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Within Basque society there exists a special subset of human beings, painful I–You binomials, forever linked through blood, by the lethal terrorist gun. Fortunately, today victims face a much more hospitable society, but it is still a moment rife with contradiction. One part of Basque society finds it difficult to imagine a shared collective memory that will faithfully reflect the excesses committed by Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) and the Spanish state regarding human rights abuses. These misgivings are easily understood when some still debate the humanity of the victims themselves. Another part of Basque (and Spanish) society questions the political intent of restorative practices, of those experiences that bring victims and victimizers together within the framework of restorative justice, a political stance that, like in the first case, highlights the need to humanize the Other in the name of peace. The creative world of the arts, more specifically, the films studied in this article, move in a different direction and beg the question: if the processes of restorative justice are uniquely designed to be experienced in a triangulated scenario – one shared by victim, victimizer, and the dead – what might these conversations offer a society in need of better models of co-existence when put on the screen? Can art mediate? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 2011, the terrorist organization Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) announced a definitive cease fire. Just a few months prior, restorative justice experiences had started between imprisoned former ETA members and victims of terrorism along with coexistence workshops in the Nanclares prison, events geared towards trying to heal wounds in the aftermath of political violence. Although these are mainly private and personal experiences, with emotional effects in the participants in the encounters, they may also facilitate projects of wider social reconciliation. This article points out the lessons we have learned during these experiences as far as ex-ETA militants are concerned and the potential of these restorative justice practices for active responsibility, individual healing and reintegration in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Armed political conflict is no stranger to contemporary Europe. Radicalized nationalist ideologies, state-sanctioned ethnic and religious violence, revolutionary separatist organizations, state-supported armies and police forces turning against civilian populations, insurgents and counterinsurgents, a long list of actors embodying the dance of death in recent times. This Special Issue of the International Journal of Iberian Studies (IJIS), 'Unspeakable Truths', will focus on the aftermath and the road to recovery after Basque ETA armed conflict in Spain–France (1959–2011) through the lens of affect, restorative justice, memory, peace-making efforts, and the arts (literature and film) thanks to contributions by academics, ETA and GAL victims, filmmakers, restorative justice practitioners and mediators of the Nanclares process, and peace activists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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