or foreign politicians allow propaganda from terrorists and their supporters.
The Defensor del Pueblo recommended that all information concerning the harm caused by terrorism—and the reality of our country’s respect for and guarantee of human rights—be conveyed to the Belgian State, or to other states which may deny the extradition of alleged authors of terrorist attacks under the provisions of the Law of Foreign Action and Service, as well as under the Statute on Victims of Crime.
In its answer to the Defensor del Pueblo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs communicated that diplomatic representatives receive punctual instructions with the object of monitoring the possible activity of ETA and its environment, as well as of combating the campaigns and actions that their sympathizers may undertake. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also called for coordination with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior, as well as with associations representing victims of terrorism, to develop an Action Plan for Spain for the defence of the rights of victims of terrorism in the international system.
In the case of the received complaint (a Court in Ghent refused to extradite Natividad Jáuregui, alleging that there was serious risk that she would be submitted to torture should she be sent to Spain), the Secretary of State for the European Union addressed the Vice-President of the European Commission— Mr. Timmermans —on May 27, 2015, expressing the Spanish concern with the Court´s decision, which affects the uniform application of EU law. The address was also sent to the Minister of Justice in Belgium.
This being a judicial decision that caused Spanish discomfort, and not a government action, an answer from the judicial field is necessary. This answer was given by the fifth adjudication of the National Court, which issued a new arrest warrant against Natividad Jáuregui.
The Defensor del Pueblo considers that this action by diplomatic representatives and associations, in the form of an Action Plan, is an adequate path to take so that the international community may better understand the reality of terrorism, without lies or aberrant reasons, as if the criminal acts had been committed against an oppressive state. And in no case should the rights of the victims and the pain caused by terrorists be silenced.
