Press statement by the International Contact Group. February 15, 2011

Following the establishment of the Group, after Brian Currin´s engagement with political parties, various organisations and many of your people, we came together yesterday, remembering all that we have learned about the victims, the survivors, the suffering and the pain here in the Basque Country. We are not here to tell people what to do, but we seek to enrich the dialogue between the people here

Our mandate was published on 12 November 2010 and, in acordance with that mandate, we are ready

– To do what we can to promote facilitate and enable the legalisation of Sortu in compliance with the political parties law.

    – To encourage confidence building measures such as:

    • a review of the operation of the current anti terrorist law in the new political reality, and by promoting a culture of political tolerance and democratic participation, and

    • adapting the penitentiary policy to the new transformed political situation; by normalizing prison practices, which would include moving prisoners closer to their families and releasing terminally ill prisoners.

    If required, we would be ready to encourage and assist the parties, with the development of an agenda for political dialogue; and to assist talks and negotiations without conditions and with no pre-determined outcome, in accordance with the Mitchell Principles to achieve an all-inclusive peace agreement.

    If called upon we would facilitate mediation in the event of deadlock.

    We are ready to assist in the achievement of peace and political normalization in the Basque Country: an inclusive and transparent political dispensation which is based on exclusively democratic means in a total absence of violence or threat of violence from whatever source.

    The maintenance of non violence is critical to the success of any peace process. We understand there is a view that a monitoring and verification process is required, and we are currently considering what type of process might be of assistance, and who might conduct such an exercise.

    Thank you.

    Ms Silvia Casale

    Mr Brian Currin

    Mr Pierre Hazan

    Mr Ray Kendall

    Baroness Nuala O´Loan

    Mr Alberto Spektorowski