was responsible for the deaths of more than $800.00 people. the basque separatist organization disbanded in may 2018 but a number of the organizations members known as us are still in jail. the spanish government is now gradually releasing them. i got out today but many of us are still behind bars until all of them come home we have achieved nothing. what do the relatives of those who died in a to attack say. i was at the pool this summer and lying next to me on a towel was the man who killed my mother. i see him all the time was. there.

we're in bilbao the largest city in the basque country. relatives of 8 are prisoners are waiting for a bus that will take them to the jail where their loved ones are being held. 221 prisoners are held in facilities all across spain far away from their families. for years the relatives have been demanding that the prisoners be transferred to the basque country particularly now that no longer exists. it's those. travels once a month to visit her partner. that josie makes the trip with her mother in 2 children her partner is in prison and caught his province about 1000 kilometers away in southern spain. the couple's relationship began as pen pals while he was already in jail. she conceived her children with him there.

yes and. that's how i met him it's always been like this the restrictions and the distance have been part of our relationship from the outset it's become routine for me and with the children i hardly have time to think about it but you have no idea how exhausting these trips are until they one day come to an end. it's like i have 3 children to take care of my 2 kids and my partner dollars and he gives me. but so is his partner was arrested in 2008 charged with involvement in the murder of a basque businessman and sentenced to 44 years in prison at sos it considers him a freedom fighter. only 7 prisoners are being held in the basque country. 89 are imprisoned within a radius of 700 kilometers and 125 have been sent to jail that are up to 1050

kilometers away. is nothing amounting to the policy of scattering the prisoners around the country is clearly directed against the families we have to make a real effort to visit them. but the bottom line is that they're still in jail it doesn't matter where it would be a lot easier for us if the prisons were closer to the basque country. and. the trip takes 15 hours the buses transport prisoners relatives to various facilities around southern spain some of the buses have been involved in road accidents. 16 family members have been killed while travelling to see prisoners rather be. given the leave and there is no one. you can't imagine all this unless you've done

it yourself but a bit of that is our fault when people ask you about it you just act like everything's ok but it's not this is hard work and he wears you out so much i mean it is not we're just the family members i chose my partner but my children didn't choose their father. in other families it's the fathers or the mothers or their sons there's nothing we can do about it. but we're paying the price and we don't understand why there is the famous last $1.00 that. the next morning after 15 hours on the road it's those iraq is at the high security prison near the city of conti's. the bus stops only briefly to let them alight it says he is tired and she has several appointments today with her partner. were not

allowed to film inside the facility. like almost all members. partners held in top security imprisonment subject to strict conditions including solitary confinement. he's allowed to spend just for hours a day in the prison yard. at 7 30 in the evening at so as he returns from her visit. she was allowed to spend the last hour alone with her partner the children and her mother are waiting at the bus on the side of the road when it's difficult but so are other relationships the distance and the restrictions on communication are hard but i think we still have a healthy relationship we try to give our children as much love and affection as we can and make maximum use of the time available i'm happy and i've never regretted my decision not for a moment. ah

. for more than 50 years later fought for an independent basque state killing hundreds of people. in may 28th in the organization officially announced that it would dishpan and apologized for its actions. but many in spain dismissed the move as just a propaganda ploy. to had already declared a cease fire in 2011 at that time 559 members were still in prison. their current number is about half that a growing number of prisoners have been released after serving their sentences. it's june 28th. because partner will be released later in the day after completing a 15 year jail term. wright said her son spent the night in

a hotel nearby and they plan to meet her partner when he gets out. there may be one. that we're leaving right now to pick up and we were going to wait for him outside the prison but then he called and said he'd already been let out so we're off the last few days have been really stressful. i mean i'm very i'm a little less nervous today but it's coming back now. we've been waiting for him for 15 years that's a long time you so much has happened. at the age of 23 and hard to say he was involved in riots that were said to have been started by . he said some bank machines on fire. the authorities call that politically motivated vandalism but the actual charge against him was cooperating with

a terrorist organization. there is. oh my god indeed. just leave the car here i. think you have. to keep. up my. end of your bet so he say hello by kicking me here. are you mere cares for you and we thought here through. the door and i'm now but. this there. was no it. was. i. am so happy right now.

i'm definitely going to need time to process all this. there are just too many emotions all at once. everyone. in the northeast almost past political prisoners spend a lot of time in solitary confinement was just 4 hours a day in the yard sometimes less. so i'm overwhelmed to see all these people are today. but i just one of. the i'm going to come up. with. a girl will get up but i can't find my emotions right now i didn't think it was going to be like this. i thought i'd cry but i haven't reacted properly yet i can't figure it out i see him here in the parking lot but i still can't believe it now when i get out there oh yes. i. know about this on the one hand i'm

extremely happy. but i'm also still concerned about my comrades will have to stay behind bars for years to come it's hard for them and for their families. and eco wants to raise awareness of the air to members who are still in prison. there are some representatives here today. an association that campaigns for the rights of the prisoners. there are also here to shoot some videos in the parking lot. was the straw that i guess people hang up this fact to symbolize our demand that prisoners in fugitive should be allowed to return home is better has disbanded. our group except the times have changed and editor has acknowledged the suffering that it cost the medical. class when are cooperating with the spanish judiciary.

we'll see whether the government is prepared to ease prison conditions with them. this isn't because hometown al gore to. the local residents are preparing to welcome him back. former aide to prisoners are celebrated as heroes by many in the basque country almost half of the men who are still in jail have not committed violent crimes their. only say the lengthy prison sentences are a form of retribution. for what i'm going to find out what are the laws against 8 hour were designed to serve as a deterrent for a 15 year prison sentence is much too harsh in other words if you committed the same crime in seville. you get a milder sentence. which you know if you are going to win for your. past political prisoners are systematically persecuted the people here today are celebrating

because for one person for suffering is over like my parents i mean ours and we don't want to offend anybody. but this is like a holiday for us that the 1st people. many basques who lost friends or family members in 8 attacks say the celebrations are an insult to the memory of the victims. consuelo or donya as is president of the victims association. in 1905 her brother was gunned down here in the city of san sebastiano. she herself was threatened and had to leave town. since then consuelo has rarely returned to son sebastiaan she still haunted by the loss of her brother. was 37 years old when he was killed. he was the city's deputy mayor and a member of the conservative people's party he was an outspoken opponent of and its

political wing. is that they don't they they murdered my brother and outside a bar on this street and yet a kilometer. into our central a terrorist shot him in the back of the head. gregorio left behind a wife and a child. many were outraged by his murder and not only in the basque country. it was a bloody era in which carried out such crimes on an almost weekly basis. consuela says that even though 8 a has disbanded its political ideology is still widespread and a lot of people respect the organization. she's also skeptical of demands for the air to prisoners to be transferred to jails in the basque country look at the then

ask if they want the prisoners to be released and they ask why they were sent to jail in the 1st place they believe that they were killing ideological enemies. see if every prisoner promised to renounce violence we'd have no problem with them being moved to the basque country but they won't do that and. it's a red line for them. they have no regrets. for decades has murderous armed struggle terrorized the basque country an estimated 830 people were killed. the last murder took place in 2009 and nearly 40 percent of these crimes have not yet been officially solved. consuela believes that many former aide to members and their supporters simply want to forget the past. look

a stunning thing is they just want to turn back the clock like nothing happened we see it every day at the celebrations for the prisoners who have been released. and that have gone and. there are children in those crowds and they learned early on to respect these terrorists who have blood on their hands. and to be proud of what they did that. this creates really dangerous conditions for the future. that and for. the people of al gore to welcome andy cole a hearts ag as a victim of spanish revenge justice. many of the young people attending the celebrations today were not even born when he was sentenced to prison.

you know i got out today but many of us are still behind bars and until all of them come home we have achieved nothing. going on. thank. you i regret i am i. the event culminates in a kind of ceremony in this bar where photographs of all local 8 up prisoners are displayed. now that andy card is free his portrait is taken down. i might release the rest of them they're going to wear yeah yeah.

meanwhile. has returned from her visit to the prison. she lives with her parents near bilbao. who's that for then. who is that for. like many relatives of the prisoners as he hoped that after the end of the conditions of their imprisonment would be relaxed. her partner still has 40 years to serve he's made several appeals to be transferred to a jail closer to his family all have been rejected. but obviously don't come here every time we make concessions the authorities put up new obstacles. ended the arms struggle and then the government demanded that they surrender their weapons once started to do that the government then ordered the organization to break itself up and ask for forgiveness and they'll probably come up with more demands.

it so these mother had a hard time dealing with the fact that her daughter's partner would be imprisoned for decades have been happy if you know i didn't like it at 1st but it's her life after all and i have to support her because she couldn't do all this by herself besides he's a nice guy i can't complain. that says he's partner of the father of her children is an intricate part of the family even though he has never lived with them he's in jail more than 1000 kilometers away and i saw when we won the pictures aren't great because they were taken in prison but when i was they mean a lot to me they represent the few moments that we were able to spend together so my daughter loves her father a lot. and

. that's because most. families have out. but i would like. my daughter knows that her father is in prison because he fought for an independent basque state. and that we have no idea when he'll be released. she hasn't asked me a lot of questions about it. if she wants to know more one day she'll have to ask her father. and that is that. you know no i don't think about the future i live from one day to the next he'll be in prison for the next 40 years so i can't think about the future. let's just wait and see how things turn out.

in bilbao father on tell maria was what has been working for years to try to bring the victims and perpetrators together including their respective relatives. the amos for the 2 sides to try to understand each other. let us pray. father help us to show mercy and compassion. god is along the path of peace so that your will may be done here on earth here. on the sunday when. and you know. the end of it opens up a new chapter we have to build on the situation cautiously but with determination. with your view that these developments explain why many basques are now calling for

the prison restrictions to be east because it are no longer exists. with your name you know. that he's the. dear father is wate meets with relatives of victims. and hernandez lost her husband. would say that his father. and even ramos his mother when they discussed the government's policy on 8 are prisoners. just because that's what should we do with the prisoners you know don't ask me that i can't make a decision like that and i don't have any authority. because this seems like i've always said that the prisoners should be transferred and those who are seriously ill can be released. because. i'm going to write the policy of scattering the prisoners all over the place makes no sense. to me

it's just more punishment for the relatives. and their violates the basic human rights of the family. were not on the. family actual. but the fact that more and more prisoners have now been released and have returned home is a major challenge for the victim's relatives and you know. a lot of it all along i was at the pool this summer and lying next to me on a towel was the man who killed my mother. i see him all the time but i try not to pass the hatred to my son. i would never tell him that this man murdered his grandmother. you know. many cases it's still hard for me to see that man every day . more and more of the prisoners will be released after they've served their sentences i think

that everyone deserves a 2nd chance. but i hope that they'll take a long hard look at themselves and gain some insight. and articulate never killed anyone so there's no chance that he will have a confrontation with the relatives of a victim. he's been out of prison for 10 weeks now. after 15 years behind bars he's learning again how to make decisions for himself. still went on to not only one so far i haven't noticed any permanent psychological damage from my time in prison. i've been quite lucky. i have a partner a family and friends who support me when i'm going to. come in the world some we were not. and deacon is still adjusting to life outside of prison

right now he's studying for aptitude tests with a view to finding a job in the public health service. as an ex prisoner he has better prospects to find work there than he would in the private sector. but he can't stop thinking about the other prisoners and struggle for independence. i spent 15 years of my life in prison. during that time i did a lot of thinking. around what i did were things i think it was worthwhile to find for an independent state for a better society. and it was a political conflict and it still is and until we come up with a political solution the conflict will continue. no longer exists but can the supporters and opponents of the organization learn to

live together in peace. it would mean former members having to show true remorse and the relatives of the victims having to learn to forgive. i wish that we could find a solution it won't happen overnight but if we want to live together and move ahead with the peace process both sides will have to come together and try to understand what everyone has gone through. the spanish government has now announced the 1st transfers of prisoners to jails in the basque country a response to the dissolution of beta and possibly an important step in the process of reconciliation.

the. public summer for home. nurseries on tomorrow today. we want to see more of you saw to experience what drove. but journeys through latin america following the footsteps of the great scientist. our next stop the ever to the ok you know and there are dorian the envy. to morrow she did next job.

come off to the 8 mile runs out of. the gulf states are undergoing a profound economic transformation. and so net energy research and education are meant to be the new sources of prosperity but such changes will inevitably also bring new ways of thinking and living i found. in 45 minutes long t w. look closely. to see carefully. don't go soon. to be a good. match.

discovered. subscribe to the documentary. you're watching tomorrow today the science show on t.w. coming up. stage 2 in the footsteps of alexander from humble it's our reporter heads to ecuador's ave of the volcano. with the bill and its natural history museum where everything from dinosaurs to mold spines on display. and finally we get under your skin to find out how your body reacts to tattoo ink bottom to the show.