The Association of Victims of Terrorism () is a Spanish association created in 1981 by victims of

terrorist attacks The following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are listed at List of assassinated people. Definitions of terrori ...

. Its members include those injured by

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

GRAPO The First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups ( es, Grupos de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octubre, GRAPO) was a Spanish clandestine Marxist–Leninist group aiming for the formation of a Spanish Republican state. Besides its anti- ...

, the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...

and

Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

, as well as their families. It does not, however, include victims of extreme right Spanish groups such as GAL (

Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación GAL (an acronym for ''Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación'', "Antiterrorist Liberation Groups") were death squads illegally established by officials of the Spanish government to fight against ETA, the principal Basque separatist militant gro ...

Warriors of Christ the King The ''Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey'' (English: Warriors of Christ the King) was a Spanish far-right paramilitary organisation that operated in the late 1970s, primarily in the Basque Country and Madrid, but also in Navarre. They emerged at a time ...

and others. Its membership exceeds 6,000. Its current president is Maite Araluce, the daughter of José María Araluce Villar, president of the Provincial Assembly of Gipuzkoa and member of the Council of the Realm, assassinated by ETA in 1976. During the presidency of

Jose Maria Aznar Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

, the AVT advocated political positions criticised as extreme, including conspiracy theories regarding the Madrid train bombings. This led to the creation of other terror victims' associations with less divisive political agendas. This association promoted a campaign against other Basque nationalist organisations, such as the political party

Batasuna Batasuna (; en, Unity) was a Basque nationalist political party. Based mainly in Spain, it was banned in 2003, after a court ruling declared proven that the party was financing ETA with public money. The party is included in the "European Unio ...

, Jarrai or Gestoras pro Amnistía, as well as music groups such as Su Ta Gar that it accuses of supporting Basque terrorism.

11 March 2004 train bombings

On 11 March 2004, a series of rush hour explosions in several Madrid train stations left 192 dead and some 1,900 wounded. AVT expressed doubts about the conclusion reached by the Spanish judiciary. Specifically, the AVT asked why no pictures of the alleged perpetrators were found, unlike in the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...

, and why the type of explosives used remains unknown. The association also questioned the relationship between the alleged perpetrators and the

National Police Corps of Spain The National Police Corps ( es, Cuerpo Nacional de Policía, link=no, CNP; ; also known simply as National Police, ) is the national civilian police force of Spain. The CNP is mainly responsible for policing urban areas, whilst rural policing ...

and

Guardia Civil The Civil Guard ( es, Guardia Civil, link=no; ) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a national gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the a ...

Related groups

Other associations of ETA victims include COVITE (''Colectivo de Víctimas del Terrorismo'' / Victims of Terrorism Group), representing victims from the Basque Country itself. Other victim associations from the 11 March attacks include the Asociación Afectados de Terrorismo, headed by Pilar Manjón. This association does not share the AVT's viewpoints on the attacks.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asociacion De Victimas Del Terrorismo Terrorism in Spain Recipients of the Order of Constitutional Merit 1981 establishments in Spain