Europol has produced a Situation and Trends report on terrorist activity in the European Union.
As might be expected the report covers ETA in Spain, the Real IRA in Northern Ireland, the
National Front for the Liberation of Corsica and "Islamic extremist terrorism" (including Al Qaeda).
But …
One new category added in 2001 was "eco-terrorism" on which the report gives no examples.
The report simply says in total that: "Radical environmentalists and animal rights movements have
maintained a limited campaign. Nevertheless, the material damage they caused was extensive".
No definition of "eco-terrorism" is given nor is one planned in the proposed extension of
Europol's role (see Statewatch's The activities and development of Europol pamphlet).
It is thus hard to see the distinction between activity which might be termed a criminal offence
as distinct from a "terrorist" offence.
Moreover ...
Another new category which is even more problematic is that of "anarchist terrorism".
In February 2001 a Europol seminar on counter-terrorism held in Madrid agreed on a proposal
by Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy to set up a joint investigation team on "anarchist terrorism".
It appears that after Genoa in July 2001 Europol may have set up an "analysis file" on "anarchist
terrorism" which in turn fed through into this Situation report.
Interviewed by a German newspaper
in August Jurgen Storbeck, Europol's Director, said the so-called "Black Block" of anarchists could
be seen as "terrorist or pre-terrorist".
The following analysis looks at the many questions that arise from the inclusion of "anarchist terrorism"
which relies almost totally on examples from Italy and at the attempt to extend terrorism in
Spain to legitimate political groups.
Analysis
The report says that "anarchist terrorism" could be a symptom of the possible "resurrection
of left wing terrorism" and refers to a series of terrorist attacks "in the southern part of the
Union". In fact all the incidents referred to are in Italy, and the report claims that these
examples could spark the return of EU-wide "left wing and anarchist terrorism".
This is claimed, by some tortuous logic, to be an EU-wide problem as: "left wing and anarchist websites in northern European countries cover this [Italian]
situation in depth, the possibility of the resurrection of the left wing and anarchist
terrorist groups is existent, in which the southern terrorist activity might function as an example"
The report is drawn up by Europol which appears to have rubber-stamped "intelligence"
passed to it by member states seeking support for their internal agendas, on the basis of
on-going judicial proceedings.
Italy has been investigating numerous anarchists accused of "subversive association"
following the G8 summit in Genoa while Spain has been criminalising a number of Basque
nationalist groups and left-wing activists by claiming that they are "part of ETA". This led to
the inclusion of several Basque groups in the EU list of proscribed organisations and now this
situation report.
Italy
Anarchists in Italy have been blamed for a spate of minor bomb attacks over the last few years,
with links to groups in Spain, Portugal and Greece alleged by the Italian Interior Ministry. In
particular, investigating magistrates have been linking investigations into actions attributed to
anarchists to the struggle against the dispersal, isolation and hard prison regime for political
prisoners (FIES) in Spain.
After the G8 summit in Genoa, anarchists were blamed by Italian authorities for violent clashes
between police and protestors, and a backlash followed against the anarchist movement which
led to nation-wide raids involving detentions, searches and a number of persons being placed
under investigation.
The threat assessment report expresses concern over the "first signs of the possible resurrection
of left wing terrorism", due to episodes of anarchist terrorism "in the second half of 2001". These
are attributed to "International Solidarity" (Solidarieta Internazionale), an umbrella name for an
organisation carrying out attacks in southern Europe, with examples listed from Italy. The examples
provided are inaccurate in a number of respects and the problem has probably been highlighted
beyond its actual significance.
Firstly, the document mistakenly states that the sixty alleged Solidarieta Internazionale members
detained in September were "allegedly preparing terrorist attacks against Milan's cathedral and
other objectives in the same city". The attacks referred to actually ocurred on 26 October 1999
(a carabinieri station), 28 June 2000 (Sant'Ambrogio church) and 18 December 2000 (the
Duomo, Milan's cathedral), and were claimed by the group. Sixty people were detained on
18 September for allegedly being members of Solidarieta Internazionale, believed to be
involved in attempted bombings in Milan (none of the bombs exploded) (see Statewatch
vol 11 no 5). They have been released and are currently under investigation.
Secondly, investigations into another device that exploded in July 2001 outside the Palazzo
di giustizia in Venice after the G8 summit, also included under the heading "anarchist terrorism",
are still ongoing. Although anarchists or left-wingers were originally blamed, investigating
magistrate Felice Casson ordered the arrest of a 26-year-old right-winger, Cristiano Rifani,
in January 2001 and a second suspect is also a right- winger. A number of the cases included
in the report are still unresolved, including an explosion in Rome on 11 May 2000 that targeted
the Institute for International Affairs and the Council for US-Italian relations. It was claimed by
the Nuclei di Iniziativa Proletaria in a 36-page e-mail document. Raul Terilli, Fabrizio Sante
Antonini and Roberta Ripaldi, three activists, are under arrest in connection with this and other
minor bombing incidents. In a letter from prison to anarchist magazine Croce Nera Anarchica,
Fabrizio Sante Antonini claimed that " … on the night between July 15 and 16 2001" numerous
searches were carried out in which "nothing was found". He adds that "after over two years
of interceptions, surveillance … the normal personal relationships of a person written into
police records adquire suspicious and perverse traits, the source for who knows what
criminal conspiracy". He called on all activists and organisation to become active to
"deconstruct this sandcastle based on falsehood and lies, with the aim of shutting up
any voice expressing dissent or struggle".
A device that exploded outside the Northern League's headquarters in Vigonza (Padua) on
24 August 2001 is also included in the list of anarchist terrorist attacks although investigators
said in August that it was just as likely that it was planted by ordinary organised crime.
There is an extensive history in Italy of anarchists or "left-wingers" appearing as suspects in
the early stages of investigations, being arrested and later being shown to be innocent. In
2000 and 2001 two trials concerning explosions during the so-called "years of lead"
originally blamed on anarchists resulted in convictions for right-wingers acting with state
collusion (see Statewatch bulletin vol 10 no 2 & vol 11 no 3/4). Three members of Ordine
Nuovo, a neo-fascist group with alleged links to Italian and US secret services, received life
sentences on 30 June 2001 for planting a bomb in Milan's Banca dell'agricoltura in 1969,
killing sixteen people. Two anarchists, Giuseppe Pinelli and Pietro Valpreda, were the original
suspects. Pinelli died after falling out of a window when he was being questioned in custody,
and Valpreda spent three years in prison. Gianfranco Bertoli was found guilty on 11 March
2000 for a 1973 bombing outside Milan's police station in which four people were killed -
despite his claims that he was an anarchist, he was found to have been employed by the
Italian secret service, SIFAR, and to have links with far-right groups, particularly Ordine
Nuovo.
Massimo Cacciari, the former centre-left mayor of Venice, has criticised attempts by centre-right
politicians to assume that bombings are left-wing before investigations are carried out. Alluding to
the "years of lead", he claimed that "only in Italy, we pretend that the world hasn't changed",
adding that "in the seventies, there was the actual threat of a civil war, there were coups d 'etat . ..
there was a risk for democracy", which is no longer the case.
Luca Giannasi, an informer for the Italian military secret service (SISMI) received an
eight-month prison sentence on 14 February 2001 for possession of explosives and was
acquitted on the more serious charges of organising and carrying out two bombings in Milan.
Based on a statement given to the police by Giuseppe Fregosi, an associate who was arrested
for arms trafficking, Giannasi was arrested in connection with a bomb that exploded on 22
September 1998 in front of a Guardia di Finanza office and an unexploded device planted in
the Bocconi University on 21 April 1999. Fregosi claimed that he provided Giannasi with
explosive that the latter said would be used for making explosive devices. This evidence was
not allowed in court because Fregosi refused to repeat his allegations in the trial. Giannasi
allegedly told SISMI that attacks by anarchists were imminent between June and September
1998 and blamed the attack on the Guardia di Finanza office on Milan anarchists. A leaflet from
a quite unknown group, the Nuclei di Guerriglia Antirazzista (Anti-Racist Guerrilla Units) was
conveniently found with the device in a university classroom.
The inclusion of "anarchist terrorism", solely on the basis of evidence from Italy, begs the
question about the proven role of right-wingers who have caused explosions in Italy. In one
case a known right-winger was caught red-handed when he injured himself in an attempt to
bomb the Rome headquarters of communist daily newspaper II manifesto on 22 December
2000. Andrea Insabato, a right-winger with links to Forza Nuova leader Roberto Fiore, was
arrested after the attack against Il manifesto and received a 12-year prison sentence in
February 2001. In recent years a museum on the Resistance movement (against nazism
and fascism) and a cinema where a film on nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was being
screened were also attacked with explosive devices.
Spain
The Spanish authorities have been conducting an ongoing campaign to criminalise
Basque political organisations advocating autonomy, including youth organisations and
prisoner support groups, by claiming that they are part of ETA. The inclusion of such groups -
which were controversially outlawed in Spain in 2001 - listed in the document as "an ETA
support organisation" (Ekin), organisations "closely affiliated with ETA" (Ekin, Haika and
prison support group Gestoras pro-amnistia) and "bureau for international relations for
ETA" (Xaki) supports this approach. These groups were also included in the EU list of
terrorist organisations attached to the "Common position on the application of specific
measures to combat terrorism" on the basis of information indicating that a decision by a
competent authority regarding these groups in relation to terrorist offences has been taken
"irrespective of whether it concerns the instigation of investigations or prosecution". Thus,
the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" is dispensed with, and the fact that numerous
arrests in connection with terrorist activities have been overturned on appeal is ignored. Catalan
left wing groups have also alleged that arrests have taken place to link grassroots movements to
ETA, including a raid in the Netherlands (see Statewatch news online, February) organised by
European prosecutions unit pro-Eurojust to arrest Juan Ramirez Rodriguez, a singer in a Catalan
political rock band.
In 2000 the Spanish government hardened its anti-terrorist legislation by extending the
definition of apologia de terrorismo (defending terrorism) from incitement to commit
offences to applauding a crime or praising its author. This was part of a raft of measures
that also included treating minors as adults if they are involved in terrorist activity, and the
conversion of kale borroka (street struggle/violence) into a terrorist offence. These measures
were aimed at the wider Basque nationalist movement, at a time when any criticism of the
government's anti-terrorist policy, or any claim for increased Basque sovereignty (even if it is
conducted through the democratic system), is interpreted by the government as connivance with
ETA - this happens regularly to the mainstream PNV (Basque Nationalist Party).
The Spanish government also wanted to have political party, Batasuna, listed as a terrorist
organisation on the EU list - this failed when other EU member states pointed out that it would
be a contradiction, as Batasuna is a political party with representatives in Spanish institutions.
The ruling PP (Partido Popular) and opposition PSOE (Socialist Workers Party) are planning
to resolve this issue, in the framework of an "Anti-terrorist pact" between the two parties, by
making parties that "shelter or justify terrorism, xenophobia and racism" illegal, according to
justice minister Angel Acebes. The criminalisation of Batasuna would make it difficult for a
peace process such as those developing in Corsica and Northern Ireland, whose progress
is welcomed in the document, to occur.
With the conversion of public order offences/violence into terrorist crimes if they have a
political scope, any violent act motivated by claims for Basque independence may see its
perpetrator linked to ETA, regardless of whether a link exists. The crucial issue is the support
for a "terrorist goal". If a group opposes Spanish anti-terrorist policy (on human rights or other
grounds), they be viewed as entities abusing their legal status to support "terrorists". If this
criterion were adopted at a European level, the identification of a left-wing terrorist threat
could lead to the description as "terrorist" (by association) of all activists in the EU.
Conclusion
As to the inclusion of "eco-terrorism", no incidents are mentioned other than a "limited campaign"
which has caused "extensive" material damage. The case for placing "eco-terrorism" in a
terrorist threat assessment document alongside Al Qaida appears highly questionable, and
the absence of detail may be linked to possible support by EU citizens for actions carried
out by some environmentalists which it would be convenient to construe as terrorism.
The " spring-cleaning " of the squats from Dijon (France) in this end of
" winter break" began on march 22th, with the expulsion of the feminist
squat"La Courdémone". Refusing expulsion, the 3 women who lived theremanaged
to resist during nearly 3 hours, before beingfinally evacuated. Here a small
summary of the events:
At 6 AM, the cops came (7 cars, 3 vans). Then arrived a moving truck and
a convoy of breeze-blocks and cement. Congratulations to the companies POL
and SDAT for their nice involvement (the SDAT is a company of "reintegration
the precarious ones by work" (that's such a cynicism !).
First, the cops smashed the gate giving on the garden surroundingthe house.
Then, they faced the many barricades blocking thevarious exits. They
finally arrived to enter the place after 15 minutes of fury on the back
gate.
Very quickly, the supports came with streamers, pans, signs,firecrackers
and grenades smoke, forcing the cops to improvise a " security operation".
During several hours, this group of 20 persons faced the Police, shouting
slogans, calling other people in the street and holding up streamers on the
boulevard. Joined at various times by curious people. They displayed its hostility
with the Police, the ushers and the owners. One of them was arrested, but quickly
released.
From the very start of the police operation, the three occupying womenwent
up the roof and then blocked the access.The cops then tried to negotiate their
descent, and finally try using blackmail (confiscation of the keys of the cars).
During this time, others cops got busy to empty the house of its contents on the
pavement.After almost 3 hours of waiting, the cops got out from the house,
replaced by a fire truck conducted by a laughing and strongly co-operative man.
The 3 women were then catched one by one, then released, and finally could recover
their stuff, while the support was leaving...
After almost 4 hours of visible resistance, which should have embarassed
a Police department which did not wish obviously a massive deployment of force
in the most " bourgeois " area of the town. Anyway, the 3 women do not give up
the fight, intend to re-occupy the place, and try to not leave the others squats
in the same situation.
" La Courdémone " was open in September 2000 and developed since then a collective
life between women : various public activities, free purse with clothing, feminist
and alternate library, festivals between women (some of them with men, some not),
debates, expos, etc.
In this period of end of " Winter break ", others squats are still threaten
of eviction : " La Boudronnée ", open place borned on March 15 2001, " Le
Pamplemousse ", whose expulsion, although illegal, seems imminent.
