Basques fill the streets to claim human rights for prisoners

A unitary march, backed by several political parties from all the Basque Country, filled the streets of Bilbao a few hours ago to claim that the human rights of Basque prisoners are respected.

"Basque prisoners to the Basque Country" reads the banner.

The demonstration had originally been called by the human rights organization Etxerat ("back home") that demands minimal guarantees for those Basques imprisoned for political crimes, who are typically scattered through all the Spanish geography, denied their legal rights as prisoners, applied chain-sentences that often amount to a life in prison and prevented to get any sort of the humanitarian exemptions considered in the law when severely ill. However the Spanish tribunals forbade that demonstration but Basque parties have managed to show some degree of unity and called another one instead, that was finally tolerated.

The demonstration was called by the Basque Nationalist Left, Aralar, Eusko Alkartasuna (Basque Solidarity), Abertzaleen Batasuna (Patriots' Unity) and Alternatiba (Alternative).

Source: Gara.