The Ertzaintza has begun to report the records of those arrested and investigated

The Ertzaintza will disclose the police records of the persons it detains and investigates  and will maintainthe criterion taken last year regarding the indication of origin. The Security Adviser, Bingen Zupiria, has stated that he sees no reason to change this communication criterion established last year as helping tocontextualizethe information.

Information on its provenance will be provided inparticular in the form of homicides, injuries, sexual assault, stab attacks and violent robbery, always in a limited and contextualized manner. As an example, the counsellor has pointed out that it helps to understand the context of last week's incidents in Bilbao by pointing out that 14 out of 17 detainees are of Spanish nationality.

In any case, he has assured us that they will carryout an ongoing reviewof the criterion they adopted and make the necessary adjustments. The main innovation resulting from this analysis lies in the information on police records: Zupiria has announced that the Ertzaintza has also begun to provide police records of persons arrested and investigated .

Fruitful dialogue with the Ombudsman

Mr. Zupiria said that they had had a fruitful conversation with the Ombudsman on the issue of the origin of the detainees and were prepared torespectthe spirit of the resolution in order to avoid any stigmatization that might occur and to contextualize the information provided on security and police activities.

The Department of Safety and Security has informed the Ararteko that it will continueto publish statistical tables indicating the geographical origin of the offenders. Inthe case of victims, the established criterion is that the origin should always and in all cases be given.

EH Bildu criticizes that the measure "creates stigmas"

During today's plenary session of government control in the Basque Parliament, EH Bildu's Member of Parliament, Eraitz Saez de Egilaz, asked the Security Adviser, Bingen Zupiria, about thefactthat the information on the origin of the detainees is a political act which createsstigmas , which may be contrary to data protection and which calls into question the presumption of innocence.

EH Bildu has pointed out that Gipuzkoa is the territory in which thenumber of hate crimes has increased most, and that thecriterion set last year by the Department of Safety and Security was opposed by various institutions, including SOS Racismo, Judges for Democracy and the Ararteko. He has also cited lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu and the President of the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country, Ignacio José Subijana, as well as opposed by the majority of the Basque Parliament.