Basque human rights whistleblower sites Apurtu and Amnistia eta Askatasuna have vanished from the Internet. The first site was involved in a repressive attack by the Spanish Inquisition (Audiencia Nacional, special political tribunal) a few weeks ago involving false accusations and tortures against the people who kept it and generated much indignation among Navarrese journalists.
Additionally the site of the new political project of the Basque Nationalist Left, Sortu, which has complied with every single legal requirement to fit the Spanish law of political parties and judicial interpretations of it, has also been removed. Intriguingly the address now redirects to Google.es. This never happens with Google.com, as far as I can tell, but the Spanish sub-company seems much less principled when it comes to attract unwilling web-surfers and I have seen them parasitizing other vanished addresses in the past. I wonder if they do this in order to spy on you via cookies and javascript, as one usually allows Google to get their junk penetrate your computer by default.
Whatever the case, we are before another attack against freedom of speech in the internet. One wonders where do we have to host our sites in order to be kept safe from arbitrary censorship: Venezuela maybe?
Also one wonders about the drift of the incipient peace process if to any initiative by the Basque side, Spain responds with arrogance and further repression. Two cannot talk if one does not want to, right?
Source: Sare Antifaxista (1, 2)
Down and around with the legalization process
This mysterious vanishing of Sortu's site, happens when the just conformed International Contact Group declares that it is their priority to assure that the political project is legalized. Indeed if after all these concessions we are next month in the situation of being unable to vote freely again, the whole process would probably be aborted sooner than later, as it would have become obvious that negotiating and making concessions and signs of goodwill are a pointless exercise. For many it'd be the confirmation that only violent ways are possible under the Spanish occupation.
Quite ironically, historical leader Tasio Erkizia declared that they are not going to be able to illegalize Sortu and that the Basque Nationalist Left will be in the upcoming municipal elections regardless of what happens to Sortu in the Spanish legal labyrinth.
Update: The website of Amnistia eta Askatasuna, askatu.org, is now again online. No explanation was given.
Down and around with the legalization process
This mysterious vanishing of Sortu's site, happens when the just conformed International Contact Group declares that it is their priority to assure that the political project is legalized. Indeed if after all these concessions we are next month in the situation of being unable to vote freely again, the whole process would probably be aborted sooner than later, as it would have become obvious that negotiating and making concessions and signs of goodwill are a pointless exercise. For many it'd be the confirmation that only violent ways are possible under the Spanish occupation.
Quite ironically, historical leader Tasio Erkizia declared that they are not going to be able to illegalize Sortu and that the Basque Nationalist Left will be in the upcoming municipal elections regardless of what happens to Sortu in the Spanish legal labyrinth.
Update: The website of Amnistia eta Askatasuna, askatu.org, is now again online. No explanation was given.
It looks like Spain is dcoing censorship in Internet.
ReplyDeleteThis is a map which depicts the levels of Internet censoring around the world.
http://www.radiobiobio.cl/2011/02/16/develan-preocupante-mapa-mundial-de-la-censura-en-internet/
Interesting map, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if this censorship is made in Spain or the USA or both because the domains are non .es and therefore they are under US jurisdiction probably.