The Association of Victims of the DANA of October 29, 2024 has denounced the "partisan use" that, in its opinion, the Generalitat is making, through the general directorate of Attention to Victims and Affected Persons, of the Permanent Working Group with associations of victims and people affected by the dana of October 29, 2024, in which 230 people died.
The organization considers it "especially serious" that an official document prepared within this institutional body, with the Generalitat's logo, explicitly includes the request that the PP promote a legislative reform in Les Corts.
Said document —registered in Les Corts on June 29 by the Third Vice Presidency and Ministry of Recovery and consulted by Europa Press— reflects the agreement reached in the Permanent Working Group for the Minister of Emergencies, Juan Carlos Valderrama, to promote the modification of the Civil Protection Law of the Valencian Community, adding the right to training to the already recognized right of citizens to be informed of serious collective risks, of the measures planned to face them, and of the instructions and safety guidelines to follow.
Within this framework, it is proposed that, during the negotiation of the Generalitat's budgets for 2027, a specific allocation be considered for training in emergencies, self-protection, prevention, and response to catastrophes aimed at the population. Likewise, it is specified that it is up to the PP group in Les Corts to promote "immediately" the legislative initiative for said reform, "considering it the fastest and most effective way".
In a public statement, the Association of Victims of the DANA of October 29, 2024 maintains that "this fact violates the principle of institutional neutrality and turns a space that should serve to listen to the victims into a tool at the service of the interests of a political party".
"This way of acting is part of the same pattern: the use of institutions to protect the now deputy Carlos Mazón and avoid assuming responsibilities derived from the management of the dana," it asserts.
The entity criticizes that, while the victims continue to claim that their constitutional rights "are above the procedural privilege of immunity," the Consell presided over by Juanfran Pérez Llorca "persists in a strategy of political shielding that erodes citizens' trust in institutions and weakens democratic quality."
The president of the association, Mariló Gradolí, warns that "institutions cannot take photos with victims while drafting documents with the Generalitat's logo in service of a political party's interests."
"The Generalitat cannot turn victims into an instrument of political legitimation," she emphasizes, while lamenting that "an image of consensus is sought to be conveyed to public opinion by generically using the name 'victim associations,' without identifying which entities participated in the drafting of the document and which did not."
And she stresses: "Victims are not the property of any government or any party. Institutions have the obligation to listen to us with respect, not to use us to reinforce their political narrative."
"ABSOLUTE LOSS OF TRUST"
Given "the absolute loss of trust in a Consell that continues to politically protect Carlos Mazón while using institutions for partisan purposes," the Associació de Víctimes de la DANA 29 d'Octubre de 2024 has opted not to attend the third meeting of the Permanent Working Group, understanding that "the minimum conditions of trust are not met to participate in a body in which, moreover, the Director General of Mental Health will participate, who has publicly discredited members of victim associations before representatives of the Government of Spain."
"Institutional trust is not built with invitations or photographs. It is built with respect, neutrality, transparency, and by treating all victims with the same dignity," she defends.
In any case, the Associació de Víctimes de la DANA 29 d'Octubre de 2024 guarantees that it will continue to defend its proposals "in those spaces where there are guarantees of impartiality and institutional respect," because, she insists, "public institutions must be at the service of all citizens and never of the interests of a political party."