Author: Chema

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Bolivia and ICIP have created and published an online course on peace journalism. The course, which is free and open to everyone, is aimed at people who practice or want to practice journalism and who are interested in peacebuilding and conflict transformation.

It is a series of videos published on YouTube that have the explanations of Xavier Giró, who was professor of journalism at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) for 30 years; the Bolivian communicator and political scientist Vania Sandoval; the editor-in-chief of Projeto Comprova, Sérgio Lüdtke; and an optional module facilitated by Arturo Torrez, founder and director of the Código Vidrio research portal.

The course deals with communication for peace in contexts of polarization and social conflict, journalism in the context of harassment and digital violence, journalism in electoral processes and communication for democracy, journalism and the fight against disinformation and the generation of hate speech.

The course has been created in Bolivia. Fernando Aramayo coordinated it, and Xavier Puig Escamilla and Yerko Rodríguez, members of UNDP Bolivia, contributed.

According to Aramayo, “the course seeks to improve the capacities of journalist to promote positive peace from their work area, providing theoretical aspects and above all tools, for their journalistic actions on the ground”, he points out.

The course, which consists of seventeen videos, is aimed at professionals interested in political communication and professional coverage of conflict scenarios “on the ground” and those who want to strengthen their investigative journalism skills.

You can access all the course videos in Spanish at this link.

The teaching team

Xavier Giró (ES)
He was a professor of Political Journalism at the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) for 30 years. He was also the promoter and director of the research group Observatory of Conflict Coverage, where he specialized in analysing media coverage of conflicts worldwide. Before his academic career, he worked as a journalist for different media, gaining practical experience in the field.

Vania Sandoval (BO)
After practising journalism for years in the political area in local and national newspapers, she dedicated herself to research, working as the General Coordinator of the National Media Observatory (ONADEM-Fundació UNIR Bolivia) between 2006 and 2015. From there, she coordinated and carried out research on journalism and democracy, social conflicts, and public space. She is the co-author of a dozen books involving communication and the relationship with democracy in Bolivia, published inside and outside the country.

Sergio Lüdtke (BR)
Sergio Lüdtke (BR) is a Brazilian journalist and digital media consultant who wears many hats. He serves as the editor-in-chief of Projeto Comprova, the academic coordinator of Abrai’s training courses, and the director of the Atlas da Notícia research team in Projor.

Arturo Torrez (EC)
He is an Ecuadorian journalist with more than 30 years of experience. He is the founder and director of the Código Vidrio research portal and a contributor to the Washington Post, The New York Times, and Insight Crime. He is also the co-producer and researcher of documentaries with Vice News and ArtTV from Germany and the author of several books.

ICIP has published a manual that compiles proposals and case studies to incorporate the intersectional feminist perspective into local security and prevention policies.  The book is entitled Interseccionalitat i polítiques locals de seguretat: un diàleg possible (Intersectionality and local security policies: A possible dialogue), and it was written by Gerard Coll-Planas, Marina Garcia-Castillo and Gloria García-Romeral.  It is title number 30 in the “Eines de pau, seguretat i justícia” (Tools for Peace, Security and Justice) book series and has been published in paper and PDF format in Catalan.

Intersectionality is a feminist proposal to deal with inequalities in a comprehensive manner, taking into account multiple variables such as race, gender, ethnicity and social class.  The publication is part of the project “Incorporating the feminist and intersectional perspective into local security and prevention policies” of the Center for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies (CEIG) of the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC).  This project received an ICIP grant for research work in peace (R-ICIP).

According to the authors, the book aims to be “a practical exercise to understand how intersectional logic is applied to each of the planning and elaboration phases of public policies.”  Using case studies, interviews with key actors and personal accounts of Catalan citizens, the authors identify questions and make proposals for revising measures linked to the prevention and eradication of violence and to protection from violence.

“The objective is to offer resources and generate debate in the field of public security based on a reflection of the different strategies we have at our disposal to manage all forms of discrimination locally,” they added.

The document focuses on the local level and is aimed at people who work in mediation and coexistence services, prevention and security services, security forces, equality and non-discrimination services, social services, local governments, and third-sector agencies. The manual also aims to impact sectoral policies that complement, relate to, or have a direct impact on security, such as urban planning or mobility.

ICIP and the authors plan to organize a series of training workshops to share the reflections and cases collected in the book that can inspire the target audience.

The authors

Gerard Coll-Planas (Cardedeu, 1980) holds a PhD in Sociology from UAB and is a professor at UVic-UCC.  He has published the books Dibuixant el gènere (Edicions 96, 2013), La carne y la metáfora.  Una reflexión sobre el cuerpo en la teoría queer  (Egales, 2012) and La voluntad y el deseo.  La construcción social del género y la sexualidad (Egales, 2010).  He has been academic coordinator of Connected Equalities: Intersectionality in local public policies; and currently coordinates the project “Zoom out: Approaching children’s literature from an intersectional perspective,” co-financed by the European Commission.

Marina Garcia-Castillo (Castelldefels, 1998) is a researcher in the Sexual and Gender Diversity and Intersectionality Area of the Gender Studies Group: Translation, Literature, History and Communication (GETLIHC) at UVic-UCC and a PhD student in the program in Gender Studies: Cultures, Societies and Politics.  She holds a degree in Global Studies from UPF and a master’s degree in Gender Studies from IIEDG, and she has participated in research and knowledge transfer projects in Catalonia and Europe.  Her focus of interest is the intersection between sexual and gender diversity and cultural and religious diversity.

Gloria García-Romeral (Granada, 1981) holds a degree in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Granada, a PhD in Sociology from UAB and is a member of the Gender Studies Group: Translation, Literature, History and Communication (GETLIHC) at UVic-UCC.  Her work explores the intersection between gender, public policies, and cultural and religious diversity, combining research with applied work in intervention projects and teaching and training for professionals.  She currently works as a researcher at the Center for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies at UVic-UCC and as a professor in the Department of Pedagogy at the same university.

The book series

The book series Tools for Peace, Security and Justice aims to provide useful support for people who feel committed to working for peace at different levels of involvement. This manual is title number 30 of the series.

Nineteen non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs) have joined to form the new Taula Catalana pels Drets Humans i la Pau a l’Amèrica Central (Catalana Coordinating Group for Human Rights and Peace in Central America). This platform aims to strengthen dialogue and Catalonia’s response to the violence and human rights crises in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

According to the new coordinating group, “the context of repression, persecution and political violence in the region compels us to come together to draw international attention to the situation and strengthen the many links of solidarity that already exist.”

The new platform has ICIP’s support through the “Violence in non-war settings” work area, which aims to provide tools for analysis and action in situations of direct, structural and cultural violence such as those experienced in Central America.

The Taula Catalana Coordinating Group, which is being formally constituted, will be formally launched in Barcelona on 18-19 June with the celebration of the conference “Human Rights and Peace in Central America: Challenges and Opportunities.”  This conference, jointly organized with ICIP, will take place at the Barcelona History Museum and will feature the participation of sixteen advocates for human rights and the environment from Central America with renowned academic, political, journalistic, community or social backgrounds.

Social society initiatives

Some of the topics to be addressed during the conference are the co-optation of the state by criminal networks, the unbridled exploitation of territories, social remilitarization, polarization and hate speech (LGBTIQ-phobic, sexist, racist…) as part of the infringements experienced by the population, condemned to inhuman migratory routes also as a consequence of the migratory policies of the global North.

Featured speakers who will be in Barcelona for this event include Dora María Téllez, opponent of the Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua; Morena Herrera, Simone Weil 2023 award winner for her defence of women’s reproductive rights in El Salvador; Yéssica Trinidad, coordinator of the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders of Honduras and an advocate for the rights of Afro-Indigenous communities; and the Guatemalan journalist Rolanda García, attacked and detained in 2018 when she was reporting on the illegal logging of trees on the banks of the Cahabón River (Alta Verapaz) by workers of the Oxec hydroelectric company.

This link provides all the information about the conference and the program of activities. Registration is free.

Two weeks of activities

Within the framework of the conference “Human Rights and Peace in Central America: Challenges and Opportunities,” and to dedicate a whole week to learning and reflecting on the current situation of defenders in the region, the following events will also take place:

June 20th

Conferment of the Values Award of the Lawyers Association of Barcelona to the lawyers of Nicaragua.  The award will be presented to Ana Margarita Vigil, one of the conference participants, at the Lawyers Association of Sabadell at 6 pm.

June 21st

Presentation of the IM-Defensoras Report “Data that hurts us, networks that save us” 10+ years of aggressions against human rights defenders in Mesoamerica (2012-2023).  This annual report, which records and documents attacks on human rights defenders in Central America, is the most important report published by this organization, and it presents the conclusions of more than a decade of work.  The event will take place at 12 noon at Lafede.cat.

June 27 and 28th

Celebration of a conference entitled Defending the North-South Territory: How do we challenge the political and economic model from our actions and knowledge?  This conference will bring together six defenders of human rights and territory from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua with activists for the defence of territory from Catalonia and Valencia.  We will be invited to relate to territory from our own languages and perspectives, differentiating three aspects to broaden and deepen alliances, understandings and actions: water territory, land territory and home territory.  The event will take place on 27 June, from 4-7 pm, at La Base Ateneu cooperative and on 28 June, from 10 am-7 pm, at the same venue.

Organizations that are part of the new platform

The organizations that are part of the Taula Catalana Coordinating Group for Human Rights and Peace in Central America are:

• Alternativa Intercanvi Pobles Indígenes
• Asociación de Mujeres Migrantes Diversas
• Assemblea Catalana per la Pau
• Associació Internacional d’Enginyeria Sense Fronteres
• Associació Entrepobles
• Brigades Internacionals de Pau
• Calala
• Comissió Catalana pels Drets Humans a Nicaragua
• Comitè Óscar Romero
• Cooperacció
• Desos Opció Solidària
• Farmamundi
• Grup de Suport Con Vos
• Huacal
• InteRed
• Justícia Alimentària
• Oxfam Intermón
• REDS
• Suds

The ICIP has announced the call for nominations for the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2024, which aims to publicly recognize individuals, entities or institutions that, outstandingly and extensively, have worked and contributed to promoting and building peace.

It is the thirteenth edition of the Award, corresponding to 2024, and the call will be open until April 11, 2024. The applications can be registered electronically, through this site (in Spanish), or they can be registered in person at any administrative register of the Spanish state and an embassy or consulate outside Spain.

The ICIP Peace in Progress Award consists of public recognition, a sculpture created by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, artist and activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, called Porta del Sol, and 6,000 euros. The award ceremony occurs annually in an institutional ceremony at the Parliament of Catalonia.

Any natural or legal person can submit nominations to the ICIP Peace in Progress Award, but self-nominated candidates will not be accepted.

If you submit from abroad, please check with the ICIP (convocatories@icip.cat) before registration deadlines. Nomination of candidates by e-mail will not be accepted.

Previous granted

In previous editions, the Award was granted to two associations from Bosnia and Herzegovina: Women Victims of War and Forgotten Children of War (2023); the Basque Country’s associative network in favour of peace (2022), the activist from Congo, Julienne Lusenge (2020), the Coalition of Families of the Disappeared in Algeria (2019), the Mexican organization Cauce Ciudadano (2018), the activist Arcadi Oliveres (2017), Peace Brigades International (2016), the Capuchin friar Joan Botam (2015), WILPF (2014), the ex-general Jovan Divjak (2013), Madres de Soacha (2012), and the struggle of conscientious objectors (people who refuse to do military service or any substitute social work) represented by Pepe Beúnza (2011).

In the same year, 2011, in a special edition of the Award, the Parliament of Catalonia was honoured for representing the continuity and legacy of the institutions “Pau i Treva” and “Consolat de Mar.”

From November 27 to 29, ICIP gathered in Barcelona more than twenty women from all over the world involved in the fight against enforced disappearances. Most of them are victims or direct relatives of missing people. The meeting aimed to create a space for the exchange of experiences and knowledge between the participating women and to put the needs and demands of the victims at the centre of the topic. The observations and recommendations of the women that have emerged from the meeting will be considered for the World Congress on Enforced Disappearances, which is expected to be held next year.

“Enforced disappearances constitute a cluster of serious violations of human rights with an enormous impact, not only on the people directly affected but also on the community and social sphere. The impact is even replicated from generation to generation”, explains Sabina Puig, ICIP officer and one of the meeting organisers.

“Although the obligation to prevent them and to offer truth, justice and reparation relies on the States, many times the families of the missing persons themselves undertake the task of searching for them and demanding measures for the protection of the human rights, as well as guarantees of non-repetition. And this, despite the multiple obstacles and risks it poses in many contexts”, she adds.

Women from a dozen countries

The meeting was attended by women from Algeria, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, El Salvador, the Philippines, Honduras, Lebanon, Mexico, the Western Sahara and Syria, among others. There were also women from the Basque Country and Catalonia. What they all had in common was having lived through how a close family member had been forcibly disappeared and their struggle to find the relatives. The women participated in workshops and training sessions for three days with informal talks and care and self-care activities.

“The meeting has been beneficial to reflect on the relationship between peacebuilding and the search for missing persons and to value the contributions of these groups of searchers at the same time that, based on the exchange of strategies and knowledge, transfer knowledge and offer tools that can strengthen their work”, comments Sílvia Plana, another of the ICIP officers in charge of this event.

After the gathering, several participants stressed the need for more reunions like this. “These international meetings also serve as protection for us. It is necessary to place families at the centre of the decision-making processes and to give visibility to all the violence that is exercised when an enforced disappearance is committed: both towards the disappeared person and their relatives”, expressed a Latin American participant. Also, the mother of a missing young man emphasized the importance of initiatives like this to weave ties and generate networks of solidarity between women seekers.

ICIP will soon publish a study on the role of women in the fight against enforced disappearances and the links of their work with peacebuilding. This publication will collect some of the contributions made during the face-to-face meeting organized in Barcelona.

From 18-20 September, an ICIP delegation travelled to Mexico to participate in the second meeting of the Platform for Peacebuilding in Mexico, of which the institution has been a member since its inception. This platform began to take shape in 2019 after the First International Forum on Peacebuilding in Mexico, held in Barcelona and organized by ICIP, Serapaz and Taula per Mèxic. After three years of regularly working online, the Platform met in person for the first time in Chiapas in October 2022.

This second meeting took place at Casa Xitla in the southern part of Mexico City. It brought together some forty people from economic, cultural and journalistic backgrounds, as well as representatives of the organizations that make up the Platform.

Drawing on the contributions of international experts such as Jenny Pearce, Guillermo Trejo and Alberto Solís, participants in the meeting delved into the diagnosis of violence in Mexico, a country strongly affected by the presence of organized crime and its collusion with public institutions. In the last 15 years, 450,000 people have been murdered, and more than 111,000 have disappeared. In addition, thousands of people have been forcibly displaced, and levels of social exclusion are alarmingly high.

In the face of statistics more typical of a country at war than of a peaceful democracy, the Platform provides a space for analysis, the exchange of information and reflection from which proposals for peacebuilding emanate. At the same time, the Platform also intends to be a sounding board for the concerns and demands of its member organizations, as well as those of the groups, movements and communities that these member organizations support in different parts of Mexico, especially in Chiapas and Oaxaca.

This second meeting of the Platform also provided an opportunity to define its internal organization and to identify strategies and methodologies for future actions.

In addition to the internal work sessions, the Platform convened a “Discussion group of citizen peacebuilding initiatives.”  This event took place at the Centro Universitario Cultural on Monday, 18 September, and featured other proposals and projects related to peace in the country.

According to ICIP director Kristian Herbolzheimer, who attended the meeting: “Exciting initiatives are emerging in Mexico that seek to address the many forms of violence that occur in the country, which makes Mexico a real laboratory for peace. ICIP not only sees this as a valuable learning experience but also reaffirms its commitment to peace and its willingness to accompany and collaborate with local actors.”

National Dialogue for Peace in Puebla

One of these initiatives to comprehensively address the issue of violence and insecurity in Mexico is the National Dialogue for Peace, a meeting held at the Ibero-American University of Puebla from 21-23 September.

An ICIP delegation, accompanied by members of the Platform for Peacebuilding in Mexico, attended the event. This meeting was convened by the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate, the Conference of Major Superiors of Mexico, the Episcopal Lay Dimension and the Mexican Province of the Society of Jesus to generate a space for plural and inclusive dialogue on security and peacebuilding in the North American country.

More than two thousand people from all over the country attended the event, many of whom had already participated in various forums held during the last year and a half. This initiative arose following the murder of two Jesuit priests in the Tarahumara Mountains of Chihuahua in June 2022. Since then, the Church in Mexico has organized days of prayer, discussion groups, forums on justice and peace and other initiatives that have brought together 18,000 participants in the country’s 32 states. All these efforts led to the Puebla meeting, which featured representatives from every social sector.

After three days of work, a National Agenda for Peace and a National Network for Peace were presented. The former is a document of over 30 pages that features various work proposals, and the latter is a network that aims to coordinate local initiatives – or people – that wish to undertake some peacebuilding process in their territories.

In addition, as a result of the meeting, 14 actions to eradicate violence in the country were presented. They were read by Father Jorge Atilano González Candia, a social worker with the Company of Jesus in Mexico and one of the main organizers of the meeting. The list includes, for example, actions to strengthen the procedures of restorative justice and to dignify and recover municipal and community police forces. The final document of the meeting and the 14 points are available here.

On August 1st 2023, the report Wagner Group Unchained in Ukraine: Military, Political, and human rights impact of the Wagner Group since the large-scale invasion in 2022. The Novact Institute for Nonviolence has made the report in collaboration with Shock Monitor, the Observatory of Business and Human Rights in the Mediterranean, and the organization Suds. It has the financial support of ICIP thanks to one of the grants to entities and research work on the culture of peace that the institution convenes annually. The result has been presented in the framework of the United Nations Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries.

The investigation on the Wagner Group has been conducted by a research team coordinated by Felip Daza Sierra, along with Carlos Díaz Bodoque, with the assistance of Anhelina Hrytsei and Mathilde Machteld Romeo.

The report will be made public in September and analyzes the impact of the Wagner Group in Ukraine. The research includes testimonies from 40 experts, academic and human rights institutions, and Civil Society Organizations. Interviews have also been conducted with military personnel involved in the operations on the Ukrainian side.

The presence of the Wagner Group has dramatically increased the conflict severity in Ukraine, exacerbating deadliness, escalating confrontation, and causing fragmentation of non-state armed actors. Particularly noteworthy is the alleged implication of the Wagner Group in war crimes such as the killing of local authorities and the beheading of prisoners of war. Ongoing legal investigations by the Ukrainian Prosecution Office indicate the use of inmates as “forced human shields,” especially in the battles of Donbas. It is also highlighted that the Wagner Group designs combat operations and uses heavy weapons, artillery, and reconnaissance technology.

The group engages in predatory recruitment practices, such as incorporating inmates and marginalized youth from Russia and using foreign combatants from Syria, Serbia, and Afghanistan, among others.

According to the report, the Wagner Group plays an increasingly significant political role, combining social conservatism, patriotic claims, and cult criminal activity. The rise of their actions is also identified in the general apathy of the Russian population towards the war and a lack of understanding of the military goals, among other factors. In response, the Wagner Group has developed a business and media empire that sustains the group’s illicit activities and abusive hiring practices. Wagner is supported by far-right groups (RIM, TFRusich) and the new media elite composed of military bloggers and influencers.

The report also highlights how the Wagner Group provides critical political dividends for Putin, such as symbolic military victories, increased support for the invasion activities in Ukraine, and the ability to maintain military confrontation considering the general public apathy towards the war inside Russia. However, the possible disappearance of the Wagner Group will not prevent the use of other proxies in the war in Ukraine and the proliferation of the Russian Private Military Security Companies (PMSC) industry.

Therefore, the report makes a set of fundamental recommendations as a central message to the United Nations Working Group.

For International Organisms and National Governments:

• To strengthen national regulatory frameworks to control PMSCs, including robust licensing, supervision, and redress mechanisms.
• To create a comprehensive international legally binding instrument to regulate PMSC activity, with adequate standards to prevent human rights violations, protection of victims, and ensure effective remedies.
• To designate the Wagner Group as a terrorist organization and an armed group financed by the Russian Federation.
• To advance international criminal prosecution, including Universal jurisdiction principles.

For Civil Society Organizations:

• Enhance monitoring and reporting mechanisms on PMSC activity and its intersectional impact on human rights, with particular attention to violations of women’s rights.
• Raise awareness among the general public and communities affected by conflicts to distinguish private contractors from regular forces and understand the political and social impact of the privatization of war.
• Undertake advocacy actions to promote international and national regulations for controlling PMSCs.

After the presentation at the United Nations headquarters, the report is scheduled to be made public in September. In the same month, the work will be presented in Barcelona.

The ICIP’s Governing Board has decided to confer the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2023 to the candidacy that includes two associations from Bosnia and Herzegovina: Women Victims of War and Forgotten Children of War “for their work denouncing rape as a weapon of war, fighting against impunity, and empowering and drawing attention to victims of sexual violence.”

The award-winning associations work on the documentation of rapes during the Balkan War and the legal and social recognition of children born in situations of sexual violence.  It is estimated that between 25,000 and 50,000 women and girls were victims of rape as a strategy of ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian War, and 4,000 infants were born due to the assaults. Beyond Bosnia, the awarded entities are also in contact with survivors of other conflicts, such as Ukraine, to accompany them in denunciation and recognition as victims of war.

The winning candidacy was presented by Cultura i Conflicte. This Catalan organization has reflected the work of the two Bosnian associations in the multidisciplinary project Encara hi ha algú al bosc (There is still someone in the forest), which includes a documentary, an exhibition and a play.

Women Victims of War

The Association of Women Victims of War (Udruženje Žena žrtva rata) was founded in 2003 with the aim of bringing together victims of rape during the Bosnian War (1992-1995).  Since then, the organization has been working to document cases of rape (including sexual assaults on men), provide testimonies, help survivors defend their rights as victims of the war, and fight against the impunity that many of the perpetrators still enjoy.

Thousands of women and girls were victims of rape during the Bosnian War, although there is no official figure since many of them did not survive the attacks, and others did so in silence.

From the rape survivors’ testimonies, the association has gathered information to bring the perpetrators before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague and before local courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  The association has collected testimonies from 5,495 female and 300 male survivors.

The organization’s work has made it possible to empower and accompany the war victims, provide psychological and social support, and fight against impunity in a difficult context since rape as a weapon of war is still taboo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Forgotten Children of War

The Forgotten Children of War Association (Udruženje Zaboravljena djeca rata) was founded in 2015 by boys and girls born of rape during the Bosnian War and by human rights activists.  It is estimated that at least 4,000 children were born of war in Bosnia, although only 62 are officially recognized, and they are now adults.

The association also assists the children of forced marriages during the war, prostitution rings organized by international forces, and relationships between military and humanitarian personnel who abandoned women and children after the conflict.

The association works at an international level for the legal and social recognition of children born of war rapes and to establish protocols to protect children, end the stigma they suffer and help mothers recognise their children.  As a result of their work, legal changes have been made in Bosnian local administrations so that children born of war rapes are recognized and compensated as victims.

ICIP Peace in Progress Award

Since 2011, ICIP has called the Peace in Progress Award annually to award and publicly recognise people, entities or institutions that have worked and contributed in a unique and extended way to promote and construct peace.

The award includes public recognition, a sculpture created by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, artist and activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Porta del Sol, and a financial endowment of 6,000 euros.

The awarding occurs annually in an institutional ceremony at the Parliament of Catalonia, coinciding with September 21, International Day of Peace.

On 30-31 January, representatives of the three Nobel Peace Prize 2022 initiatives will visit Barcelona and Madrid in a delegation organized by ICIP and NOVACT.

The delegation will consist of Oleksandra Romantsova, executive director of the Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine); Natallia Satsunkevich, member of the Interim Board of the Viasna Human Rights Center (Belarus); and Alexander Cherkasov, chair of the Board of the Memorial Human Rights Center (Russia).  These three civil society initiatives – one individual and two collectives – were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last October for their work in reporting war crimes and defending peace and human rights.

To mark the occasion of their visit, on 30 January, School Day of Nonviolence and Peace, the Parliament of Catalonia will host the first Conference on Peace organized in collaboration with ICIP and Lafede.cat.

“The Catalan social entities and institutions that work for the promotion of peace, together with the Parliament of Catalonia, are especially pleased to present the work of these three entities as part of the first Conference on Peace organized by the Catalan chamber,” declared ICIP director Kristian Herbolzheimer.

The conference will consist of two roundtables.  The first one, Peacebuilding alternatives for a paradigm shift: Contributions of Catalan organizations, will feature five representatives of Lafede.cat’s peace work area.  They will talk about the challenges of peacebuilding concerning the evolution of armed conflicts and the interrelation between the concepts of peace and security.  And they will also present proposals for a Catalan public policy for peace.

The second panel, entitled Civil society facing war and authoritarian regimes: Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, will feature the participation of the representatives of the three initiatives awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Gabriela Serra, president of the Catalan Council for the Promotion of Peace, and Pere Aragonès, president of the Government of Catalonia, will close the conference.

The event will begin at 4 pm and is open to the public.  To attend this event, prior registration at the Parliament’s website is required before the deadline of 25 January.

On the same day, 30 January, the delegation from the three countries is expected to meet with various representatives of Catalan institutions, including a meeting with the president of the Government of Catalonia and with the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau.

Visit and activities in Madrid

On 31 January, following the events in Barcelona, the delegation will travel to Madrid, where they will participate in various meetings with government representatives and address the Congress of Deputies.  An event organized by the Coordinating Committee of Development Organizations and open to the public will occur in the afternoon.  This event will be held at Casa Encendida at 6:30 pm and will feature the participation of representatives of the Nobel Peace Prize laureates as well as the researcher Felip Daza.  Daza is the author of the report entitled Ukrainian nonviolent civil resistance in the face of war, published by ICIP and NOVACT.  This document analyzes a total of 235 actions of nonviolent civil resistance displayed in an interactive map. It includes a set of recommendations addressed to governments and Ukrainian and international civil society to strengthen nonviolence to transform the conflict.

“These activities aim to raise awareness of the key role that these three entities are playing.  Over the last few years, they have promoted the role of protest, documenting war crimes, human rights violations and abuses of power.  Their work is an important example of the significant role that civil society can and must play in preventing crises and building peace,” says NOVACT director Luca Gervasoni.

Biographies of the representatives of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureates

Oleksandra Romantsova is the Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine) executive director.  She coordinates the management of war crimes documentation and promotion of the results of this documentation as part of the “Tribunal for Putin” global initiative.  She participates in field missions around Ukraine.

Natallia Satsunkevich is a member of the Interim Board of the Human Rights Center of Viasna (Belarus).  The Nobel Prize was awarded to the President of Viasna, Ales Bialiatski, currently imprisoned by the regime of Aleksandr Lukashenko.  As part of the legal aid team, Satsunkevich helps victims of human rights violations to obtain reparations.  She is currently undergoing criminal proceedings in Belarus due to her political activism.

Alexander Cherkasov is the chair of the Board of the Memorial Human Rights Center (Russia).  Memorial has been documenting human rights abuses in Chechnya and assisting victims since the beginning of the armed conflict in 1994.  It later expanded its work to neighbouring republics as human rights abuses spread to the broader North Caucasus region.

The ICIP has announced the call for nominations for the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2023, which aims to publicly recognize individuals, entities or institutions that, outstandingly and extensively, have worked and contributed to promoting and building peace.

It is the twelfth edition of the Award, corresponding to 2023, and the call will be open until March 20, 2023. The applications can be registered electronically, through this site (in Spanish), or they can be registered in person at any administrative register of the Spanish state and an embassy or consulate outside Spain.

The ICIP Peace in Progress Award consists of public recognition, a sculpture created by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, artist and activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, called Porta del sol, and 6,000 euros. The award ceremony takes place annually in an institutional ceremony at the Parliament of Catalonia.

Any natural or legal person can submit nominations to the ICIP Peace in Progress Award, but self-nominated candidates will not be accepted.

Please check with the ICIP (convocatories@icip.cat) before registration deadlines if you submit from abroad. Nomination of candidates by e-mail will not be accepted.

Previous granted

In previous editions, the Award was granted to the Basque Country’s associative network in favour of peace (2022), the activist from Congo, Julienne Lusenge (2020), the Coalition of Families of the Disappeared in Algeria (2019), the Mexican organization Cauce Ciudadano (2018), the activist Arcadi Oliveres (2017), Peace Brigades International (2016), the Capuchin friar Joan Botam (2015), WILPF (2014), the ex-general Jovan Divjak (2013), Madres de Soacha (2012), and the struggle of conscientious objectors and “insubmisos” (people who refuse to do military service or any substitute social work) represented by Pepe Beúnza (2011).

The same year, in 2011, in a special edition of the Award, the Parliament of Catalonia was honoured for representing the continuity and legacy of the institutions “Pau i Treva” and “Consolat de Mar.”

The Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition of Colombia began its mandate in November 2018, intending to clarify the patterns and causes of human rights violations during the Colombian armed conflict, promoting the recognition of victims and contributing to coexistence. After more than three years of work, the Commission concludes this process in June 2022, presenting its Final Report and its subsequent dissemination, which will take place in July and August.

It has been an innovative mandate since, for the first time, a truth commission has included people living outside the country as participants. And ICIP has been a natural part of this process, acting as the Technical Secretariat of the Commission in Europe to accompany victims of the Colombian conflict in exile and promote their active participation.

In this capacity, ICIP has facilitated the creation of 15 working groups (nodes) in ten European countries, which have become spaces for participation, sharing experiences, and coexistence and dialogue among victims of the Colombian conflict living in Europe.

Additionally, several internodal groups have been created to address a range of thematic areas: gender, psychosocial support, recognition of victims, family members of victims of enforced disappearance, and second and third generations in exile.

Testimonies: Treasures of collective truth

For working with the Colombian exile community, 90 people were trained as interviewers and chroniclers, most of them victims and women, and a total of 822 testimonies were taken in Europe (2,000 worldwide).

This collection of testimonies has given visibility to life stories, silences, emotional impacts, coping, resilience and contributions to host societies and has also promoted transformative listening and self-recognition of the victims.

Recognition of the victims

Another aspect of ICIP’s work as Technical Secretariat of the Commission in Europe is the creation of spaces for the institutional recognition of exiled victims. The process, coordinated with the Catalonia Node in Support of the Commission and with the support of the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation, includes promoting institutional proclamations and approving resolutions by municipal governments and social organisations.

Lleida became the first city in the world to approve a resolution recognising its Colombian exiled and migrant community. On 30 July 2021, the local city council recognised “the contributions of civil society organisations in Lleida towards a sustainable and lasting peace in Colombia and support of the migrant and exiled community.” Subsequent resolutions of recognition were approved in June 2022 in Sabadell and the Barcelona Municipal Council of International Cooperation.

Documentary: ‘Para volverte a ver‘

In this work area, ICIP, together with Mandorla Films, has produced the documentary Para volverte a ver, which narrates the contribution of the Colombian diaspora in Europe to the work of the Commission through four testimonies. The film will premiere in Lleida on 8 July, as part of the Cinemón film festival. It will also be screened in Barcelona at the presentation of the final report to be held at the Catalan Parliament on 12 July.

This short documentary was produced with the support of the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation. More information about the film and its creation process can be found on the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Para volverte a ver.