FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 93 - ENGLISH

53 deny the existence of this strategy or even present it as an invention of the victims." "They socialised suffering and now they socialise the most blatant lie," he stressed. "Denying this evidence not only insults the victims, but also undermines the mo- ral foundations of coexistence." Finally, he addressed the third myth, that victims of terrorism "are already sufficiently recognised and cared for". Ordóñez lamented that "many victims continue to live in solitude and ostra- cism, without political, social or insti- tutional support, and without justice," and recalled that "too many ETA crimes remain unpunished and no one will be tried or convicted. And if they are, it is not because of the skill of the murderers, but because of the incompetence or lack of will and responsibility on the part of those who should have investigated, tried and convicted the guilty parties, but fai- led to do so." Consuelo Ordóñez ended her speech by stating that "we, the victims, have been the true architects of democratic coexis- tence. We broke the cycle of violence by trusting in our rule of law, even though it often fails us." On the other hand, she said, "those responsible for the terror are almost never asked to do something as basic as acknowledging that what they did was wrong. On the contrary, they are given a platform and presented as honourable people, when not only do they not repent, but they legitimise and vindicate their crimes. This makes coe- xistence impossible. And it is not because of the victims, but because of those who refuse to assume their moral responsi- bility and acknowledge the unjust harm they caused." The first round table, entitled "The limits of memory in the face of the chiaroscuro of history: how to remember victims who were also perpetrators?", addressed the ethical debate surrounding so-called "vic- tim-perpetrators" and the moral boun- daries of memory. Participants included Galo Bilbao, professor at the University of Deusto and member of its Centre for Applied Ethics; writer Joseba Eceolaza; and historian Gaizka Fernández Soldevi- lla, head of research at the Centre for the Memory of Victims of Terrorism. After a break at 12:30 p.m., the second round table discussion—“The ‘socialisa- tion of suffering’, thirty years later: Truth in the face of denial”—analysed this sinis- ter strategy of terror promoted by ETA and the Basque nationalist left in the 1990s, as well as the current attempt by sectors of the Basque nationalist left to deny its existence. Participants in this round table included Eider Nafarrate, researcher at the Valentín de Foronda Institute of So- cial History; Raúl López Romo, historian and head of the Education and Exhibitions Department at the Centre for the Memory of Victims of Terrorism; and Pablo P. Cid Fernández, criminal lawyer in the reope- ning of the Gregorio Ordóñez case against the masterminds behind the crime. The conference resumed in the afternoon at 5 p.m. with the panel discussion "From ostracism to dignity: the invisible victims as an example of peace and coexistence," featuring Veronique Caplanne, daugh- ter of Robert Edouard Caplanne, who was murdered by the GAL in 1985, and Consuelo Ordóñez, president of COVITE and sister of Gregorio Ordóñez, who was murdered by ETA in 1995. Both reflected on the ostracism to which many victims of terrorism have been condemned, the ma- jority of them, since, because they do not fit into certain political narratives, they have suffered the most absolute social and institutional indifference. COVITE highlighted their example as models of peace and democratic coexistence. The closing ceremony took place at 6 p.m. and was led by the president of COVITE, Consuelo Ordóñez. “Many victims continue to live in solitude and ostracism, without political, social or institutional support, and without justice” ASSOCIATIONS AND FOUNDATIONS