Counter-terror by proxy

The Spanish State's illicit war with ETA

Emmanuel Pierre Guittet, Peter Lawler, Emmanuel Pierre Guittet, Peter Lawler, Emmanuel Pierre Guittet

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781526158826
• eBook ISBN: 9781526158819
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Terrorism
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Between 1983 and 1987, mercenaries adopting the pseudonym GAL ( Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación, Antiterrorist Liberation Group) paid by the Spanish treasury and relying upon national intelligence support were at war with the Basque militant group ETA ( Euskadi (e)Ta Askatasuna, Basque Country and Freedom). Over four years, their campaign of extrajudicial assassinations spanned the French-Spanish border. Nearly thirty people were killed in a campaign comprised of torture, kidnapping, bombing and the assassination of suspected ETA activists and Basque refugees.This establishment of unofficial counterterrorist squads by a Spanish Government was a blatant detour from legality. It was also a rare case in Europe where no less than fourteen high-ranking Spanish police officers and senior government officials, including the Minister of Interior himself, were eventually arrested and condemned for counter-terrorism wrongdoings and illiberal practices. Thirty years later, this campaign of intimidation, coercion and targeted killings continues to grip Spain. The GAL affair was not only a serious example of a major departure from accepted liberal democratic constitutional principles of law and order, but also a brutal campaign that postponed by decades the possibility of a political solution for the Basque conflict. Counter-terror by proxy uncovers why and how a democratic government in a liberal society turned to a 'dirty war' and went down the route of illegal and extrajudicial killing actions. It offers a fuller examination of the long-term implications of the use of unorthodox counter-terrorist strategies in a liberal democracy.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Series page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface and acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Maps
• Introduction
• 1 Arch-enemy: Euskadi Ta Askatasuna
• 2 Continuity: Francoist legacy and transition to democracy
• 3 Controversy: extradition, political offence exception and the French sanctuary
• 4 Monstrous mimicry: actions and actors of the Anti-terrorist Liberation Groups
• 5 Sacrifice: code of silence, political scandal and strategies of denial
• 6 Symbolic violence: diplomatic embarrassment and European democratic identity
• Conclusion: state terrorism, deceptive organisation and proxy
• Bibliography
• Index