GAL (paramilitary group)
1983–87 Spanish government death squads created to fight ETA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1983–87 Spanish government death squads created to fight ETA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
GAL (Spanish: Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación; "Antiterrorist Liberation Groups") were death squads illegally established by officials of the Spanish government during the Basque conflict to fight against ETA, the principal Basque separatist militant group. They were active from 1983 to 1987 under Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)-led governments.
| GAL (Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación) | |
|---|---|
| Leader | José Barrionuevo Enrique Rodríguez Galindo Rafael Vera José Amedo Fouce Ricardo García Damborenea Julián Sancristóbal |
| Dates of operation | October 15, 1983 – 1987 |
| Motives | Elimination of ETA |
| Active regions | France Spain |
| Notable attacks | Monbar Hotel attack Killing of Lasa and Zabala |
| Status | Inactive |
| Size | Several dozen members |
At trial, it was proven that they were financed by high-ranking officials in the Ministry of the Interior. The daily newspaper El Mundo played an important role in exposing GAL when it published a comprehensive series of articles about the squads.
GAL operated primarily in the Basque country on the French side of the Spanish-French border, but kidnappings and torture also took place in Spain. Most victims (at least 27 dead and 26 injured) were ETA members or activist Basque nationalists, but some were not known to have links to ETA or any other organization advocating political violence. GAL was active from 1983 to 1987, a period known as la guerra sucia ("the dirty war") in Spanish history.
Its main purposes were to attack ETA members and Basque nationalist targets and to wreak havoc in French territory to put pressure on the French government. Apart from the nationalist rationale for its opposition to Basque separatism, GAL was not on the left–right political spectrum; many members were foreign mercenaries. Many of these mercenaries were recruited from the European far right (including the OAS), however, and many perpetrators and organizers were active or former Francoist civil servants.[1]
From its beginning, GAL attacks indicated a close connection to high-ranking officials in the PSOE government and a number of police officials in the Basque Country.[1] In addition to GAL operatives, several Spanish police officers and government officials were convicted and imprisoned when the operation ended. Interior Minister José Barrionuevo and his associate, Rafael Vera, were convicted of the kidnapping of Segundo Marey.[2] Gipuzkoa governor Julen Elgorriaga and Civil Guard general Enrique Rodríguez Galindo were found guilty of the murder of Joxe Antonio Lasa and Joxe Ignacio Zabala in October 1983.[3]
After the assassination of PSOE Senator Enrique Casas by the CAA, PSOE officials attempted to assassinate Herri Batasuna representative Santi Brouard. Would-be assassin Jose Luis Morcillo received 7.5 million pesetas from high-ranking Civil Guard official Rafael Masa, as ordered by Spanish State Security chief director Julian Sancristobal. Part of the payment for the attempt on Brouard's life, however, was diverted to unknown purposes.[4][5]
Prosecutors proved that the police officers who recruited mercenaries and the government officials who organized the dirty-war operations also embezzled large amounts of public money[citation needed]. Rafael Vera and others were sentenced for illegal appropriation of funds from the Interior Ministry. To ensure their silence, the PSOE government bribed inspector José Amedo Fouce and Michel Domínguez. Vera was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and his secretary received a nine-month sentence.[6]
Investigative journalists from the newspaper El Mundo reported that Prime Minister and PSOE leader Felipe González was suspected of GAL involvement. Several years of investigation concluded that "Señor X" was the chief official of an organization supervising Interior Minister José Barrionuevo and Vera, but Gonzalez was not named or tried. The CIA eventually identified Señor X as the prime minister.[7] González' involvement was confirmed by former National Police Corps officer José Manuel Villarejo, who told the Congress of Deputies on October 21, 2021 that González had created GAL.[8]
The death squads were an important issue during the 1996 election, when the PSOE was defeated by José María Aznar's People's Party (PP) for the first time. González then resigned as PSOE leader. With the exception of Ricardo García Damborenea,[9] PSOE leaders have never acknowledged responsibility for the GAL or condemned their crimes. González, who has never been charged with a GAL-related offence, has called publicly for pardons for his former subordinates. PSOE leaders campaigned for leniency towards their former colleagues, and the Aznar government pardoned several of them.
Members of Batasuna gave the name "Green GAL" to a Civil Guard group (who wear green uniforms) based in San Sebastián's Intxaurrondo barracks, alleging that the group attacked ETA members illegally.
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