FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 93 - ENGLISH

52 COVITE COVITE DENOUNCES 135 MYTHS THAT LEGITIMISE ETA TERRORISM AND WARNS OF THE "MORAL DECAY" THEY CAUSE IN SOCIETY T he Collective of Victims of Te- rrorism (COVITE) held its 23rd Annual Conference entitled "Debunking myths: truth and me- mory in the face of the legitimisation of terrorism". In her opening speech, COVITE president Consuelo Ordóñez warned of the risks of the "myths" that are becoming entrenched in the public narrative about ETA terrorism, which, she said, "distort reality, whitewash cri- minal responsibility and justify horror. And when horror is justified, society breaks down morally." Ordóñez explained that these myths ser- ve to "rewrite history and legitimise the terrorist past," and identified three ma- jor falsehoods that are gaining ground in public debate. The first, he said, is that of "perpetrators-victims" turned heroes. In his speech, he criticised recent tributes to those executed during Franco's regi- me, especially ETA members Txiki and Otaegi, recalling that "condemning their executions is a moral obligation, but pre- senting them as democratic role models is a perversion and a falsehood". "Me- mory cannot be constructed from moral The president of COVITE, Consuelo Ordóñez, denounces "the lack of political, social and institutional support" that many ETA victims continue to suffer equidistance”, he said. "No one who has murdered or belonged to a terrorist or- ganisation can occupy the symbolic place that belongs to the victims who defended freedom and democracy without ever ta- king up arms." The second myth, he pointed out, is the denial of the "socialisation of suffering", the strategy planned by ETA and the Bas- que nationalist left to spread terror in the Basque Country and Navarre from 1995 onwards. Ordóñez denounced that today "the Basque nationalist left is trying to ASSOCIATIONS AND FOUNDATIONS