The Basque government pays tribute to the 12 people shot and buried in a grave in Labastida

Euskaraz irakurri: Gerra garaian hil eta Bastidako hobi baten lurperatutako 12 herritarrak omendu ditu Eusko Jaurlaritzak

The Basque Government, the Municipal Council of Labastida (Álava) and the Government of La Rioja paid tribute to the 12 people from La Rioja who were shot and buried in a grave in Labastida in November 1936. Both institutions, in accordance with the mandate of the Basque Parliament to dignify the tomb, placed on the site a totem with their names in memory of the victims, as explained in a note by the Basque government.

Beatriz ArtolazabalMinister of Equality, Justice and Social Policy, and Laura Perez, Mayor of Labastida participated in the act “In memory of those who were shot in Labastida -1936”, jointly organized by the Institute of Memory, Coexistence and Human Rights-Gogora and the City Council itself. They were joined by the Deputy Minister of Human Rights, Remembrance and Cooperation, José Antonio Rodríguez Ranz; Aintzane Ezenarro, director of the Gogora Institute and members of the municipal company. The government of La Rioja was represented by Pablo Rubio, Minister of Social Services and Public Administration.

This act commemorates the 12 people, all from La Rioja, politically committed to the Second Republic, murdered extrajudicially and buried in a grave in Labastida, in November 1936. Years later, in 1980, his remains were found by his relatives and buried in a pantheon in the cemetery of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. As the Basque government explained in its note, it is an example of the so-called “early excavations” carried out during the transition and encouraged by civil society itself and the families of the victims, who sought to recover the remains of their to find a loved one. loved ones after 40 years of dictatorship.

The horror and barbarity of the dictatorship

In her speech, Minister Beatriz Artolazabal recalled the need to honor the memory of these 12 murdered people, “a memory that the Franco dictatorship tried to erase from the face of the earth; while some of the dead were honored and glorified by the regime, the bodies of the 12 from Labastida lay in a ditch, buried in a grave, they wanted to bury his memory foreverIt also symbolizes “the unreason, the injustice, the horror and the barbarity of the dictatorship and fascism”.

Artolazabal also has a sincere memory of all women, war widows that they had to support large families, with hardly any resources and with the double punishment of being singled out and enduring all kinds of bullying. “These women deserve all our recognition and thanks, without their efforts we wouldn’t be here today; they also deserve a prominent place in our collective memory.”

Board with the 12 names

Today’s event brought together representatives of the different political sensitivities of Euskadi and La Riojaincluding: Miren Gallastegi MP from the PSE-EE; Henar Moreno, La Rioja Regional Delegate for the United Left; Ainhoa ​​Campo, Equality and Human Rights Director of the Provincial Council of Álava; representatives of Ezker Anitza and Elkarrekin Podemos from the General Assemblies of Álava; members of the Labastida municipal company of EAJ-PNV, EH Bildu and Partido Popular and municipal representatives of the cities from which the victims came.

The grandchildren of two victims they discovered the plaque with the names of the 12 people shot, in a spot near the grave where they were buried 86 years ago today. The plate contains a QR code that provides access to information related to this grave: the circumstances of the murders, the process of recovering the remains and subsequent burial.

Following the aurresku of honor, authorities, institutional representatives, relatives and residents of the area laid flowers in memory of the victims.