Esteban Muruetagoiena

On March 31, 2012, the II Foro Cívico contra la Tortura Esteban Muruetagoiena (Second Esteban Muruetagoiena Civic Forum against Torture) was held in Oyarzun. There were various speeches by lawyers, doctors, family members and members of the Euskal Memoria foundation, who spoke about Esteban and explained more about what happened in 1982. There was also a screening of the documentary The Doctor. The forum held a roundtable called "30 years later… where are we headed?” with participation from representatives of Euskal Memoria, Lokarri, Grupo contra la tortura (TAT), Amnesty International, Jaiki Hadi, Coordinadora para la Prevención y Denuncia de la Tortura (CPDT), Argituz and two torture victims. The conference concluded with a theatrical representation.

On May 9, 2010, about 4 in the morning, several unknown persons destroyed the commemorative plaque in the Oyarzun health center. Rodolfo Ares, Minister of the Interior of the Basque Government at that time, acknowledged that the evidence pointed to the fact that a Basque police officer had been responsible for the damage, but said that he was acting on his own. The city council of Oyarzun demanded an investigation of the case and the parliamentarian Mikel Basabe asked the minister to inform him of the results once they were known. After the inquiries, the man responsible for the crime was suspended for two months without pay, and sanctioned by the committee with two serious demerits. On November 6, 2010, the doctor was again commemorated. During the ceremony the doctor's daughter revealed the new plaque.

The Initiative against Torture in Navarre held a civic forum from March 25–26, 2010 dedicated to Esteban Muruetagoiena. During the conference, the role of civil society in the eradication of torture was discussed. The conclusions were taken to the Parliament of Navarre.

2007 marked the 25th anniversary of Muruetagoiena's death. Ceremonies to honor Oyarzun's doctor were held in the town itself where he worked as well as in Ondárroa. During the commemoration, the Group against Torture in the Basque Country acknowledged that there had been torture. As part of the event and by request of the town, the new health center was renamed Esteban Muruetagoiena with a plaque in his memory. In 2012, 30 years after his death, the doctor was remembered again during a weekend of dance, music, various speeches and the appearance or his daughter.

Esteban's daughter Tamara edited a documentary in 2007 about her father. The doctor is a short video lasting about 10 minutes which gives a summary of Muruetagoiena's life and story. The events are put in context and it is made clear that the signs of torture found after the doctor's death were not properly investigated by authorities. The video is a plea for peace and leaves a clear message against ETA violence and against torture. In 2012 the Basque director Bertha Gaztelumendi introduced the documentary Mariposas en el hierro (Butterflies in iron) at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. The work gathers the voices of women who are demanding peace in the Basque Country and who have been victims of violence. Tamara Muruetagoiena participates in the documentary, in her role as an activist against torture, and in meetings and forums.

The Guardia Civil arrested him again on March 15, 1982, in Oyarzun. Thanks to the antiterrorism law, he was kept in solitary confinement for 10 days in the police station in San Sebastián and in the headquarters of the Guardia Civil in Madrid where he was transferred.

He was arrested for the first time in 1979 and accused of having given medical assistance to a wounded member of ETA who had been shot in 1977. The case was dismissed and Muruetagoiena was released without charges.

Muruetagoiena was a doctor, born in Ondárroa, who worked in a health center in Oyarzum from 1970 to 1982, the year that he died. He was married to Elixabete Hormaza, with whom he had a daughter, Tamara Muruetagoiena (Oyarzun, 1974).

Esteban Muruetagoiena Scola (Ondárroa, Biscay, August 6, 1943 – Oyarzun, Guipúzcoa, March 28, 1982) was a doctor who worked in the Basque Country. On March 15, 1982, he was arrested by the Spanish Guardia Civil and then released on the 25th of the same month. He died three days later. His official cause of death was heart failure, but there are notable indications that he had been subject to torture.