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Spain: Civil Guard investigations

01 September 1995

Carlos Bueren, the foremost judge of the Audiencia Nacional (High Court), is to carry out an investigation into the 1983 murder of two Basque refugees, Lasa and Zabala. The new allegations are that the two refugees were kidnapped and assassinated by members of the AT-1 (Anti-terrorism 1) Civil Guard group. They were abducted and taken to a villa owned by the Ministry of the Interior and used by the civil governor of Gipuzkoa. There they were tortured over a period of two months. During their incarceration they were questioned by the Chief of the Intxaaurrondo Civil Guard, Colonel Rodriguez Galindo, and by the civil governor, Julian San Christobel. Both men wore balaclavas to avoid being identified. New evidence has also prompted Bueren to accuse the AT-1 Civil Guard of being responsible for torturing to death Mikel Zabelza in November 1985. It is claimed that he drowned after being subjected to the `banera' (having his head forcibly held under water). According to the Civil Guard Zabelza drowned after falling into a river while trying to escape. The new witness evidence suggests that he had river water injected into his lungs to give credence to the official version. Colonel Galindo has been head of the Intxaurrondo Civil Guard for the past 15 years. He has been accused of extensive corruption, ranging from police abuses to profiting from drug trafficking. He is also a close associate of those police officers named in the assassinations. Despite the accusations against him he was promoted to the rank of General in August. Kontrola Kontrolpean, Donostia, Euskadi (Spain).