The victims of April 17th await a commission in Congress to retry the judicial route.

BarcelonaEight years after the August 17 attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, the victims maintain their objective of having a judicial investigation clarify everything surrounding the 17-A incident. The ruling of the National Court, which focused only on the explosion in Alcanar the day before, ignored the possible relationship between the CNI and the imam of Ripoll, Abdelbaki se-Satty. However, in the last year the Congressional commission of inquiry into the 17-A attacks has revealed documents that reveal that the CNI had tried to capture Es-SattyIn this same commission, one of the three convicted for the attacks, Mohamed Houli, He openly accused the CNI of knowing "the imam's intentions.".

"We will continue to pursue the judicial issue through the Association," says Javier Martínez, Father of one of the fatalities on La Rambla: Xavi. Martínez has dedicated these eight years to activism for victims' rights. In May, the Association 17-A: We Want to Know the Truth was established, chaired by Javier Martínez, and which channels work he has been carrying out since 2017. With the advice of lawyers Agustí Carles and Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, the Martínez family has appealed the 17-A ruling to the end. The latest move has been the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)'s refusal in its request to reopen the investigation.

With all this, the association's horizon is to ask the ECHR for a reconsideration, which would involve three judges and not just one, as has been the case until now. "We will do so when the commission concludes and we have the conclusions, taking into account the new developments that have occurred. In September, we talked about an imam who had nothing to do with the CNI, and the commission made it clear that he did," explains lawyer Agustí Carles.

Another option, which they also reserve for once the commission has concluded, is to request that another country investigate the attacks. This would be, explains Carlos, through the concept of universal jurisdiction, which allows a state to prosecute a crime committed in another country if it has not been investigated there. Pending the conclusions of the Congressional commission of inquiry, the association has begun contacting foreigners who are victims or relatives of victims of the attacks—most of whom were tourists on La Rambla—and currently sees the greatest potential for success in France.