Interior and Justice are considering recovering a care center, while the unit that covers those affected by 17A urges not to delay it any longer
The Care and Assessment Unit for People Affected by Terrorism (UAVAT) has been the beacon that has guided the victims of the attacks of 17A and their families to face the pain and save doubts when claiming your rights. Many of them emphasize that, in reality, it has been the only support they have found. The disinterested work of the entity has covered the gap that the victims of the jihadist attack have never stopped reproaching public institutions, especially the Ministry of Interior.
“The complaint of the majority of victims is because of abandonment and lack of attendance& rdquor ;, points out Robert Manrique, survivor of the ETA massacre in the Hipercor de Barcelona and prominent member of the UAVAT. Although dissolved last May due to what they call a lack of institutional support, the entity maintains contact with the hundred victims it has located and to whom it has provided legal and psychological support in recent years. “People must continue to be cared for, whether we dissolve or not,” Manrique ditch.
Remember that, when it was announced that the unit was dismantling, they launched three pleas: reopening of the assistance office for victims of terrorism which operated in Catalonia between 2010 and 2012, a catalan law of victims -existing in the majority of autonomies- and a post-attack care protocol for “if unfortunately we had another scare & rdquor ;, lists Manrique. The three requests come together in the same urgency: that the Generalitat Take over from the associations of those affected and assume your share of obligations to find, inform and help those who have suffered a terrorist crime without delay or pretext.
Although interjecting great caution, Manrique assures that he feels the Government’s predisposition so that, now, the demands that the group that has supported the victims of 17A has reiterated for years. It was on June 20 when leaders of the departments of Inside and Justice They met with Manrique and the president of the UAVAT, Sara Bosch, a psychologist specializing in care for victims of terrorism.
“Was the meeting most profitable we’ve had in 30 years. The first comment we received was: ‘Tell us what we have done wrong so we can do it better’. It means that there is interest & rdquor ;, deduces the person in charge. In any case, he points out: “The feeling is that it seems that something will be done and another what is done. We request in the most humble way that they do not fall asleep and we do it now & rdquor ;.
A still green standard
The Ministry of Justice confirm contacts with those who led the care team. “Each unit involved in the department is studying how to incorporate their demands into the current incident protocols with multiple victims& rdquor ;, indicates the department. For now, it does not advance dates of when the commitments they will materialize.
It is not the first time that the Government anticipates that it will take ownership of the requests of those affected by 17A. He Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, promised a year ago to promote a law for attention to victims of terrorism. However, it has not passed the preliminary work phase, reports EFE.
“We are studying the scope of the issue, which is very complex, and assessing all the options we have on the table,” Justícia adds. For his part, Manrique begs haste. Mention a date that you believe to be a deadline: November 15, when the supreme court set the hearing to resolve the appeals to the court ruling of 17A.
“When the sentence is final, who will care for the people who need information? Will we have to continue looking for those who appear as victims in the sentence or will the Generalitat have already set up something to do so? So, can something be done in three months? I hope so & rdquor ;, he wishes.
The search for those affected
One of the efforts of the UAVAT has been to try to find and contact each of the people who appear in the different listings of treated by the attacks. The relationships are incomplete, disparate from each other, and contain mistakes. The resolution of the National Court tried to bring order, inventorying 345 names. Even so, Manrique warns that there are “123 more people in the summary that they are not in the sentence & rdquor ;. Judge Félix Alfonso Guevara wrote in the ruling that the victims were “the great forgotten during instruction & rdquor ;.
The UAVAT has not been able to find more than two hundreds of people who appear in the resolution. It ignores if they have claimed to be recognized as victims, not even if they know the rights that protect them. Manrique tells that they have found a ten of affected more than appear in the sentence in the last quarter. Up to now they have not presented the claim to be compensated because they allege that nobody had explained to them what they had to do.
“The Ministry of the Interior should have people informed before the sentence, but it is not done – Manrique complains -. Also, we have many files unemployed. The only thing we can tell them is to wait for the final ruling. could do the formalities now, but they would deny it. Those of us who already knew continue to ask for things as simple as a document that proves that they are victims of an attack to request exemption in university fees, but the ministry says that it cannot process it until the sentence is final. He says that then he will contact the victims but, in the meantime, he does not worry & rdquor ;.