Editing GAL (paramilitary group) (section)

== {{anchor|General history}}Background ==
GAL operated primarily in the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque country]] on the French side of the [[France–Spain border|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 [[History of Spain (1975–present)|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.<ref>[[François Mitterrand]] was [[President of France]]; Prime ministers in the years 1983 to 1987 were [[Pierre Mauroy]] (21 May 1981 – 17 July 1984), [[Laurent Fabius]] (until 20 March 1986) and [[Jacques Chirac]] (until 10 May 1988).</ref>

Apart from the [[Spanish nationalism|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 politics|far right]] (including the [[Organisation armée secrète|OAS]]), however, and many perpetrators and organizers were active or former [[Francoist Spain|Francoist]] civil servants.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|author1=Julián Casanova|author2=Carlos Gil Andrés|title=Twentieth-Century Spain: A History|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-107-01696-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AOrCAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA339|location=Cambridge|page=339|access-date=February 22, 2023|archive-date=April 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415140916/https://books.google.com/books?id=AOrCAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA339|url-status=live}}</ref>

From its beginning, GAL attacks indicated a close connection to high-ranking officials in the PSOE government and a number of [[Law enforcement in Spain|police officials]] in the Basque Country.<ref name=":0" /> 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 [[Marey case|Segundo Marey]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Políticos condenados por su relación con el GAL pasaron menos tiempo en la cárcel que los jóvenes de Altsasu|url=https://www.publico.es/politica/prision-gal-politicos-condenados-relacion-gal-pasaron-carcel-jovenes-altsasu.html|access-date=2021-10-24|website=www.publico.es|date=August 9, 2019 |archive-date=June 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614173205/http://www.publico.es/politica/prision-gal-politicos-condenados-relacion-gal-pasaron-carcel-jovenes-altsasu.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Gipuzkoa]] governor [[Julen Elgorriaga]] and [[Civil Guard (Spain)|Civil Guard]] general [[Enrique Rodríguez Galindo]] were found guilty of the [[Killing of Lasa and Zabala|murder of Joxe Antonio Lasa and Joxe Ignacio Zabala]] in October 1983.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/ar2001.nsf/webeurcountries/SPAIN?OpenDocument|title=Spain|website=Amnesty International Report 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106211340/http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/ar2001.nsf/webeurcountries/SPAIN?OpenDocument |archive-date=2006-11-06 }}</ref>

After the assassination of PSOE [[Senate of Spain|Senator]] Enrique Casas by the [[Comandos Autónomos Anticapitalistas|CAA]], PSOE officials attempted to assassinate [[Herri Batasuna]] representative Santi Brouard. Would-be assassin Jose Luis Morcillo received 7.5 million [[Spanish peseta|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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-04-15|title=Morcillo confiesa que asesinó a Santi Brouard por orden de Interior|url=https://www.eitb.eus/es/noticias/politica/detalle/1313222/asesinato-santi-brouard--confesion-jose-luis-morcillo/|access-date=2021-10-24|website=EITB Radio Televisión Pública Vasca|language=es|archive-date=January 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129043922/https://www.eitb.eus/es/noticias/politica/detalle/1313222/asesinato-santi-brouard--confesion-jose-luis-morcillo/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=elmundo.es|title='Yo asesiné a Santiago Brouard'|url=https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/04/15/espana/www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/04/15/espana/1366040385.html|access-date=2021-10-24|website=www.elmundo.es}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[File:Lasa eta Zabala gogoratuz.jpg|thumb|Memorial demonstration for Joxe Antonio Lasa and Joxe Ignacio Zabala in 2008|alt=Demonstrators holding pictures in front of uniformed people in red helmets, perhaps police officers]]
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|date=June 2024}}. 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Público|url=https://especiales.publico.es/hemeroteca/210024/el-supremo-confirma-la-condena-de-ano-y-medio-de-prision-para-vera-por-malversacion-de-fondos|access-date=2021-10-24|website=especiales.publico.es|archive-date=January 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121193655/https://especiales.publico.es/hemeroteca/210024/el-supremo-confirma-la-condena-de-ano-y-medio-de-prision-para-vera-por-malversacion-de-fondos|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Investigative journalism|Investigative journalists]] from the newspaper ''[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]'' reported that [[Prime Minister of Spain|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 [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] eventually identified Señor X as the prime minister.<ref>{{cite web |title=Documentos de la CIA relatan que Felipe González acordó crear los GAL |url=https://www.eitb.eus/es/noticias/politica/detalle/7303287/felipe-gonzalez-acordo-crear-gal-cia-14-junio-2020/ |language=Spanish |work=EiTB |date=14 June 2020 |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=15 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615220030/https://www.eitb.eus/es/noticias/politica/detalle/7303287/felipe-gonzalez-acordo-crear-gal-cia-14-junio-2020/ |url-status=live }}</ref> González' involvement was confirmed by former [[National Police Corps (Spain)|National Police Corps]] officer [[José Manuel Villarejo]], who told the [[Congress of Deputies]] on October 21, 2021 that González had created GAL.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Villarejo defiende la 'guerra sucia' contra ETA: "Me hubiera gustado participar"|url=https://www.publico.es/politica/villarejo-defiende-guerra-sucia-eta-me-hubiera-gustado-participar.html|access-date=2021-10-24|website=www.publico.es|date=October 21, 2021 |archive-date=October 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025160658/https://www.publico.es/politica/villarejo-defiende-guerra-sucia-eta-me-hubiera-gustado-participar.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The death squads were an important issue during the [[1996 Spanish general election|1996 election]], when the PSOE was defeated by [[José María Aznar]]'s [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] (PP) for the first time. González then resigned as PSOE leader. With the exception of [[Ricardo García Damborenea]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1998/08/14/espana/903045607_850215.html|title=Damborenea es el primero de los condenados por el "caso Marey" que ha recurrido al Constitucional|date=1998-08-14|work=El País|access-date=2019-04-27|language=es|issn=1134-6582|archive-date=2019-04-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427094839/https://elpais.com/diario/1998/08/14/espana/903045607_850215.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.