In this school, near Zuberoa, there are people from Euskal Herria, both among the victims and among the aggressors. In early June, about a hundred testimonies were published and a month later, almost 30 more complaints of violence, rape and serious sexual assaults were filed in the media. Some of the cases reported by the victims are very hard and at ARGIA last July we explained that the monitor that raped a 12-year-old boy was still working on the spot.

The complaints are on the way in the Pau Court, but the testimonies are still being collected and may be a long-term matter. The meeting, organised by the French Institute for Justice and Democracy (ISPLN), the organiser and mediator of the meeting, is not intended to replace the judicial process, but is intended to complement it.

The victims have been calling for dialogue for a long time and, precisely, it is about opening a space for listening to the victims to the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Betharram so that “they will understand the consequences of the events that have taken place at their headquarters, in order to improve prevention”, said the Institute. In no case is it a matter of organising meetings between victims and aggressors.

The first meeting will involve the people each of the parties designates as authors and not the presence of aggressors, as explained in the article. The participants in this first round will decide whether or not other meetings are held and in what form.