ECHR upholds Spain ban of Basque separatist parties

(Jurist) The European Court of Human Rights last week upheld Spain’s ban of Basque political groups Batasuna and Herri Batasuna for their alleged ties to Basque separatist group ETA. In Herri Batasuna and Batasuna v. Spain, the ECHR considered the political groups’ argument that Spain’s organic laws (LOPP), banning the Batasuna political groups in response to ETA terrorism, violated the their freedom to associate under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The court found that since Batasuna and Herri Batasuna had ties to the ETA, the purposes of the groups were contrary to the overall goal of democracy, and refused to extend international condonation to the possible terroristic threats that would be associated with the their re-formation. With regard to the appeal of Spanish electoral groupings associated with Batasuna that were seeking relief from the ECHR on grounds that their freedom of political expression was denied, the court reasoned in Etxeberria and Others v. Spain that since the dissolution of the political parties Batasuna and Herri Batasuna was lawful, the consequences to the electoral groups were foreseeable, warranted, and justified. If the rights of the electoral groups associated with the political parties Batasuna and Herri Batasuna had not been limited, the overall purpose of the LOPP would have been rendered ineffective. The court reached the same result in the case of Herritarren Zerrenda v. Spain. Zerrenda’s standing as a candidate for the European Parliament was barred by LOPP.