Author: Eugenia

On Monday, 30 January, the Parliament of Catalonia’s First Conference on Peace brought together the peace movement organizations of Catalonia and representatives of the organizations awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.  The objective of this event, co-organized by ICIP and Lafede.cat, was to reflect on the role of civil society in the context of the war in Ukraine.

The conference, which was opened by the vice president of the Parliament, Alba Vergés, featured speeches by the president of Lafede.cat, Ares Perceval, and ICIP president Xavier Masllorens.  Coinciding with the School Day of Nonviolence and Peace, Perceval highlighted the ever-more important task of working for peace and preventing school conflicts.  For his part, the president of ICIP emphasized the importance of building peace in civil society, citing the organizations awarded the Nobel Prize as an example.

Contributions of Catalan peace organizations

Under the title “Peacebuilding alternatives for a paradigm shift: Contributions of Catalan organizations,” the first panel of the day brought together representatives of Catalan peace organizations: Albert Caramés of FundiPau; Ana Villellas of the School for a Culture of Peace; Tica Font, of the Centre Delàs; Luca Gervasoni, of Novact; and Pilar Font, of Peace Brigades International.

Their speeches highlighted the need to work to prevent conflicts and promote positive peace based on social justice.  They recalled the strength of the peace movement, for example, in the demonstrations of precisely twenty years ago against the war in Iraq, and pointed out the need to network and build critical alternatives without losing hope.

Defence of human rights in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus

The organizations awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2022 participated in a roundtable entitled “Civil society facing war and authoritarian regimes: Ukraine, Russia and Belarus,” where they shared their experiences.  Oleksandra Romantsova, executive director of the Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine), spoke about the efforts of Ukrainian civil society to advance towards democracy and demanded justice to clarify the war crimes committed in Ukraine.  She added that her organization is working to bring “Putin and all those responsible for this war before the international justice system to have them punished.”

Natallia Satsunkevich, a member of the Interim Board of the Viasna Human Rights Center (Belarus), stated that the leader of her organization and Nobel Peace Prize laureate is in prison and that she had to leave the country two years ago and cannot return.  She spoke about the lack of freedom in Belarus and asked Catalans to express their solidarity with the 1,500 political prisoners in her country.

For his part, Aleksander Cherkasov, former chair of the Board of the Memorial Human Rights Center (Russia), described the current war in Ukraine as one more crime on the list of war crimes committed by Putin’s regime, along with Chechnya and Syria.  He also stated that “Russia has declared war on non-governmental organizations” such as his own, so he had to flee the country eight months ago.

Developing a crosscutting narrative

The Parliament’s First Conference on Peace was closed by the director of ICIP, Kristian Herbolzheimer, as vice president of the Catalan Council for the Promotion of Peace, and the deputy and parliamentary board member, Carles Riera.  In the context of the war in Ukraine, Herbolzheimer recalled that wars are avoidable and that the pacifist message is not utopic.  He also called for the creation of “a crosscutting narrative” in response to the war “that allows us to make Putin understand that his aggression is unacceptable, that Ukraine is and will continue to be an independent while, at the same time, questioning a weapons logic that divides the world.”

The deputy of Parliament Carles Riera thanked the entities organising the event and urged them to start working on next year’s edition.

After two years of work and virtual meetings, the Platform for Peacebuilding in Mexico, of which ICIP is one of the promoters, met for the first time this week in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas.

The Platform is a space for dialogue and synergy that brings together people and organizations linked to the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), the Civil Service for Peace of Pan para el Mundo and the First International Forum for Peacebuilding in Mexico.  This forum was held in Barcelona in 2019 and organized by ICIP, Serapaz and Taula per Mèxic.

During this process, other organizations joined the group and participated in various activities in Chiapas.  These include Aluna, CCC México, Consorcio Oaxaca, Coreco A.C., Energía y Estrategia, Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Serpaj México, Sipaz, SweFOR, Taula per Mèxic and the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative.  They all form part of this Platform, which also brings together activists, journalists, artists and academics committed to transforming violence in Mexico through a peacebuilding approach.

From 25-28 October, the Platform organized an international forum and an Indigenous peoples’ meeting and held several other meetings to discuss the present and future of the organization.  A visit was also made to Acteal, a community in Chenalhó, Chiapas, with great symbolic significance.  On 22 December 1997, paramilitary groups, allegedly acting in collusion with the State, killed 45 Indigenous Tzotzil people, including four pregnant women and 18 minors.  It was at the House of Memory and Hope in Acteal where a statement announcing the formal constitution of the Platform was read.

A forum as the first public event

The Platform’s first public event was the International Forum for Peacebuilding in Mexico, held at the Daniel Zebadúa Theater in San Cristóbal de las Casas on 25 October.  The objective was to reflect on and analyze the challenges posed by the current violent situations in Mexico’s various territories.

More than 500 people attended the Forum, organized around four panels.  The aim of the opening panel, “Keys to building peace: a global reflection”, was to discuss the strategic frameworks for peacebuilding that have been promoted in other places, including needs and obstacles.  Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize winner; Marta Ruiz, former commissioner of the Truth Commission of Colombia; and Luis Jorge Garay, academic and international consultant, shared their reflections.

The second panel, entitled “Security, justice and territory” was based on the question “How can we end violence?” especially in the context of a crisis of human rights and insecurity in Mexico, to identify the various actors that perpetrate violence from a territorial standpoint.  This panel was led by Jenny Pearce, of the London School of Economics, in the United Kingdom; Guillermo Trejo, of the University of Notre Dame, in the United States; and Francisco Huaroco Tomás, of the Indigenous community of Cherán.  The session was moderated by Yésica Sánchez Maya, of the Consorcio para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad, A.C.

The third panel, entitled “Restorative practices, dialogue and reconstruction of the social fabric” was presented by Gloria Abarca, an expert in Education for Peace, and featured the participation of Lenin Torres, of the Center for Research and Social Action (CIAS Por la Paz), Lina Ibáñez, of Diálogos Improbables (Colombia), and Abel Barrera of the Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan.

Finally, the fourth panel, entitled “The cultural and spiritual dimension of peacebuilding” featured the participation of academic and social activist Pietro Ameglio, journalist and member of Quinto Elemento Lab, Marcela Turati, and the Bishop of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mons. Rodrigo Aguilar.  The session was moderated by Carla Ríos, of the Brigada Marabunta.  In this panel, participants exchanged points of view and experiences on how education, spirituality, art, culture and journalism are crucial elements for transforming the mechanisms that justify and support the perpetration of violence in society.

The panels’ content and conclusions are available through this link.

An Indigenous people’s meeting on the second day

The event entitled Tejiendo la palabra, dialogando entre pueblos, jointly organized by the Slamalil K’inai Platform for Peacebuilding in Chiapas, took place on Wednesday, 26 October, following the Forum.

More than 200 people from various Indigenous communities in several Mexican states participated in this conference, which took place at the Diocesan House in San Cristóbal de las Casas.

During the day, participants analyzed the reality of Chiapas and other Mexican states in six panels (Community protection and security; Reconstruction of the social fabric and peacebuilding; Support for processes of victims; Youth; Women; and Economic alternatives, land and territory, autonomy and self-determination).

A working session and a visit to Acteal

On the third day, Thursday, 27 October, the Platform held a meeting featuring the participation of more than thirty people from its member organizations.  This internal work session aimed to develop a shared vision in light of Mexico’s many challenges to peace and to provide the Platform with its own strategies and methodologies.

Finally, on Friday, 28 October, day four of the event, members of the Platform and participants in the Forum visited Acteal.  This coming December marks the 25^th anniversary of the massacre that turned this small community into an example of struggle, resistance and dignity of Indigenous peoples.

During the visit, the Platform members held a symbolic ceremony to introduce the group, and a statement was read announcing its establishment and its main objectives.

In the coming months, the Platform intends to continue working “to promote the transformation of the structural and cultural conditions that generate the crisis of armed violence in Mexico,” according to the statement.  Therefore, promoting an inclusive, just, transformative and lasting peace is essential.  “In other words, to fulfil all the conditions that allow everyone to lead a dignified life.”

Eleven years after the International Conference of Aiete, which led to the definitive end of ETA violence and the beginning of a new era in the Basque Country, Basque society still faces pending challenges for the achievement of a complete peace.

These challenges include the creation of a common, inclusive and social memory to explain the Basque conflict to future generations, the recognition and honoring of all the victims of violence, the promotion of new spaces for dialogue and trust among people with different sensibilities, and the processes of healing wounds that remain open.

Following the conferral of the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2022 to the Basque Country’s associative network in favor of peace, ICIP has produced a video featuring the voices of some of the award-winning organizations in order to highlight the successes achieved so far and the challenges that still remain on the road to peace.

Participants include Aitziber Blanco (Foro Ciudadano Donostia), Agus Hernán (Permanent Social Forum), Maider Maraña (Baketik Foundation), María Oianguren (Gernika Gogoratuz), Iñigo Retolaza (MemoriaLab program) and Paul Ríos (Elkarri/Lokarri).

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian civil society has spontaneously and courageously organized to counter the military occupation through hundreds of nonviolent actions, including civil disobedience, road blockades, civilian evacuation or communication campaigns. 

The report Ukrainian Nonviolent Civil Resistance in the Face of War, prepared by Professor Felip Daza within the framework of a joint ICIP and Novact project, examines the Ukrainian nonviolent civil resistance between February and June 2022 to identify the organizational dynamics and the characteristics of the different actions, their evolution and the impacts and supports they have achieved.

The document analyses 235 nonviolent civil resistance actions shown on an interactive map. It includes a set of recommendations addressed to governments and Ukrainian and international civil society to strengthen nonviolence to transform conflicts.

The work confirms that some resistance actions contributed to stopping the invasion in the country’s north and hindered the institutionalization of the military occupation in its early stages. Likewise, nonviolence has created conditions and strategies to maintain social cohesion and community resilience in the face of fear and uncertainty caused by the invasion. It has also strengthened local governance, thanks to the empowerment of social actors and better coordination with local authorities.

Organized civil society has also allowed the construction of a comprehensive system for the development of evacuation, transportation and relocation tasks for people affected by the violence. Likewise, the work of monitoring war crimes carried out by human rights defence organizations has prevented the legal defenselessness of the population and has empowered communities to report abuses.

According to the author of the report Felip Daza, “the nonviolent civil response of the Ukrainian people is a unique experience that can serve as inspiration for other armed conflicts, but above all, it is the seed to rebuild the country and weave regional alliances to stop the barbarity of war”.

Methodology and types of actions

The research is based on fieldwork on the ground, carried out between April 2 and 18, 2022, by the author Felip Daza and the photographer and camera operator Lorena Sopena. 

During the stay, data and witnesses were collected from interviews with 55 political and social actors in the country, including representatives of public institutions, NGOs, activists, academics and religious institutions.

Information collection has enabled an interactive map with 235 verified and systematized nonviolent actions from February 24 to June 30, 2022. The registered steps are divided into three types: acts of protest and dissuasion (148), movements of nonviolent intervention (51) and measures of non-cooperation (36).

The most numerous actions were protests, including demonstrations and public gatherings, registered above all in the country’s south, in the areas under Russian occupation, and during the first weeks of the invasion.

As of April, the demonstrations were drastically reduced due to the repression, with arbitrary arrests and kidnappings of activists. On the contrary, the resistance adopted a strategy based on covert actions, disobedience and non-cooperation. For example, initiatives such as hanging coloured ribbons in municipalities, communication campaigns via social networks, letters of resignation signed by Melitopol school directors, or some teachers’ refusal to teach with Russian programs stand out.

Nonviolent intervention actions became popular at the beginning of the invasion, with the blockade of Russian tanks by Ukrainian citizens and the construction of barricades. These actions had a direct impact, pushing back Russia’s military objectives. The report also notes that nonviolent civil resistance helped stop the invasion in the country’s north.

The report includes a list of ten recommendations for governments, organizations and civil society in Ukraine and internationally, including material and financial support for resistance actions, creating protection programs for activists and investigations of war crimes, or influencing the design of security that puts people and communities at the centre.

The Ukrainian Nonviolent Civil Resistance in the Face of War report has been published in the ICIP Reports collection as a joint project with Novact and with the collaboration of Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena and the German NGO Corridors. The work is available in electronic format in Catalan, Spanish, English and Ukrainian.

On Wednesday 21 September, coinciding with the celebration of the International Day of Peace, ICIP presented the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2022 to the Basque associative network in favor of peace.  The ceremony took place in the auditorium of the Parliament of Catalonia and featured the participation of representatives of the 17 award-winning organizations and initiatives.

All of these civil society peace initiatives jointly received the award “for their contribution to the advancement of peace, the end of political violence and the creation of new frameworks of coexistence and reconciliation.” These award-winning initiatives include several organizations that have played a key role in advancing towards resolution of the conflict, such as the Permanent Social Forum, the now-dissolved Coordinadora Gesto por la Paz and Elkarri/Lokarri. Also included are organizations that work for peace education and the promotion of coexistence and human rights, through the Forum of Associations for Peace and Human Rights Education, where Gernika Gogoratuz, Baketik and Bakeola play an important role.

The award also recognizes the Gernika Peace Museum Foundation, Foro Ciudadano Donostia, UNESCO Etxea, the Fernando Buesa Foundation, Emagune, the Ahotsak women’s network, Eskubidez, the experiences of dialogues with victims such as Encuentros Ciudadanos-Memoria Lab, the Encuentros Restaurativos between ETA prisoners and victims, and the BatzART! initiative.

The ceremony was presided over by the first vice president acting as president of the Parliament, Alba Vergés, and ICIP president Xavier Masllorens, who highlighted “the work, so often hidden and discreet, of individuals, groups and organizations that strongly believe that good social coexistence is built one step at a time, and that have decided to support initiatives that build bridges, for a future free of hate and violence.”

In his speech, the president of ICIP also stated that “the ICIP Award is a wakeup call to public authorities so that they act with the responsibility and maturity that the circumstances require.”

In his speech, Jordi Armadans, journalist, activist and former director of FundiPau, the organization that submitted the winning candidacy, highlighted “the experience, testimony and extremely important work of the peace activists.” He praised the “difficult and arduous, but absolutely essential” activism of the award recipients and stated that “violence is not only criminal, but also absurd” and that “human rights are never the problem, but rather the solution.”

A plural and collective award

Representatives from the various award-winning entities and initiatives collected the award during the ceremony and Maria Oianguren, director of the research center for peace Gernika Gogoratuz, and Eneko Calle, member of the Permanent Social Forum, spoke on behalf of them all.

In their acceptance speech, the two representatives highlighted the plurality of the award-winning initiatives but at the same time “their shared commitment in favor of peaceful coexistence and the defense of human rights,” and the ability of all of them to build bridges between opposing actors and open spaces of reconciliation between people who differ. Oianguren and Calle expressed their gratitude for the award on behalf of a civil society that has contributed to a process “that is still incomplete” and of which “there are still many knots to untie” such as the “recognition of all the victims” or the fact that “all the accounts can be honestly told.”

In their joint speech they also defended the need to continue working to delegitimize the hegemonic culture of violence as a way to resolve conflicts and called on public administrations to promote policies in favor of peace.

At the closing of the event, the first vice president acting as president of the Parliament, Alba Vergés, highlighted the “courage” of the award-winning entities in “difficult moments.” She also pointed out that “they have been able to work together for a democratic solution” to the Basque conflict and that “they are still working to solve the pending issues with the same commitment.” Finally, she added that the ICIP Award “is an award for the whole of Basque society.”

There were approximately one hundred people in attendance at the ICIP Award ceremony including many representatives of the Catalan peace movement, members of the association of victims of terrorism UAVAT and members of Parliament.

The final report of the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition of Colombia was presented at the Parliament of Catalonia on 12 July.   It was a very emotional event, featuring victims of the Colombian conflict living in exile in Catalonia and followed by nearly 250 attendees.

The event, organized by ICIP in its capacity as Technical Secretariat of the Truth Commission in Europe, opened with music by Colombian singer-songwriter Marta Gómez and the opening remarks of the president of the Parliament, Laura Borràs, who highlighted “the commitment of the Parliament and the whole of Catalan society to the cause of peace.”

ICIP director Kristian Herbolzheimer then called attention to the three years of collective work of the Truth Commission and ICIP, which now comes to an end with the presentation of the final report: “After decades of armed conflict, Colombia is now paradoxically the leading international model for peacebuilding, while in Europe, we are once again amid polarization, bloc confrontation and war,” he pointed out.  The ICIP director also urged Catalan institutions and associations to maintain a strong commitment to the victims and to peace in Colombia.

Recognition for victims of the conflictlicte

The institutional ceremony was conceived as recognition of victims of the Colombian conflict exiled in Catalonia and all the people who have worked for years to build peace in Colombia.  That is why the highlight was a conversation between Marta Liliana Ramírez, a victim of the conflict living in Catalonia who contributed her testimony to the Commission, and Helga Flamtermesky, an interviewer in the process of taking testimonies and member of the Catalonia Node in Support of the Commission.  During the conversation, Marta Liliana Ramírez, mother of a disappeared person, explained that giving testimony to the Truth Commission and feeling listened to has given her dignity.

The event also featured the participation of two members of the Truth Commission, Carlos Martín Beristain and Alejandro Valencia, who presented the main conclusions and recommendations of the final report, placing special emphasis on the chapter on exile: “Exile is oblivion; it is the consequence of many forms of violence.  And the report is a recognition of these ignored and invisible stories,” said Beristain.  The final report includes a series of recommendations to ensure a “more complete peace,” including reparation and dignification of the victims.

After their speeches, the two commissioners symbolically presented the report to Marta Liliana Ramírez and Dorys Ardila, a committee member for the follow-up of the Commission’s recommendations, who received it on behalf of all the victims in exile.

The documentary “Para volverte a ver,” produced by ICIP and Mandorla Films, was screened during the event.  The film narrates the contribution of the Colombian diaspora in Europe to the Commission’s work.  The documentary features four stories of life in exile, and two of its protagonists, Yanira Restrepo and Juana Sánchez-Ortega, were also present at the ceremony in the Parliament.

The ceremony ended with a performance by the musical trio Ensamble Ocasa which was met with big applause.

This event received support from Taula Catalana per la Pau i els Drets Humans a Colòmbia, the Catalonia Node and the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation.

The final report features 30,000 testimonies of the armed conflict

The Truth Commission of Colombia began its mandate in November 2018 to clarify the patterns and causes of human rights violations during the Colombian conflict, promoting the recognition of victims and contributing to coexistence.  The mandate will end this summer by disseminating the report in July and August.

The final report covers the events that took place in Colombia from 1958 to 2016 and are the result of a process of investigation and analysis based on a broad and pluralistic listening process that included victims, perpetrators, state security forces, businesspeople, ex-presidents, and other actors and sectors of civil society directly or indirectly related to the Colombian armed conflict.

The Commission has collected over 30,000 testimonies of the conflict, of which 2,000 are from exiles living in 24 different countries, including 800 in Europe and one hundred in Catalonia.

The Colombian armed conflict left a toll of nine million victims, of whom half a million were killed and 100,000 disappeared.  During the decades of conflict, one million people were forced to leave the country in search of protection.  Exile is almost always the last resort after other acts of violence.

Reception at the Palau de la Generalitat

On Tuesday, 12 July, the President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Victòria Alsina, received Commissioners Carlos Martin Beristian and Alejandro Valencia at a meeting at the Palau de la Generalitat. The reception was also attended by the President and Director of the ICIP, Xavier Masllorens and Kristian Herbolzheimer, respectively; Marta Liliana Ramírez, a victim of the Colombian conflict exiled in Catalonia; and Dorys Ardila, a member of the committee following up on the recommendations of the Commission’s final report.

During the meeting, President Aragonès stressed the pride in “the support of the institutions and social movements of Catalonia to the peace process in Colombia”. They highlighted the work of the ICIP as the Technical Secretariat of the Truth Commission in Europe.

For her part, Minister Alsina reaffirmed the Government’s commitment so that Colombia “continues to be a priority country for Catalan cooperation, as it has historically been”.

After evaluating the 23 valid candidacies received, the ICIP Board of Governors has decided to grant the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2022 to all the civil society peace initiatives of the Basque Country “for their contribution to the advancement of peace, the end of political violence and the creation of new frameworks of coexistence and reconciliation.”  These initiatives include several groups and NGOs, some of which have played a key role in advancing towards resolution of the conflict, such as the Permanent Social Forum and the now-dissolved Coordinadora Gesto por la Paz and Elkarri/Lokarri.

Also included are entities that work for peace education, and the promotion of coexistence and human rights, through the Forum of Associations for Peace and Human Rights Education, where Gernika Gogoratuz plays an important role.  Finally, the award honours the dialogue initiatives led by victims, such as the Citizens-Memory Lab Meetings or the Restorative Encounters between prisoners and victims of ETA

The winning candidacy was presented by the Catalan organization Fundipau, which emphasized that “in the context of the tenth anniversary of the end of ETA and the evolution of Basque society towards a level of coexistence, peace and reconciliation – still very precarious, but unimaginable just twenty years ago – we believe it is necessary to recognize, highlight and applaud the role of civil society.”

The Basque peace process features the singularity of not having a peace agreement.  The leading role in the rejection of violence, the promotion of social and political dialogue initiatives, and the defence of the rights to truth, memory, justice and guarantees of non-repetition have fallen on the associative fabric – a fabric as diverse in its perspectives, priorities and strategies as society itself.

The ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2022 will be presented in a ceremony at the Parliament of Catalonia in September, on the International Day of Peace.

The following are some of the initiatives featured in the winning candidacy:

Foro Social Permanente (2016 – present)

This initiative, consisting of 17 civil society organizations, was created in 2016 – five years after ETA’s definitive end to armed activity – to address fundamental issues for the transition to peace in the absence of a formal negotiation table: ETA’s disarmament, the recognition of all the victims of the conflict, the need to put an end to the exceptional nature of the penitentiary measures applied to ETA prisoners, and the construction of a critical memory with which society as a whole can identify.

Coordinadora Gesto por la Paz de Euskal Herria (1989-2013)

Gesto was founded with the aim of expressing a rejection of violence and defending, above all, the fundamental right to life.  It took to the streets for the first time in 1985, using silence as its gesture to dissociate itself from the violence that was taking place in the Basque Country and Navarre – mainly against the ETA attacks, but also against the attacks perpetrated by GAL and the illegal actions of the police forces.  This pioneering initiative generated an ethical awareness in a very polarized context where gestures for peace could be questioned by certain sectors of society.  In 2011, after ETA’s announcement of an end to armed activity, Coordinadora Gesto por la Paz announced its dissolution.

Elkarri (1992-2006) / Lokarri (2006-2015)

Elkarri was founded in 1992 with the aim of promoting “mobilization in favour of a peaceful solution to the Basque conflict or problem through dialogue.”  It promoted meeting places to facilitate social and political agreements and focused on the recognition of all the victims of the conflict.  In 2006, the association became known as Lokarri in order to reinforce its commitment to a negotiated solution to the Basque conflict.  Lokarri was the promoter of the Aiete Conference, in October 2011, which preceded ETA’s announcement of an end to violence.  In 2015, Lokarri was dissolved after considering that the peace process in the Basque Country was irreversible once the objectives of the end of ETA violence and the legalization of Sortu had been achieved.

Gernika Gogoratuz – Centro de Investigación pro la Paz (1987- present)

Gernika Gogoratuz (Remembering Gernika) is a Peace Research Center created in 1987, the 50^th anniversary of the Bombing of Gernika, and carries out its work in the field of memory and the culture of peace.  Its goal is to contribute to peacebuilding in the Basque Country and worldwide.  The centre features a specialized library with 6,200 volumes.

Foro de Asociaciones de Educación en Derechos Humanos y por la Paz (2007 – present)

This is a network of associations whose aim is to contribute to the culture of peace and the promotion of human rights.  It comprises some twenty organizations, including Baketik, a foundation established in 2006 to promote social and personal change, in an ethical sense; Bakeola, an organization dedicated to promoting coexistence; and the Fernando Buesa Foundation, established in memory of and in tribute to Fernando Buesa, assassinated by ETA, with the aim of keeping his example – in favour of the culture of peace, democracy and social progress – alive.

Encuentros restaurativos (Restorative Encounters) (2011-2012)

The so-called Restorative Encounters were meetings between people who had suffered the direct violence of ETA – either as direct victims or as family members – and people who had committed violence and who at the time were serving prison sentences.  The encounters stemmed from the desire of some inmates of the Nanclares de Oca prison to reach out to their victims as part of their internal process of separating themselves from the practice of violence.  Between 2011 and 2012, a total of 14 meetings between victims and perpetrators were held, with the support of the Directorate for Victims of Terrorism of the Basque Government and the Department of Penitentiary Institutions.

Memoria Lab Encuentros Ciudadanos (Citizen Encounters) (2013-2018)

Memory Lab is a citizen participation program for the social construction of memory in the Basque Country that emerged in 2013, one and a half years after the definitive end to ETA’s armed activity.  The initiative was created by three organizations with extensive experience in the culture of peace and human rights: Gernika Peace Museum Foundation, Bakeola and Gernika Gogoratuz.   From the outset, the program was based on social laboratory logic with a dual purpose: to promote the social construction of memory and to foster social relations based on nonviolent coexistence and respect for civic pluralism, and sustained by democratic values.

Other initiatives featured in the global candidacy include the Gernika Peace Museum Foundation, Argituz, Ahotsak, emaGune, UNESCO Etxea, Eskubidez, Bakea Orain, Denon Artean and Foro Ciudadano Donostia.

ICIP Peace in Progress Award

The ICIP Award has reached its eleventh edition this year.  The purpose of the award, established in 2011, is to publicly recognize people, organizations or institutions that have worked for, and contributed to, the promotion and building of peace in a prominent and extensive manner.

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

Previous recipients of the ICIP Peace in Progress Award include Julienne Lusenge (2020); Collectif de Familles de Disparu(e)s en Algérie (2019); Cauce Ciudadano, Mexico (2018); Arcadi Oliveres (2017); Peace Brigades International (2016); Joan Botam (2015); Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (2014); Jovan Divjak, Bosnia (2013); Madres de Soacha, Colombia (2012); The Struggle of Conscientious Objectors and those who refuse military service, represented by Pepe Beúnza (2011); and the Parliament of Catalonia (2011, extraordinary edition).

Previous recipients of the ICIP Peace in Progress Award include Julienne Lusenge (2020); Collectif de Familles de Disparu(e)s en Algérie (2019); Cauce Ciudadano, Mèxic (2018); Arcadi Oliveres (2017); Peace Brigades International (2016); Joan Botam (2015); Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (2014); Jovan Divjak, Bosnia (2013); Mares de Soacha, Colòmbia (2012); The Struggle of Conscientious Objectors represented by Pepe Beúnza (2011); and Parlament de Catalunya (2011, extraordinary edition).

On Thursday, February 24, we woke up to the news of the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

At around 6 a.m. Moscow time, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine; minutes later, there were the first missile attacks in various parts of the country, including Kyiv.

Putin has launched a war that, in addition to the humanitarian, economic, political and environmental consequences, will have a disastrous impact on peace-building efforts, not only in Ukraine but in Europe and on a global scale, according to ICIP’s statement that we published the same Thursday.

Given the situation’s complexity, we offer a collection of articles and texts of opinion from a pacifist perspective.

• “Reclaiming universal jurisdiction“, by Sabina Puig (ICIP)

In this article, the author reclaims to rehabilitate the principle of universal jurisdiction in order to investigate the crimes of war in Ukraine and guarantee the victims their rights to truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition. As the author says, “if the war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocides of the last decades had been prosecuted more vigorously, then the victimizers would probably not feel so strongly that in war, everything goes and that excess does not entail consequences”.

• “Reflections on the Russian invasion from a pacifist perspective“, by Pablo Aguiar (ICIP)

During this time of war, Aguiar defends moving towards institutional architectures that guarantee the security of all the countries of the European continent and that guarantee peaceful management of conflicts. Because the alternative is to increase military spending and to move closer, perhaps fatally, to a new war. 

• “Security in times of war“, by Sandra Martínez (ICIP)

Militarism alone has never translated into positive conflict management; on the contrary, it has trapped, displaced or worsened them in the medium and long term. So, what kind of security are we talking about in these days of the offensive in Ukraine? From whom and for whom? In this article, the head of the “Alternatives of Security” area of the ICIP claims the need to seek mechanisms for solidarity and shared security to prevent violence and the arms race.

• “How do we respond to Putin’s war?“, by Kristian Herbolzheimer (ICIP)

In this article, ICIP’s director explains that the debate on whether or not to supply weapons is a perverse dilemma because either answer entails the death of thousands of people. 

• ‘Putin might be winning the military battle but he has lost the moral one’, by Kristian Herbolzheimer (ICIP)

In this interview, Herbolzheimer talks about the dimension of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, something “beyond what was thinkable for anybody,” the ICIP director said. “Where we are right now, there are no good options, all options are bad,” he told this media outlet.

• “War in Ukraine: Peace Frameworks and Initiatives“, by Kristian Herbolzheimer (ICIP)

In this article, the director of ICIP writes about the historical references of understanding between the parties to the conflict. He also writes about the diplomatic and social initiatives of dialogue that have been deployed for years in the region, since of a local and European framework.

• “What would real peacebuilding in Ukraine look like?”, by Almut Rochowanski (WILPF, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom)

This article covers the initiatives of relaxation and dialogue that have taken place in recent decades to address the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and advocates a peace-building strategy focused on people, human security and feminism.

• “It’s time to ask: what would a Ukraine-Russia peace deal look like?“, by Anatol Lieven (Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft)

In this article published in The Guardian, the author calls for a dialogue solution to end the war and points out some of the issues that should be on the table.

• “A Just Peace for a Besieged Ukraine“, by Fernando Travesí (ICTJ)

More than 4 million Ukrainians are now refugees; another 10 million are internally displaced, and a rising but still undetermined number have been killed, are missing, or are wounded. The real question is what just peace means for Ukrainians.

• “War in Ukraine: Do Negotiations Stand a Chance?“, by Initiative Mediation Support Deutschland (IMSD)

With the atrocities against civilians in Butcha and other Ukrainian cities reported in early April, the violence and inhumanity of the ongoing war have entered a new degree of visibility. For some, this means negotiations are completely discredited; for others, negotiations are even more imperative.

• Seven points on the war and dialogue. From Ukrainian mediators and dialogue facilitators

This document was developed by Ukrainian mediators and dialogue facilitators in May 2022 to convey their voices and professional opinion to prominent actors in the international sphere of conflict transformation.

As an element of analysis and reflection, we also share this thread shared by the director of ICIP.

Putin's war will change many things. There is a certain militaristic euphoria in the West. A🧵of pacifist reflection: 👇

— Kristian Herbolzheimer (@KristianHerbolz) February 28, 2022

Recommended reading

As a complement to the analysis of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the figure of Putin, you can also consult the extensive catalogue of the ICIP Library. You can see an example of the vast bibliography we have on the subject in the photo.

Sunday 28 November marks the third anniversary of the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition of Colombia, which has an innovative mandate since this is the first time a truth commission has included the population living outside the country as a subject of participation.

ICIP has played an active role in this undertaking since 2019. It acts as the Technical Secretariat of the Truth Commission in Europe with the objective of facilitating the work with the victims of the Colombian conflict in Europe.

ICIP provides technical and logistical support for the activities organized by the Commission in Europe. It coordinates the working groups established in various European countries (nodes) and has provided methodological support for the process of taking testimony from victims of the Colombian conflict in exile, which has made it possible to document cases and contribute to the clarification of truth, justice and non-repetition of the crimes.

ICIP has facilitated the creation of fifteen nodes in ten European countries, which have become participatory spaces for the sharing of experiences, coexistence and dialogue among victims of the Colombian conflict living in Europe.

Additionally, internodal groups with different thematic focuses – gender, psychosocial accompaniment, recognition of victims, relatives of victims of enforced disappearance, and second and third generations in exile – have been created.

Testimonies: treasures of the collective truth

In this process of working with Colombian exiles, 90 people have been trained as interviewers and recorders, mostly victims and women, and a total of 822 testimonies have been taken in Europe (2,000 worldwide).

The taking of testimonies has made it possible to reveal life stories, silences, impacts, struggles, resilience and contributions to host societies, as well as to promote transformative listening and self-recognition of the victims.

Recognition of the victims

Another issue that ICIP works on as Technical Secretariat of the Commission in Europe is the creation of spaces for the institutional recognition of exiled victims. The process, coordinated by the Catalonia Node of support to the Commission, includes the promotion of institutional declarations and the approval of motions by city councils and social organizations.

To carry out all of these actions, ICIP receives the support of the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation.

The Truth Commission is part of Colombia’s Integral System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Repetition, along with the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and the Unit for the Search of Disappeared Persons.

The mandate of the Truth Commission has been extended until June 2022, which is when the final report is scheduled to be submitted.

Full details of ICIP’s work as Technical Secretariat of the Truth Commission in Europe can be found in the “Memory, Coexistence and Reconciliation” section of the ICIP website.

The ICIP has announced the call for nominations for the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2022, which aims to publicly recognize individuals, entities or institutions that, in an outstanding and extensive manner, have worked and contributed to the promotion and building of peace.

In this eleventh edition, the deadline for submitting nominations is February 24 2022. 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 at an embassy or consulate outside Spain. Please check with the ICIP (convocatories@icip.cat) well in advance of registration deadlines if you are submitting from abroad. Nomination of candidates by e-mail will not be accepted.

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.

Previous granted

In previous editions, the award was granted to the activist from Congo Julienne Lusenge (2020), 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, 2011, in an extraordinary edition of the award, the Parliament of Catalonia was honored for representing the continuity and legacy of the institutions “Pau i Treva” and “Consolat de Mar.”

ICIP’s Governing Board was renewed in October, in accordance with the provisions of the law by which the institution was created.

With regard to the members elected by the Parliament of Catalonia, the plenary session of the chamber renewed Xavier Masllorens – who serves as president of ICIP – and Òscar Mateos, and appointed as new members the researcher Nour Salameh and the activist and writer Remei Sipi, who will take over from Cécile Barbeito and Magda Oranich.

As for the members appointed by the Government of Catalonia, the Generalitat has designated Josep Desquens, director general of Development Cooperation, and Joan Maria Piqué, director general of Planning and Innovation in External Action of the Government of Catalonia, to replace Miquel Royo and Manel Vila.

Along with these new appointees, the following members will continue to serve: Constitutional Law professor Marco Aparicio, anthropologist Gemma Casal, journalist Carme Colomina and the president of Ciemen, David Minoves.

Article 6 of Law 14/2007 on the creation of ICIP establishes that the Governing Board is the highest management and administrative body of the institution and that it is comprised of ten members, of which seven are elected by Parliament and three are appointed by the Government.