Letter from ICG to political and social representatives

Pretoria, 21 March 2011

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to you on behalf of the International Contact Group, the names of which were made public in Bilbao on 15 February 2011.

As you are aware, during the course of 2010 I met with most of the major social and political stakeholders in the Basque Country to discuss the possible need for an International Contact Group and the mandate of such a group if it were to be established. The unanimous view of those with whom I met was that an International Contact Group for the Basque Country should be established with a mandate to expedite, facilitate and enable the achievement of political normalization in the Basque Country. Implicit in this mandate is that the actual achievement of political normalization in the Basque Country is, as it should be, in the hands of Basque social and political actors.

The members of the group would like to express their gratitude to your organisation for participating in the consultation process which gave rise to the conceptualization of the Group and the formation / design of its mandate.

At a press conference on 16 February, Baroness Nuala O’Loan, speaking on behalf of the group, elaborated on key aspect of the Group’s mandate which was published at the end of November last year. Before doing so, however, she remembered the pain and suffering experienced by the victims and survivors of the violent conflict in Spain and in the Basque Country. She expressed the hope that a new all-inclusive peace process, subject to the Mitchell Principles guaranteeing the irreversibility of exclusively peaceful means, would ensure that there will never again be another victim of this violent conflict.

Baroness O’Loan reiterated what we discussed during the mandate seeking consultations with you. The International Contact Group is in your country as a guest and at your service to enrich dialogue between the parties in conflict and to share the expertise of individual members and of the collective at your request and discretion. We are not here to tell you what to do.

In selecting the Group members, careful consideration was given to their respective skills and expertise measured against the needs of a conflict transformation process, a peace process, transitional justice and a post conflict normalization phase to peace building.

Short biographies of each Group member can be found on our website: icgbasque.org

The skills and expertise, which the ICG is ready and able to share with the people of the Basque Country, their leaders and institutions include:

  • Advocacy and Lobbying;
  • Conflict transformation facilitation, international negotiations, conflict resolution and peace process facilitation;
  • Advice on national and International criminal justice;
  • Information and assistance with Transitional Justice and Truth and Reconciliation Processes if required;
  • Advice on rights of victims, remedies for victims and enforcement mechanisms;
  • Review of penitentiary policy and guidance on penitentiary reform in a post conflict environment;
  • Guidance on application of international and regional human rights treaties and conventions;
  • Advice on and assistance with prisoner release processes and amnesty issues;
  • National and international policing, fact finding and investigative capability;
  • Police accountability;
  • Guidance on ceasefire verification processes and establishment of appropriate body if required.

The mandate of the ICG is also published on the Group’s website. This will be discussed with all the stakeholders in more detail when the need arises.

At this moment, in the view of the ICG, the most critical challenge for an emerging peace process in the Basque Country is the achievement of all-inclusive participation in a peace process and in democratic institutions free of violence and threats of violence. To achieve this objective there are two essential requirements:

  1. The legalization of a political party representing the aspirations of the Abertzale Left, which is opposed to violence and supports only constitutional means, such as the newly established party, Sortu and;
  2. The establishment of a credible and effective International Ceasefire Verification Commission.

The group acknowledges and respects the role of the Spanish Judiciary, Executive and Security Services in addressing these two requirements.

However, the vast majority of the social and political organisations who participated in formulating the group’s mandate emphasized the need for the ICG to play a proactive role in the legalization of a Pro-independence Left Political Party committed to exclusively non-violence means and in the verification of a ceasefire.

These will, therefore, be the focus of the group’s attention during the next few months. The ICG will be meeting again later this week to discuss how it might, in the context of the role of the Spanish Government, make a positive contribution towards the achievement of these objectives.

During the course of April, the ICG members will return to the Basque Country to meet with as many of the mandating entities as possible.

Thank you once again for your confidence and support.

Yours sincerely,

Brian Currin

On behalf of the International Contact Group (Basque Country):

Ms Silvia Casale

Mr Pierre Hazan

Mr Ray Kendall

Baroness Nuala O´Loan

Mr Alberto Spektorowski